Heavy rains and strong winds swept through Iowa late Sunday afternoon into this morning. The situation prompted flash flood, severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings. Meteorologist Ben Moyer says the National Weather Service office in Johnston received 117 reports of severe weather from around the state.
He says the highest measured winds were in Boone, at 82 miles per hour. Seventy-five mile per hour winds were reported around Bloomfield in southeast Iowa. There were several reports of tornados. "We have not been able to confirm them as of yet, although we do believe some of the reports are legitimate…especially near Newton, Elkhart, Ankeny and down towards Lake Rathbun later on," Moyer said.
There have been no reports of injuries and most of the damage involves downed trees. MidAmerican Energy had nearly 4,000 customers without power in the Fort Dodge area at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Electricity has since been restored to nearly all of those customers. Around Des Moines, the number of power outages topped 13,000. That number is now under 3,000.
Moyer says Iowans can brace themselves for more severe weather throughout this week. "Today it’s going to be confined mainly towards the overnight hours once again," Moyer said. "We should have a line of thunderstorms moving southeast through central Iowa, especially after sunset." Moyer says tonight’s storms could include isolated tornadoes, damaging winds, 2 to 4 inches of rain and large hail. Thunderstorms are also in the forecast for parts of Iowa on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
