Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2026

Tornado Warning 76, NWS Des Moines, IA

August 13, 2026Greene County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Aug 13, 2026, 5:46 AM CDT for Greene County, Iowa. It was in force for 29 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 13, 2026, 5:46 AM CDT (10:46 UTC)
Expired
Aug 13, 2026, 6:15 AM CDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Storm-based polygon
Tornado
Radar indicated
Hail
0.0 in

County Greene County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:47 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this tornado warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 13, 1:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 179 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2026-08-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2691 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2026-08-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
2691 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-151 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1336 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
129 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

357 
WFUS53 KDMX 131046
TORDMX
IAC073-131115-
/O.NEW.KDMX.TO.W.0076.260813T1046Z-260813T1115Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
Tornado Warning
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
546 AM CDT Thu Aug 13 2026

The National Weather Service in Des Moines has issued a

* Tornado Warning for...
  Greene County in west central Iowa...

* Until 615 AM CDT.

* At 546 AM CDT, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado
  was located over Scranton, or 10 miles west of Jefferson, moving
  northeast at 35 mph.

  HAZARD...Tornado.

  SOURCE...Radar indicated rotation.

  IMPACT...Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without 
           shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. 
           Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur.  Tree 
           damage is likely.

* This dangerous storm will be near...
  Scranton and Ralston around 550 AM CDT.
  Churdan around 600 AM CDT.

Other locations impacted by this tornadic thunderstorm include Dana,
Churdan, Grand Junction, Paton, Scranton, Jefferson Municipal
Airport, Rippey, and Ralston.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TAKE COVER NOW! Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest
floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows. If you are outdoors, in a
mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter
and protect yourself from flying debris.

&&

LAT...LON 4192 9451 4199 9462 4220 9462 4220 9417
      4194 9418
TIME...MOT...LOC 1046Z 226DEG 32KT 4200 9458 

TORNADO...RADAR INDICATED
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.00 IN

$$

Hahn
2 follow-up statements
186 
WWUS53 KDMX 131102
SVSDMX

Severe Weather Statement
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
602 AM CDT Thu Aug 13 2026

IAC073-131115-
/O.CON.KDMX.TO.W.0076.000000T0000Z-260813T1115Z/
Greene IA-
602 AM CDT Thu Aug 13 2026

...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 615 AM CDT FOR CENTRAL
GREENE COUNTY...

At 602 AM CDT, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado
was located near Churdan, or 6 miles northwest of Jefferson, moving
northeast at 35 mph.

HAZARD...Tornado.

SOURCE...Radar indicated rotation.

IMPACT...Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without 
         shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage 
         to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur.  Tree damage is 
         likely.

This dangerous storm will be near...
  Paton around 615 AM CDT.

Other locations impacted by this tornadic thunderstorm include Dana,
Churdan, Grand Junction, Jefferson Municipal Airport, Paton, and
Rippey.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TAKE COVER NOW! Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest
floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows. If you are outdoors, in a
mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter
and protect yourself from flying debris.

&&

LAT...LON 4193 9433 4205 9457 4220 9457 4220 9417
      4194 9418
TIME...MOT...LOC 1102Z 226DEG 32KT 4210 9444 

TORNADO...RADAR INDICATED
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.00 IN

$$

Hahn
710 
WWUS53 KDMX 131113
SVSDMX

Severe Weather Statement
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
613 AM CDT Thu Aug 13 2026

IAC073-131122-
/O.EXP.KDMX.TO.W.0076.000000T0000Z-260813T1115Z/
Greene IA-
613 AM CDT Thu Aug 13 2026

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR CENTRAL GREENE COUNTY WILL EXPIRE AT 615
AM CDT...

The storm which prompted the warning has weakened below severe
limits, and no longer appears capable of producing a tornado.
Therefore, the warning will be allowed to expire.  However, gusty
winds are still possible with this thunderstorm.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch remains in effect until 800 AM CDT for
west central Iowa.

Remember, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning still remains in effect for
central Greene County until 630 AM CDT.

LAT...LON 4193 9433 4205 9457 4220 9457 4220 9417
      4194 9418
TIME...MOT...LOC 1112Z 226DEG 32KT 4216 9435 

$$

Hahn

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Des Moines, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Aug 13, 3:24 AM CDT, 2 hours 22 minutes earlier. Its key messages:

  • Early morning thunderstorms, some severe, are expected this morning, then scattered thunderstorm chances last through this afternoon and evening. Damaging winds are the primary threat with isolated large hail, locally heavy rain, and a tornado or two also possible this morning.
  • Additional thunderstorms are possible overnight and early Friday morning with some amount of uncertainty due to the evolution of this morning's storms. These storms could be severe with pockets of heavy rain as well.
  • The pattern remains active with storms chances through the weekend and early next week.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 13, 3:24 AM CDT, 2 hours 22 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
324 AM CDT Thu Aug 13 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Early morning thunderstorms, some severe, are expected this
  morning, then scattered thunderstorm chances last through this
  afternoon and evening. Damaging winds are the primary threat
  with isolated large hail, locally heavy rain, and a tornado or
  two also possible this morning.

