Tornadoes in Iowa, April 30, 2001

Name: Tornadoes in Iowa, April 30, 2001
Start: 2001-04-30T16:30
End: 2001-04-30T16:55
Location: Iowa

April 30, 2001 · NWS FSD · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Two tornadoes from the same thunderstorm caused no reported damage. Pictures of the tornadoes were taken by a National Weather Service trained spotter.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS FSD wrote it up.

Two tornadoes from the same thunderstorm caused no reported damage. Pictures of the tornadoes were taken by a National Weather Service trained spotter.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 30, 2:40 PM CST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 2:40 PM CST, 1 hour 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR SOUTHEAST SD/SOUTHWEST MN/NORTHWEST IA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
340 PM CDT MON APR 30 2001

SCT SHWRS/TSTMS CONT MOVE OVER NRN PART OF FCST AREA AND ETDND DOWN
THRU W OF FSD AND TO SUX AREA. WILL INCLUDE MENTN IN FCST XCP SWRN
CRNR...BUT JUST FOR EVE AS EXPCT THEY WILL BE OUT FAIRLY QUICKLY
THIS EVE. THEN IT SHUD BE PTCLDY TNGT. PRBLM WITH FNT COMNG THRU SUN
IS GOOD LIFT AND NOT A LOT OF MOISTR WITH OTHER FACTORS UNFVRBL FOR
SFC BASED CONVECTN. WILL MENTN SLGT CHC FOR MID LVL ACTVTY AS SYS
COMES THRU. THEN STARTS THE PRBLM WITH WHEN AND WHERE TO PUT PCPN IN
AS MODELS STALL FNT S OF AREA AND HINT AT THREAT OF SHWRS SRN EDGE
OF AREA FOR A DAY OR TWO...BEFORE THREAT PUSHES FRTHR N DURG EXTNDED
PD. TIMING IS A PRBLM OF SORTS AS DONT LIKE PUTTNG SHWRS IN FOUR
STRAIGHT DAYS WHEN UNLIKELY TO RAIN EACH DAY...BUT THE CHC SEEMS
THERE. WILL GO FOR A DRY LAST DAY ON MON AS ABR HAS. GUIDNCE TEMPS
SO SO BUT MAY BE AS GOOD AS ANYTHNG WITH HVY DEPENDENCE ON CLD
CVR/PCPN FOR HIGHS.

.FSD...NONE
WILLIAMS

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 86 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, O'Brien

When: April 30, 4:30 PM CST to 4:40 PM CST
Where: O'Brien County, 4 mi S of Sheldon
Rating: F0
Path length: 3 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.133, -95.867

Tornado, O'Brien

When: April 30, 4:35 PM CST to 4:55 PM CST
Where: O'Brien County, 5 mi S of Sheldon
Rating: F0
Path length: 3 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.117, -95.867

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Iowa in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Iowa, 2001 Warnings in Iowa, April 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5242839, 5242840.