Severe storms rolled into eastern Iowa on Tuesday night, producing a small tornado several miles north of Iowa City.
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch Tuesday evening, warning of the possibility of golf ball-sized hail and a few scattered tornadoes. The watch also said that wind gusts of 70 miles per hour were likely.
More than four million people were in the path of the warning, which covered portions of Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri.
The area was also under a flood watch through 7 a.m. on Wednesday.
The National Weather Service forecasted earlier Tuesday that the majority of the slow-moving storms would roll through much of Johnson County by 8 p.m., while the later threat would impact counties to the south.
More: Northwest Iowans work to save their homes as rivers overtop levees, force evacuations
Follow along for updates:
11:30 a.m.: NWS confirms EF0 tornado in southern Linn County
A National Weather Service damage analysis confirmed that an EF0 tornado rolled through southern Linn County near the town of Ely on Tuesday evening.
The "landspout" tornado damaged crops, trees and a power pole, the NWS said. The twister reached a width of 50 yards at its peak.
The rotation lasted about 13 minutes, producing peak wind speeds of 85 miles per hour, earning the least severe rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale . The National Weather Service has used the Fujita for decades to "rate" tornadoes based on several factors.
Most notably, it tracks damage on the ground and estimates wind speeds based on that damage.
11 a.m.: Reporting storm damage in Johnson County
The Johnson County Iowa Emergency Management Agency and Commission have been responding to storm damage, including fallen trees on a house in Iowa City, broken windows, and flooded basements in Coralville and North Liberty.
Most of the damage reported Tuesday night was handled by 6 a.m. this morning.
None of the damage appears to be catastrophic, according to local Emergency Management, though more solid numbers available in the coming days.
Johnson County Emergency Management has filed a request to turn on Individual Disaster Assistance Programs (IIAGP and DCA) for those who have experienced damage but are still waiting for approval. IIAGP is an Iowa initiative to help individuals and households recover from disasters like tornadoes and floods.
The Emergency Management Agency and Commission suggests residents fill out an EMA Damage Assessment Form.
10 a.m.: Strong winds, hail hit Iowa City area Tuesday night
The Iowa City airport officially reported 0.80 inches of rain from the storms that hit Iowa City from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Other scattered areas of Iowa City and Johnson County have reported rainfall totals closer to 1.5 inches.
Two slow-moving patterns merged over Iowa City, causing damaging wind gusts, heavy rainfall, and hail.
Johnson County Emergency Management said in a social media post that they received reports of golf ball-sized hail in Solon and wind gusts up to nearly 70 mph. The organization said a few trees were blown into homes and power lines, and they also heard reports of flooded basements in Coralville.
The National Weather Service is conducting surveys for a possible tornado in Ely, which is near the Johnson County and Linn County line. There were also reports of a tornado near Preston, Iowa, an hour-and-a-half drive north of Iowa City near Clinton.
Currently, Johnson County is not under a flood watch or a warning. However, the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids is under a flood warning until Sunday.
MidAmerican Energy is reporting nearly 1,300 customers without power in eastern Iowa City after a line of strong thunderstorms rolled through the area.
Crews are already working and the company is estimating that power will be restored by 9:30 p.m. this evening.
After almost 90 minutes, Iowa City and Coralville's transit services have resumed, the organizations said.
Many of the severe thunderstorm warnings blanketing eastern Iowa, including the tornado warning for eastern Johnson County, were not extended and expired at 7:45 p.m.
Another radar-indicated tornado in southeastern Johnson County and the continued threat of strong wind gusts reaching 80 miles per hour prompted more sirens across the county and a tornado warning through 7:45 p.m.
West Liberty is directly in the path of this NWS warning.
A severe thunderstorm warning was also issued for communities including Hills, Riverside, Lone Tree and West Liberty through 8:15 p.m.
NWS warned that this storm was "destructive" and would contain wind gusts reaching 80 miles per hour.
NWS issued a severe thunderstorm warning that stretches from Tiffin in the western portion of Johnson County all the way east through parts of Cedar County through 7:45 p.m. Tuesday.
The warning covers Iowa City, North Liberty and Coralville. The primary threats are wind gusts reaching 60 miles per hour and quarter-sized hail, according to NWS.
Rain was falling and lightning was flashing in the area shortly after 6:40 p.m.
The earlier tornado warning prompted Iowa City Transit to suspend service, the transportation agency said in a text just before 6:20 p.m. Coralville transit also confirmed that it would suspend service as the storms rolled through.
Iowa City Transit will provide an update when service resumes.
NWS issued a severe thunderstorm warning just before 6:25 p.m. on Tuesday for areas west and south of the Iowa City metro until 7:15 p.m.
6:05 p.m . : Tornado warning for Johnson County
NWS issued a tornado warning for portions of Johnson County until 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, allowing it to expire before issuing its severe thunderstorm warning.
The warning said radar had located a "severe storm capable of producing a tornado" and that tornadic rotation was radar-indicated .
Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa City residents lose power in Tuesday night storm. Small tornado confirmed in Ely
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