Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Iowa, August 19, 2009

Name: Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Iowa, August 19, 2009
Start: 2009-08-19T12:50
End: 2009-08-19T16:23
Location: Iowa

August 19, 2009 · NWS DVN · 4 events in 3 counties and zones

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: $180,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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 DVN wrote it up.

Late morning and early afternoon sunshine was the fuel for a couple rounds of showers and thunderstorms across the region August 19. The storms brought heavy rain to most areas, with rainfall amounts between a half inch and and inch and a half common. In addition, tornadoes were reported from central Illinois all the way up to the Twin Cities. This included touchdowns near Stanley and Martelle, IA. With all of the cloud cover during the afternoon, high temperatures only topped out in the upper 70s to lower 80s.

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 Quad Cities, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 19, 10:10 AM CST, 2 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 19, 10:10 AM CST, 2 hours 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
1110 AM CDT WED AUG 19 2009

.UPDATE...
WARM AIR ADVECTION OVER THE REGION WITH BROAD PRESSURE FALLS
OCCURRING. DECENT LOW LEVEL JET TO 35 KNOTS SEEN ON PROFILER NETWORK
MAINTAINING BAND OF SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS PUSHING INTO SE
IA AND NORTHERN MO. WITH CLOUD COVER RAPIDLY SPREADING NORTHEAST
AHEAD OF BAND OF PRECIPITATION INSTABILITY WILL BE LIMITED. THIS
AREA OF SHOWERS AND SCATTERED STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO PROGRESS
NORTHEAST OVER ALL OF THE CWA LATE THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON AHEAD
OF WARM FRONT LIFTING OUT OF MO.

WARM FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE REGION LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING
BUT FORECAST SOUNDINGS INDICATE A STRENGTHENING CAP. THEREFORE
APPEARS SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL BE MORE SCATTERED THIS EVENING SO
HAVE LOWERED POPS.

THE MAIN EVENT LOOKS TO BE AFTER MIDNIGHT. THIS IS WHEN WE WILL HAVE
DEWPOINTS OF AT LEAST 70...STRONG DYNAMICS AND COLD FRONT ARRIVING
FROM THE WEST. SOUNDINGS INDICATE STRONG WIND FIELDS WITH 500 MB
WINDS OF 60 KNOTS. THIS SUGGESTS POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGING WINDS IN THE
WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING ALONG WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL.

&&

.AVIATION...
OCNL SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT WITH MVFR
CONDITIONS.

&&

.DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
IA...NONE.
IL...NONE.
MO...NONE.

&&

HAASE

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 19, 11:11 AM CST, 1 hour 39 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
1211 PM CDT WED AUG 19 2009

IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007-
009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-201630-
BUCHANAN-DELAWARE-DUBUQUE-BENTON-LINN-JONES-JACKSON-IOWA-JOHNSON-
CEDAR-CLINTON-MUSCATINE-SCOTT-KEOKUK-WASHINGTON-LOUISA-JEFFERSON-
HENRY IA-DES MOINES-VAN BUREN-LEE-JO DAVIESS-STEPHENSON-CARROLL-
WHITESIDE-ROCK ISLAND-HENRY IL-BUREAU-PUTNAM-MERCER-HENDERSON-
WARREN-HANCOCK-MCDONOUGH-SCOTLAND-CLARK-
1211 PM CDT WED AUG 19 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL
ILLINOIS...NORTHWEST ILLINOIS...WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS...EAST
CENTRAL IOWA...NORTHEAST IOWA...SOUTHEAST IOWA AND NORTHEAST
MISSOURI.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE OUTLOOK
AREA THIS AFTERNOON AHEAD OF A WARM FRONT. SUPERCELLS ARE POSSIBLE
ALONG THE WARM FRONT...ESPECIALLY IN SOUTHEAST IOWA...WESTERN
ILLINOIS AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI. TORNADOES...DAMAGING WINDS AND
LARGE HAIL ARE POSSIBLE.

THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BECOME EVEN MORE UNSTABLE TONIGHT AS THE WARM
FRONT LIFTS TO THE NORTHEAST OF THE OUTLOOK AREA. STRONG TO SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED TONIGHT...MAINLY AFTER 10 PM. THE MAIN
THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.
STRONG DYNAMICS AND A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL BE ADVANCING FROM THE
WEST WHICH SHOULD TRIGGER NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS. LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL OF AT LEAST 1 TO 2 INCHES IS ALSO LIKELY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

THUNDERSTORMS WILL LINGER INTO THURSDAY MORNING EAST OF THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER BUT SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND AGAIN LATE THIS
EVENING AND OVERNIGHT.

HAASE

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:47 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Des Moines

When: August 19, 12:50 PM CST
Where: Des Moines County, 0.34 mi SE of Middletown
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: Newspaper
Coordinates: 40.827, -91.265

Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph damaged a farmstead near Middletown, IA around 150 pm August 19. A truck top lofted by the winds partially punctured a wall. Also, the residence sustained roof damage and some of the crops were flattened. This report was relayed by the Burlington Hawkeye.

Tornado, Buchanan

When: August 19, 3:30 PM CST to 3:45 PM CST
Where: Buchanan County, 2.45 mi S of Stanley to 2.07 mi ESE of Stanley
Rating: EF1
Path length: 2.2 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Property damage: $75,000
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 42.615, -91.819

An EF1 tornado touched down about 2.5 miles south of Stanley, IA around 430 pm August 19. It tracked to the northeast for about 2.2 miles before lifting about 2.1 miles east southeast of Stanley, IA around 445 pm. Wind speeds were estimated to be around 95 mph. Two farmsteads sustained damage. Two hog confinements were damaged. A residence lost most of its roof. A silo was damaged. The back wall of a pole building was blown out and trees were blown down.

Tornado, Jones

When: August 19, 4:20 PM CST to 4:21 PM CST
Where: Jones County, 0.66 mi ENE of Martelle to 0.7 mi ENE of Martelle
Rating: EF0
Path length: 0.05 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: NWS Storm Survey
Coordinates: 42.024, -91.359

An EF0 tornado touched down on the north end of Martelle, IA around 520 pm August 19. Wind speeds were estimated to be around 80 mph. The tornado snapped and uprooted some trees in the area. In addition, the west side of a storage building was damaged and portions of a corn field were flattened. It was also noted that some glass and dirt was splattered on the east side of a building.

Thunderstorm Wind, Jones

When: August 19, 4:23 PM CST
Where: Jones County, 2.74 mi ENE of Martelle to 2.82 mi ENE of Martelle
Measured: 109 kt (125 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 42.034, -91.320

Wind gusts estimated to be 90 to 125 mph associated with a downburst damaged a farmstead on 70th Street about 1.5 miles east of Highway 1 or about 2.75 miles east northeast of Martelle, IA around 523 pm August 19. An old barn and a corn crib were destroyed and some large limbs of an old tree were broken off. Portions of the corn crib roof were scattered to the east.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
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 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Iowa, 2009 Warnings in Iowa, August 2009

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: 192256, 192272, 192282, 192287.