Power Outage in Tipton, IA

A tornado developed just west of Tipton, and tracked northeast through the Clarence area before lifting just south of the Cedar-Jones County line. The tornado tore the roof off a house just west of Tipton and uprooted large trees. The tornado also snapped power poles and caused significant damage to outbuildings.

A tornado developed just west of Tipton, and tracked northeast through the Clarence area before lifting just south of the Cedar-Jones County line. The tornado tore the roof off a house just west of Tipton and uprooted large trees. The tornado also snapped power poles and caused significant damage to outbuildings.

A tornado touched down 3 miles north of Atalissa, Iowa in Cedar County, snapping power poles and large trees along its path. It caused significant damage to two homes southwest of Bennett, Iowa, and flipped over a semi along interstate 80. It also damaged several concrete block silos south of Bennett. The tornado continued to track to the northeast through a rural area, causing sporadic tree damage. The tornado entered extreme northwest Scott County about a third of a mile south of 220th St., then travelled around one mile before entering Clinton County about a half mile west of the intersection of 280th St. and 110th Ave. The tornado then dissipated about 2 miles south of Wheatland. The peak winds were estimated at 120 mph. The tornado was rated EF-2 in Cedar County, and EF-0 in Scott and Clinton Counties.

The Emergency Manager reported power lines down south of Tipton. The time of the event was estimated using radar.

Widespread straight-line winds that produced extensive damage were reported throughout Cedar County, associated with a derecho. These winds lasted around an hour in total at any one location, even though the initial line of storms moved out quickly. Damaging straight-line winds continued and were associated with the rear inflow jet. Maximum wind speeds were estimated to be 80 to 120 MPH for much of the county. These estimates were determined based off NWS Storm Surveys, damage reports and photos submitted through social media. The duration of strong winds caused extensive damage to most trees, powerlines, crops, and structures in their path. The widespread damage also resulted in long duration power outages.

A tornado caused damage at a farmstead in Johnson county, and crossed into Cedar County just south of the Cedar River, around 3.5 miles NW of Cedar Bluff. The tornado downed power poles east of Sutliff. The tornado was rated as EF-0 in Johnson County, with maximum winds of 85 mph. The rating in Cedar County was EF-1, with maximum winds around 110 mph. Johnson and Cedar County Emergency Management provided assistance in completing the survey.

A NWS COOP observer reported 5.2 inches of snow in Lowden Iowa, with 0.2 new ice accumulation on tree limbs. Significant blowing and drifting snow was widespread over the area with white out conditions at times lingering through the day of February 12. Power outages from down power lines, power poles, and tree branch damage were widespread.

Trees and power lines down across Highway 38. The public report time is estimated from radar data.

Law Enforcement has received several reports of limbs and trees down in Tipton. One of these limbs fell on powerlines and brought them down.

Gusty winds around 35 mph and a rotting core caused a tree to fall across both lanes of Main Street in West Branch, IA at 824 pm CDT May 25. The tree fell onto some cable and power lines near the intersection of Main St and North Maple.

Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph split a tree in half in Tipton, IA around 250 pm CDT September 21. A large branch from the tree fell onto some power lines.

Winds estimated to be 60 mph blew down some power lines.

A spotter reported one inch accumulation of ice in Tipton. Numerous trees and power lines down in Tipton and throughout the county.

Storm entered Cedar County from Johnson County northwest of Downey. At the West Branch exit on Interstate 80 a loaded semi was blown over. Trees and power lines were downed in West Branch along with baseball sized hail 4 miles east of the town. A barn and outbuilding were destroyed just before Springdale on county route F44. Based on KDVN 88D velocity data, the last expected severe damage was done 4.6 miles southwest of Lowden. The co-operative observer in Lowden only reported a peak wind gust of 37 knots (43 mph) when the storm moved through. Estimated times (all CST) for the West Branch area are 2025 and 2042 for Tipton.

According to some, many areas in Tipton resembled a war zone. Damaging winds of 70 mph knocked down or severely damaged more than 50 trees causing thousands of dollars in damage. Some city blocks lost 2 or 3 large trees, and there was damage to several homes. Also, trees fell on at least 4 vehicles and power was knocked out in some areas. Several streets including Highway 38 were blocked by downed trees. While damage was widespread, areas along 4th and 5th Streets were hit hardest. Some nuisance flooding was also reported around 5th and Plum Streets and Cedar and 10th Streets.