Tornadoes · United States · Iowa · 2014
EF0 tornado, Wyoming, Iowa, June 29, 2014
This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Jones County on June 29, 2014, touching down at 10:36 PM CDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.
The record
- Rating
- EF0
- Date
- June 29, 2014
- Touchdown
- 10:36 PM CDT (03:36 UTC)
- Path length
- 0.1 miles (0.2 km)
- Path width
- 25 yards (23 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Jones County
- Touchdown point
- 42.090, -90.960
- Lift-off point
- 42.090, -90.960
- Record number
- 1406292136-01
The damage survey
1 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS DVN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The highest wind the damage implies is 60 mph.
Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.
What the Weather Service recorded
A strong cold front pushed into a very warm unstable air mass as a significant upper level storm system tracked into the northern Great Lakes on June 29-30, 2014. A major severe weather and flash flood event unfolded across the area. This event resulted in the direct deaths of 2 people and direct injuries to 7 others. Three weak tornadoes, widespread damaging winds of 60 to 80 mph, and life-threatening flash flooding due to 4 to 6 inches of rainfall was reported. Two of the tornadoes were in northeast Iowa while another tornado was spotted in northwest Illinois. Law enforcement reported a business building destroyed by high winds from a severe thunderstorm in Fairfax, Iowa. One person was killed and another injured due to the collapsed structure. A severe thunderstorm packing 80 mph winds blew a tarp on top of several people trying to cover the infield at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Three people suffered concussions while another person had a dislocated shoulder. In North Liberty, Iowa a tree fell on a person who was then transported to a local hospital. Severe flash flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa resulted in the drowning death of a teenage boy with another boy injured. They were swept into a storm sewer and were found a mile away in a lake.
The Jones County Emergency Manager relayed a public report of a tornado west of Maquoketa. No damage was reported.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
5 minutes of warning. NWS DVN issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:31 UTC, 5 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:00 UTC.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 01:20 UTC and running to 07:54 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01:20 UTC | 07:54 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | DVN |
| 03:01 UTC | 08:32 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | DVN |
| 03:08 UTC | 03:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN |
| 03:31 UTC | 04:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | DVN |
| 03:53 UTC | 09:32 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | DVN |
| 04:10 UTC | 05:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN |
| 04:10 UTC | 09:36 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | DVN |
| 04:12 UTC | 06:00 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | DVN |
| 06:41 UTC | 01:40 UTC | Flood Warning | DVN |
| 08:27 UTC | 14:30 UTC | Flood Warning | DVN |
| 09:31 UTC | 15:30 UTC | Flood Warning | DVN |
| 09:34 UTC | 15:30 UTC | Flood Warning | DVN |
| 19:05 UTC | 22:13 UTC | Tornado Watch | DVN |
| 19:59 UTC | 20:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN |
| 20:13 UTC | 02:15 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | DVN |
Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.
The forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:00 UTC.
SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.
The air that afternoon
The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.
Davenport, (KDVN), 00:00Z
3.6 hours before the tornado, 65 km from the path. June 30, 2014.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1816 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -89 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 4021 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1110 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 43 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 10 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 74 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 126 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.5
- Supercell composite
- 5.6
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.5 K/km
Davenport, (KDVN), 12:00Z
8.4 hours after it, 65 km from the path. June 30, 2014.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1426 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -49 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 370 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 544 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 253 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 262 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 2.3
- Supercell composite
- 15.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.6 K/km
The radar
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 62 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:35 UTC.
Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track
Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03:04 UTC | HAIL 1 | Anamosa | