Surprise storms produce tornadoes in SW Iowa

Mike Gillespie was getting ready to leave his parents' farm near Williamson on Sunday night, when he walked outside and saw a funnel cloud that would soon form into a ground-touching tornado.

Gillespie, 30, of Lenox, said the tornado switched directions and just missed his parents' farm north of Williamson, a township south of Nevinville in Adams County, but watched it rip through fields and eventually hit a farm, scattering animals around the area.

"I've seen tornadoes before, but this was much bigger, much scarier. It was just insane and crazy," Gillespie said Sunday night. "It sounded like a train coming through with the roars and everything. It was wild."

The tornado, which Gillespie said was on the ground for about 25 minutes, was one arm of a pop-up storm system that unexpectedly whipped through central and southern Iowa late Sunday afternoon and early evening and produced multiple ground-reaching funnels.

The long-lasting storm tracked northwest of Creston in Adams County, with multiple amateur spotter reports tracking the cell.

Ashley Crill, of Prescott, and her family were waiting for the grill to warm up to cook for her mother-in-law's birthday dinner Sunday night when they saw the Williamson tornado form. She watched the cyclone flatten cornfields, uproot trees and throw silos.

"When it was in full force, it sounded like a train," Crill said. "It was very intense."

After the tornado left the immediate vicinity, Crill and her family traveled toward Williamson to see the extent of the damage. But she also saw how neighbors can stick together in an emergency situation.

"Being in a small community, people go over to check on each other," she said. 'There were people patching the roof of a neighbor minutes after the storm had hit. It's nice to know your neighbors have your back."

The damage reported with the Adams County storm was consistent with that of isolated tornadoes indicated by radar in nearby Union County and in Taylor County in southwest Iowa.

Amid the tornadic activity, severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for more than 10 central and southern Iowa counties, leaving reports of 60-mph winds, more than 2 inches of local rainfall and hail up to 2.5 inches in diameter (or near-baseball-sized) in Jasper County. Several locations throughout southern Iowa were reporting golf-ball-sized hail.

The storms exploded after what had been a clear day throughout much of Iowa as late as 4:30 p.m. But a slow-moving cold front mixed with temperatures soaring into the mid-90s combined to produce potent thunderstorms that first developed over the top of the Des Moines metro by 5 p.m.

Locally heavy downpours and widespread severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for Polk, Dallas and Madison counties shortly thereafter, with wind gusts topping 60 mph and causing isolated tree damage and limited power outages.

Among the more eyebrow-raising reports was a toppled semi truck that was tipped on its side near the Costco in West Des Moines. But the vehicle was soon righted, and a West Des Moines fire department spokesperson said reports of other damage were minimal. The storms left the metro almost as quickly as they developed.

Once the activity had established itself on a line across Adams and Union counties, however, the storms stalled and produced heavy downpours for around two hours.

Yet, both the Adams County and Union County sheriff's offices as of 9 p.m. Sunday said they haven't had any calls of serious weather-related damage.

By 9:30 p.m. Sunday, the National Weather Service had canceled all Iowa warnings, as the storms had moved across the state line into Missouri.