At Least Six Dead In Iowa Tornado Outbreak

Tornado in Iowa Saturday.
Photo from Twitter by
@Bambino2678

At least seven people have died in a swarm of tornadoes that swept across much of Iowa Saturday.

The worst of the twisters started in the southwestern part of the state, went through the southern and eastern suburbs of Des Moines and on northeast of there. The Des Moines Register reported this was the deadliest tornado in Iowa since an EF-5 hit Parkersburg in 2008. 

Six of the dead were in the town of Winterset,  southwest of Des Moines, and those fatalities sadly included two children under the age of five. At least 25 homes there were hit hard by the EF-3 tornado.

A well-known flower farm in Madison County was destroyed, but the couple who own the farm huddled in their home's basement, and the home survived the tornado mostly intact. 

Video on social media showed a large, wedge-shaped tornado sweeping through the rural landscape of southwest and central Iowa. Video taken after the storm showed some houses completely swept away, leaving empty cellar holes. Boards were embedded into the sides of still-standing homes. 

The Iowa twisters were remarkably well forecasted.  NOAA's Storm Prediction Center began focusing on Iowa four days before the tornadoes hit, and those forecasts remained consistent until the tornadoes hit.

Unfortunately, they struck populated areas.  Despite the tornado warnings, the storms were not survivable for some. 

Tornadoes do hit Iowa from time to time in March, but usually in the later part of the month. They're rather rare during the first week in March that far north.  Iowa's peak tornado season is from late April through May and into June

There were at least 40 reports of tornadoes in Iowa yesterday, but some of these might be duplicates and will have to be sorted out. Saturday's storm hit less than three months after an unprecedented December tornado outbreak unleashed more than 60 tornadoes on Iowa. 

Unfortunately, this isn't over. 

More tornadoes appear likely later today for parts of the Mid-Mississippi Valley, especially in Arkansas and southern Missouri. 

There's a somewhat lesser, but still real chance of tornadoes tomorrow in parts of the Southeast.

WILDFIRES

Meanwhile, other parts of the nation were dealing with early season wildfires.

In the Florida Panhandle, large wildfires have destroyed or damaged several homes and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents, reports the Panama City News Herald.

Hurricane Michael in 2018 leveled pine forests in the region, and all that debris has dried out, especially with a recent lack of rain in the area. The result is some large, destructive fires burning in that area

Thankfully, several days of showers are in the forecast for the Florida Panhandle this week. 

Big grass and wildfires were burning in Oklahoma and Kansas, too.  That region has had several bouts of wildfires this winter amid a drought, and not much rain is in the forecast. . 

Large damaging wildfires raced through Oklahoma and the Florida Panhandle.