Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Iowa, June 5, 1994

Two mesoscale convective systems developed over South Dakota and northern Nebraska during the evening hours of the 4th and merged into one large mesoscale convective complex. These developed in response to an approaching cold front and an upper level trough moving through the north-central United States. Moisture streamed north on a 30 to 40 kt low level jet to feed the system during the evening with 850 mb dew point temperatures in the area of 13° C. Much of what the complex produced was heavy rainfall and gusty winds. There were spotty reports of hail, but nothing of any real significance. A few of the cells were severe. The first report of severe weather in Iowa came from Plymouth County north of Sioux City. Winds of 70 to 80 mph knocked down trees and caused some roof damage at a farmstead along County Road K22, about 10 miles north of Sioux City. The storms moved into the city of Sioux City a short time later, uprooting trees and downing power lines. A mobile home park was hit where several mobile homes were overturned and a few small buildings were knocked off their foundations. There were other spotty reports of wind damage around northwest and west-central Iowa. Road signs were blown over by the winds near Galva in Ida County. The complex spawned a couple of small tornadoes. The first touched down briefly west of Galva. The county sheriff reported the tornado destroyed a few outbuildings during the brief time it was on the ground. Another tornado touched down in Buena Vista County. It first touched down south of Sulphur Springs. It hit a farmstead there where it totally destroyed a garage. The tornado tracked east across open country toward Newell. The last report of damage was west of Newell, where several trees were downed along the tornado path. The last tornado report came from southern Iowa much later. A funnel cloud was sighted in the Guss area, about five miles north of Gravity, in Taylor County. It touched down briefly, becoming a tornado, over a small lake there. It was fortunate that it only made a cameo appearance as the area of touchdown was a camping area. A nearby house was struck by lightning by the same storm. Although there was no fire, the damage to the house was significant. The lightning destroyed all of the wiring in the house and peeled the gutters off of it all the way around. The storms produced high winds over a large area. There were two injuries as a result of the winds. As the storms moved through Buena Vista County, high winds buffeted the Lakeside area. A campground on the west end of town was hit. A total of eight tents were downed by the winds, two of which were mangled beyond repair. Two campers were injured by flying debris. The injuries were minor cuts and neither camper required hospitalization.