Survey Results From NWS Des Moines (DMX) 

Last updated at 5:30 p.m. Tues. May 27, 2008

Summary

NWS personnel have rated the Parkersburg-New Hartford-Dunkerton tornado as   EF 5 (correlated to wind speeds up to 205 MPH) on the Enhanced Fujita Scale at the locations of maximum damage.  Additional details on path length, width, etc. will be posted on this webpage Wednesday, May 28.  This is the first EF5 tornado in Iowa since the Jordan tornado of June 13, 1976.


A large and destructive tornado moved across Butler and Black Hawk counties on Sunday May 25th.  The initial touchdown occurred near the Butler and Grundy county line, 2 miles south of Aplington at 4:48 pm CDT and quickly grew in size and intensity as it approached Parkersburg.  The tornado was nearly 3/4s of a mile wide as it moved through the southern end of Parkersburg at 4:59 pm CDT.  Significant structural damage occurred in the town of Parkersburg including 100 to 200 homes destroyed.  The tornado maintained size and intensity as it move towards New Hartford.  At 5:09 pm CDT the storm moved just north of New Hartford once again causing significant structural and tree damage.  The tornado weakened around 3 miles east of New Hartford with lesser damage as it moved east to north of the Waterloo and Cedar Falls area.  Significant straight line winds occurred along and just south of the tornado track with preliminary estimates of 90 to 100 mph.   The tornado then grew in size to near 1.2 miles wide north of Dunkerton causing substantial damage to a farmstead there.   The tornado lifted just before entering Buchanan county.

The image below depicts the approximate damage path.  The width of the green line in no way implies damage path width at this time.  The damage path map will be updated and refined this week as more information is gathered.

FINAL STORM SURVEY RESULTS

000
NOUS43 KDMX 272130
PNSDMX
IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-
081>086-092>097-280930-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
430 PM CDT TUE MAY 27 2008

...FINAL DAMAGE SURVEY RESULTS FOR BUTLER AND BLACK HAWK COUNTIES...

......

THE FOLLOWING IS A FINAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE DAMAGE THAT OCCURRED OVER
BUTLER AND BLACK HAWK COUNTIES ON MAY 25TH.

* EVENT DATE: MAY 25TH

* ESTIMATED START TIME: 4:48 PM CDT

* EVENT TYPE:  EF5 IN PORTIONS OF PARKERSBURG AND NORTH OF NEW
  HARTFORD

* EVENT LOCATION: 2 MILES S APLINGTON TO PARKERSBURG TO NEW
  HARTFORD AND ACROSS NORTHERN BLACK HAWK COUNTY.

* PEAK WIND: MAXIMUM WINDS OF 205 MPH

* AVERAGE PATH WIDTH: PATH WIDTH RANGED FROM 0.6 TO 0.7 MILES NEAR
  PARKERSBURG TO JUST NORTH OF NEW HARTFORD. THE PATH WIDTH CONSTRICTED
  TO NEAR ONE QUARTER MILE WIDE EAST OF NEW HARTFORD TO NORTH OF
  WATERLOO. PATH WIDTH INCREASED TO NEAR 1.2 MILES WIDE NORTH OF
  DUNKERTON BEFORE DISSIPATING NEAR THE BLACK HAWK AND BUCHANAN
  COUNTY LINE.

* PATH LENGTH: 43 MILES

* INJURIES: PRELIMINARY 70

* FATALITIES: PRELIMINARY 6

* DISCUSSION/DAMAGE: SIGNIFICANT STRUCTURAL DAMAGE OCCURRED ACROSS
  THE SOUTHERN END OF PARKERSBURG AND ALONG A PATH TO JUST NORTH
  OF NEW HARTFORD. NUMEROUS STRUCTURES COMPLETELY DESTROYED FROM
  PARKERSBURG TO NEAR NEW HARTFORD. THE TORNADO CONTINUED EASTWARD
  TO JUST NORTH OF THE WATERLOO AND CEDAR FALLS AREA. SIGNIFICANT
  DAMAGE ALSO OCCURRED NORTH OF DUNKERTON WHERE THE TORNADO
  INCREASED TO ITS GREATEST PATH WIDTH. ADDITIONAL EF2 TO EF3 DAMAGE
  OCCURED NORTHEAST OF DUNKERTON BEFORE THE TORNADO LIFTED SHORTLY
  BEFORE MOVING INTO BUCHANAN COUNTY. THIS STORM ALSO PRODUCED
  SUBSTANTIAL STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE ALONG THE SOUTHERN
  PERIPHERY OF THE STORM JUST SOUTH OF THE TORNADO TRACK.
  PRELIMINARY ESTIMATES THAT STRAIGHT LINE WINDS OF 90 TO 100 MPH
  OCCURRED WITH THIS STORM. AT 537 PM CDT THE WATERLOO AIRPORT
  RECORDED A 93 MPH WIND GUST. INITIAL SURVEY RESULTS SUGGEST THAT
  STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE WAS THE CAUSE OF THE SEVERE DAMAGE AT
  THE RECREATIONAL VEHICLE DEALERSHIP NORTH OF CEDAR FALLS.

  ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDING IMAGES...APPROXIMATE STORM
  TRACK...RADAR DATA...AND PRELIMINARY TIME LINE ARE AVAILABLE AT
  THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES WEBSITE AT:

  WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DMX

&&

FOR REFERENCE...THE FUJITA TORNADO SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO
THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

EF0...WIND SPEEDS 65 TO 85 MPH.
EF1...WIND SPEEDS 86 TO 110 MPH.
EF2...WIND SPEEDS 111 TO 135 MPH.
EF3...WIND SPEEDS 136 TO 165 MPH.
EF4...WIND SPEEDS 166 TO 200 MPH.
EF5...WIND SPEEDS GREATER THAN 200 MPH.

$$

Easing winds and lower temperatures helped keep the blaze from spreading and fire crews now have the blaze 70% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention.

"It's really not moving at all," said David Coursey, a department spokesman.

The fire was expected to be fully surrounded by Tuesday, fire officials said. The blaze still threatened 100 homes.

While some evacuees were being let in on an hour-by-hour basis to survey the damage, hundreds of residents remained under evacuation orders following the outbreak of the fire in the mountainous region about 15 miles south of San Jose.

PARKERSBURG, Iowa (AP) — Severe thunderstorms packing large hail and tornadoes rumbled across the nation's midsection on Sunday, killing at least eight people and damaging dozens of homes, authorities said.

Iowa Homeland Security administrator Dave Miller said seven of the dead were killed by a tornado in northeast Iowa — five from Parkersburg, 80 miles northeast of Des Moines, and two from nearby New Hartford. At least 50 injuries were reported.

"Occasionally we have a death but we have warning system. Seven deaths. It's been a long time since we've had those kinds of injuries and deaths reported," Miller said.

Witnesses reported parts of Parkersburg — particularly the town's southside — were reduced to rubble, including most of the town's high school and homes.

A tornado also struck just to the east in the nearby town of Dunkerton and elsewhere in Black Hawk County, where there were reports of homes damaged or destroyed. Dunkerton has fewer than 800 residents and New Hartford has about 700 people.

At least 20 people were unaccounted for in Minnesota after a swift storm blew through the St. Paul suburb of Hugo, damaging about four dozen homes, City Administrator Mike Ericson said. Many of them could be out of town for the holiday weekend, he said.

A 2-year-old child was killed and the child's sibling was critically injured and taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Washington County Sheriff Bill Hutton said. The children's parents also were hospitalized with injuries sustained in the family home.

"It's horrible," Ericson said. "The citizens are very shook and scared."

Residents reported a tornado touching down in the area, but that hadn't been confirmed by the National Weather Service. Emergency crews descended on the town to look for those who hadn't been accounted for and to assess the damage.

About 300 or 400 homes were evacuated in the storm-damaged area because of concerns over hazards including downed power lines and leaky gas lines, Ericson said. The city set up a shelter at an elementary school for those displaced.

Hugo Public Works Director Chris Petree said his family took shelter in the basement before the storm lifted his house off the ground and completely wiped out the second floor.

 (GR2AE 3D view of tornado that went through Hugo,MN)

HUGO, Minn. (AP) — Severe thunderstorms packing large hail and possible tornadoes rumbled across the nation's midsection on Sunday, killing at least one person, injuring nine others and damaging dozens of homes.

At least 20 people were unaccounted for after a swift storm blew through the St. Paul suburb of Hugo, damaging about four dozen homes, City Administrator Mike Ericson said. Many of them could be out of town for the holiday weekend, he said.

Ericson said a 2-year-old child died.

"It's horrible," Ericson said. "The citizens are very shook and scared."

Hugo Fire Chief Jim Compton said nine people, including a child in critical condition, were taken to area hospitals for treatment.

Residents reported a tornado touching down in the area, but that hadn't been confirmed by the National Weather Service.

Emergency crews descended on the town to look for those who hadn't been accounted for and to assess the damage.

Hugo Public Works Director Chris Petree said his family took shelter in the basement before the storm lifted his house off the ground and completely wiped out the second floor.

"I put my daughter down first, my wife on top of her and then I bear-hugged on top of them," Petree said.

As he huddled in his basement against a foundation wall with his wife and 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Petree said they heard the thunderous sound of their house coming off the ground.

"All you hear is glass breaking and wood tearing and breaking in half," Petree said.

In northeastern Iowa, at least six people were injured, one critically, when a possible tornado touched down near Parkersburg, authorities said.

Jim Waterbury, a spokesman for Allen Hospital in Waterloo, said people came from nearby Grundy Center, Aplington and Eldora for treatment of mild to moderate injuries.

"It looks like most of them are fractures and broken collarbones," Butler County sheriff's department said. "One is in critical condition."

Officials opened Parkersburg's elementary school for evacuees.

A possible tornado also struck the nearby town of Dunkerton, with reports of structures damaged in both cities and in rural Black Hawk County.

Power lines have also been knocked down in the area, leaving many residents without power.