***Official 2024 Weather Thread***

West Des Moines really dodged a bullet with the EF0 that was briefly on the ground near Maffitt Reservoir. That was tracking towards Glen Oaks and the Mills Civic/EP True area which could have been really really bad.

Yep. We were in that area on Friday evening at a kid's school activity. The people in charge (wisely) came out before it was done and said we're ending early, everyone go home, you've got 30 minutes before the bad stuff gets here. It went right over that area, but fortunately didn't touch down.
 
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West Des Moines really dodged a bullet with the EF0 that was briefly on the ground near Maffitt Reservoir. That was tracking towards Glen Oaks and the Mills Civic/EP True area which could have been really really bad.

I’ll have to go back and look at radar images but iirc after that circulation occluded or dissipated the same cell either recycled or was ingested by or merged with what put down the Pleasant Hill tornado.
 
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I’ll have to go back and look at radar images but iirc after that circulation occluded or dissipated the same cell either recycled or was ingested by or merged with what put down the Pleasant Hill tornado.

I think that was a different one. Same front just a little further south.
 
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Yep. We were in that area on Friday evening at a kid's school activity. The people in charge (wisely) came out before it was done and said we're ending early, everyone go home, you've got 30 minutes before the bad stuff gets here. It went right over that area, but fortunately didn't touch down.
I was in Omaha on Friday afternoon. Was sheltering from the tornadic activity there. Thought I had a window to make it back to WDM. Briefly ran into the back side hail of the cell that hit Minden. Rerouted back south on I29 into sunny skies in Council Bluffs before making the mad dash on I80 for home. Started hitting heavy rain near Stuart. Absolute deluge at the construction zone west of Waukee before finally getting home about 10 minutes before sirens went off in WDM. Craziest day of actually being near some of the worst stuff in a long time.
 
I was in Omaha on Friday afternoon. Was sheltering from the tornadic activity there. Thought I had a window to make it back to WDM. Briefly ran into the back side hail of the cell that hit Minden. Rerouted back south on I29 into sunny skies in Council Bluffs before making the mad dash on I80 for home. Started hitting heavy rain near Stuart. Absolute deluge at the construction zone west of Waukee before finally getting home about 10 minutes before sirens went off in WDM. Craziest day of actually being near some of the worst stuff in a long time.
You were unwittingly a storm chaser even though you didn't want to.
 
For the weather experts out there: seems like we're in a period of activity for the next 10+ days? My forecast in central Iowa shows a decent chance of rain every day through the 10-day.
Tomorrow will bring another chance of severe weather to E NE/W IA.
It is amazing the power of some of these storms, let alone any tornado. This is the season.

We were hit, SW MO, 4-30-19. I will always look at weather alerts and tornados differently now. They are truly random and horrible when they strike.
 
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I’m curious what the iowa drought status is after the last week or so of rain we’ve had . Anyone know where this is monitored/posted?
 
Pretty sure we have gotten more rain in the last 10 days than we did all of last year.
I'm in Ankeny and I'm below normal for the month of April, unless we get an inch tomorrow. Much of SE Shelby, Audubon, Carroll and Greene Counties have had a drier than normal April. Benton County has as well.

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... Officials believe the tornado in Minden was a "very strong" EF3, which can have wind speeds of up to 165 mph, according to a preliminary report. Evidence shows it started about 3 miles east of McClelland and intensified, widening "to approximately 800 yards as it impacted the town of Minden."
NWS believes the storm itself produced several vortexes, with evidence indicating some areas in Minden sustained damage from an EF1 tornado just 100 yards from where the higher wind speeds struck. The tornado continued northeast for about 45 miles, throwing at least one home off the foundation and overturning a semi before narrowly missing the town of Defiance. At one point the tornado was estimated to be a mile wide, the NWS said.
Damage from other tornadoes was reported in multiple counties from Crawford to Union and Ringgold up to Polk and Jasper counties. At least six were rated EF2, including the one that struck Pleasant Hill in the Des Moines metro.
Damage is still being evaluated, and NWS says additional tornado tracks and ratings will be added in coming days. ...
 
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