- Additional thunderstorms are possible overnight and early
  Friday morning with some amount of uncertainty due to the
  evolution of this morning's storms. These storms could be
  severe with pockets of heavy rain as well.

- The pattern remains active with storms chances through the
  weekend and early next week.

&&

.SHORT TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY/...
Issued at 302 AM CDT Thu Aug 13 2026

Thunderstorms are expected yet again this morning, once again with
severe potential. Compared to the past several nights, this looks
like the 'best' setup for severe thunderstorms across western and
central Iowa. Storms have formed driven by pronounced shortwave
energy that has been notably lacking the past several mornings and
are making their way east across Nebraska. Mesoanalysis suggests a
strong cape gradient across the state which the line which the line
will ride on. At the same time, there is ample shear across the
state. One of the failure modes for previous nights would be the low
level jet (LLJ) being farther to the south than guidance suggested.
Given the better synoptic forcing, there is less reliance on the LLJ
for this round of storms. There are still some questions about the
strength of the MCS as it moves across the state. Radar trends show
new updrafts forming in front of the main MCS and the 05z HRRR shows
a 'one-two punch' with these updrafts growing upscale quickly before
being overrun by the main MCS. If the updrafts out ahead do form
into another line, this will lessen the blow of the MCS as it moves
into the area and gets overrun. However, if these updrafts prove to
be transient and we only see the main MCS, the potential ceiling is
much higher in terms of our severe weather threat. Damaging winds
are the primary threat once again, as with isolated instances of
large hail and locally heavy rainfall, especially over any built up
cities or towns. There is also a low QLCS tornado potential, though
there is high uncertainty on the location of where the QLCS tornado
threat is highest and this is further complicated by the potential
for two lines. Should this MCS take a classic bowing shape, the
northern side of the bow would be favored for QLCS spinups given the
orientation of bulk shear vectors relative to the MCS itself.
Otherwise, the threat will remain lower pending storm
interactions. As for the heavy rainfall threat, this line
should be fairly progressive through the morning hours. Locally
heavy rainfall is still possible and flash flooding would become
a concern over cities and towns where drainage is not as good.

Once the MCS clears our area which looks to be around the early
afternoon hours, most areas should remain dry, although some
guidance hints at lingering showers and storms in north central
Iowa on the warm air advection wing, which leads us into tonight.
Guidance is still rather split on how everything is handled Thursday
night into Friday. Compared to previous runs, guidance is starting
to trend later with with warm air advection precipitation. Some
guidance suggests more robust convection earlier on, while other
solutions are more showery through part of the night. A lot of this
hinges on what our MCS does with the boundary currently analyzed
across Missouri. There is a solution where the outflow from this
morning's MCS will counteract that boundary moving north into Iowa,
which would have further implications on convection overnight. If
the boundary remains farther to the south, anything that forms over
Iowa would be more stable and the severe threat would be rather low.
There are other solutions where the boundary could make it into Iowa
and, paired with better forcing, some level of severe potential
would exist. We are expecting showers and storms even if they
are not severe and rain amounts could start to add up, making
flash flooding a concern. See the HYDROLOGY section for a few
more details.

Following this warm air advection today, highs will once again
poke up a bit - into the mid to upper 80s across southern and
central Iowa (pending cloud cover clearing) with the mid to
upper 70s farther north where scattered precipitation is
expected throughout the day.

&&

.LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
Issued at 142 PM CDT Wed Aug 12 2026

Overnight convection lingers into Friday morning with continued
hydro concerns into the day. The pattern remains active through the
weekend and upcoming week as wave continue to ride across the
thermal ridge in this "ring of fire" set up. Repeated rounds of
convection will rely on earlier rounds for both placement and
strength. A few lulls in convection are possible next week, but
timing out which days this may occur is difficult at this time
range.

&&

.AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z FRIDAY/...
Issued at 1133 PM CDT Wed Aug 12 2026

Primarily VFR conditions prevail this evening, although sporadic
MVFR ceilings have occurred with patchy stratus. These
conditions will generally persist through the morning, although
a shallow fog may also develop at times. As we get closer to day
break, there is high confidence that a thunderstorm complex
will pass through the area, potentially impacting all sites.
All sites may be impacted, but KDSM has the highest confidence
with an arrival around 12z for that terminal. Strong winds and heavy
rain may accompany the main line of storms. The rest of the
sites remain on the fringes, but will likely see rain or storms
as well. Low clouds then follow this system, keeping at least
MVFR conditions over Iowa through the day Thursday. More
scattered showers and storms are possible Thursday afternoon.

