Severe weather strikes Western and North-Central Iowa

Heat and humidity fueled strong thunderstorms that ripped through western Iowa last night. Strong winds blew the roof off a home a few miles southwest of Persia last night. No one was home at the time, and there were no injuries. A wide area from Persia, through Shelby County and into Audubon County, reports various types of wind damage, including uprooted trees, downed tree limbs, and corn flattened by high winds and heavy rain. Farther south, in Page County, a tornado warning was issued when a storm capable of producing a tornado was moving through the county at around 9:30 last night. No tornado was ever spotted, but strong winds caused tree damage in parts of Page County.Wind gusts of 68 and 70 miles an hour were reported in Jewell and Webster City last night about 9 o’clock, prompting the issuing of a Severe Thunderstorm Warning. The Hamilton County Sheriff’s office got a report of a semitruck blown over near the Flying J truck stop near Williams, along with more wind damage in Stanhope. An electrical transformer also caught fire in Webster City, causing an outage.