Derecho event spawned Des Moines metro tornado

DES MOINES, Iowa — A strong area of storms developed Monday afternoon as Channel 13 Meteorologists forecasted earlier in the day and is now confirmed to be the beginning of a derecho event across the Midwest. The storms fired up near the Carroll area expanding southward to the Des Moines Metro where a tornado occurred. The complex of storms pushed east leading to heavy rain, damaging winds from Iowa to Michigan. Take a look at a timelapse of the derecho below:

A thunderstorm event qualifies as a derecho when the following two elements are met:
1. Wind damage swath extends a minimum of 400 miles
2. Wind gust reports along the entirety of the path are greater than 58 mph

Here is how yesterday’s weather event developed. A cold front moved south across Iowa. It met up with a strong ridge which produced extreme heat over Iowa during the 4 days leading up to Monday. The front and storms ushered in cooler conditions but not without producing severe weather damage through segments of the Des Moines Metro and Central Iowa.

Storms developed first around Carroll mid-afternoon Monday. The first storm reports included large and wind damage near and around Carroll.

The storms progressed toward the metro arriving by 5 PM. At approximately 5:40 PM, one storm cell began to produce rotation right over Urbandale prompting a tornado warning. The most serious damage with that storm extends from just southeast of the 86th Street/Douglas intersection in Urbandale through the Karen Acres neighborhood, crossing the intersection of 63rd/Hickman to the lower Merle Hay and Franklin Ave. neighborhoods, Glendale Cemetary to Polk Blvd. and finally near and around Ingersoll Ave. on the west end.

The National Weather Service Des Moines office meteorologists will be storm surveying this area to determine the track and strength of the tornado on Tuesday.

Storm reports of tornadoes and high winds continued to come in across eastern Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan late into the overnight. The Storm Prediction Center determined Tuesday morning that this storm was the beginning of a derecho event.

Besides severe weather, the storm brought rainfall to some communities in Iowa. The highest totals fell in Iowa Falls with 1.34″ and only a trace was measured at the Des Moines International Airport. The heaviest rain fell in Cedar Rapids and Dubuque.

• Iowa Falls 1.34″
• Bondurant 1.0″
• Altoona 0.57″
• Ankeny 0.54″
• Gilbert 0.51″
• Webster City 0.49″
• Pella 0.47″
• Grinnell 0.46″
• Marshalltown 0.42″
• Hampton 0.30″
• Ames 0.29″
• Boone 0.29″
• North side of Des Moines 0.27
• Carlisle 0.26″
• Newton 0.23″
• Oskaloosa 0.22″
• Urbandale 0.19″
• Dallas Center 0.14″
• Waukee 0.13″
• Adel 0.04″
• Des Moines Airport: Trace

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