&&

.HYDROLOGY...
Issued at 302 AM CDT Thu Aug 13 2026

Pwats of 1.5 to 2" today become largely over 2" on Friday,
peaking near 2.5" by Friday evening. These will be paired with
warm cloud depths, several rounds of rain, and the potential for
training storms, and 1-2" per hour rain rates or more with
thunderstorms. Although there remains some uncertainty with the
corridor of highest rain amounts today through Friday, west
central Iowa in particular has the potential to see some
excessive rainfall where rainfall amounts may start to reach
towards 3-5" or more. Similar rain amounts may start to add up
through portions of central and then east central Iowa into
Friday morning and then evening with subsequent rounds of rain
and many models are hinting at some localized amounts even
higher. A Flood Watch for Flash Flooding was hoisted that may
have a wider coverage area than needed, but with some lingering
uncertainty in the exact placement of highest rain amounts,
wanted to make sure the watch covered the potential different
threat areas which range from southern to central Iowa to
central to north central Iowa. Central Iowa does appear the most
likely regardless from around the I-80 to Highway 20 corridors.
The main concerns with the excessive rain amounts are flash
flooding, especially in urban and poor drainage areas, though
some rises on area rivers and streams is likely.

&&

.DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Flood Watch through Friday afternoon for IAZ023>028-033>039-
044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086-097.

&&

SHORT TERM...67
LONG TERM...Hagenhoff
AVIATION...Dodson
HYDROLOGY...05
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 12, 7:16 PM CDT, 10 hours 30 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
716 PM CDT Wed Aug 12 2026

IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-
081>086-092>097-131500-
Emmet-Kossuth-Winnebago-Worth-Palo Alto-Hancock-Cerro Gordo-
Pocahontas-Humboldt-Wright-Franklin-Butler-Bremer-Sac-Calhoun-
Webster-Hamilton-Hardin-Grundy-Black Hawk-Crawford-Carroll-Greene-
Boone-Story-Marshall-Tama-Audubon-Guthrie-Dallas-Polk-Jasper-
Poweshiek-Cass-Adair-Madison-Warren-Marion-Mahaska-Adams-Union-
Clarke-Lucas-Monroe-Wapello-Taylor-Ringgold-Decatur-Wayne-
Appanoose-Davis-
716 PM CDT Wed Aug 12 2026

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of central Iowa.

.DAY ONE...Tonight

Thunderstorms are likely in parts of IOwa late tonight into
Thursday morning. Some storms may be severe, with damaging wind
gusts and locally heavy rainfall.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday

Additional chances for thunderstorms continue through the end of
this week. Severe weather and excessive rainfall are possible at
times through at least Friday.

Warm and humid conditions are expected to continue into late this
week over southern Iowa, where heat index values may near 100
degrees at times.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation may be needed at times over the next few days.
Severe weather and rainfall reports are also appreciated.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 13, 5:25 AM CDT, 21 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
525 AM CDT Thu Aug 13 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0519 AM     Tstm Wnd Gst     7 SW Gray               41.77N 95.08W
08/13/2026  M66 MPH          Audubon            IA   Mesonet

            Measured from personal weather station.

&&

67
Local storm report, Aug 13, 5:33 AM CDT, 13 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
533 AM CDT Thu Aug 13 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0529 AM     Tstm Wnd Gst     1 NW Audubon            41.73N 94.94W
08/13/2026  M64 MPH          Audubon            IA   Mesonet

            Measured from personal weather station.

&&

67

The office that day

Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 13, 2:53 AM CDTFlood WatchDMXAdair, Adams, Appanoose, Audubon, Black Hawk, Boone and 38 more55 hr
Aug 13, 4:29 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCrawford46 min
Aug 13, 4:44 AM CDTTornado WarningDMXCarroll, Crawford31 min
Aug 13, 5:09 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAudubon, Carroll, Crawford, Greene, Guthrie51 min
Aug 13, 5:30 AM CDTTornado WarningDMXCarroll30 min
Aug 13, 5:51 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBoone, Carroll, Dallas, Greene, Guthrie, Polk39 min
Aug 13, 6:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBoone, Dallas, Jasper, Marshall, Polk, Story48 min
Aug 13, 6:44 AM CDTTornado WarningDMXMarshall, Story20 min
Aug 13, 6:48 AM CDTTornado Warning Tornado observedDMXJasper, Marshall, Polk, Story27 min
Aug 13, 7:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJasper, Marshall, Poweshiek, Story, Tama49 min
Aug 13, 8:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMahaska, Wapello42 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 2026Every tornado warning in 2026Tornadoes in 2026

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.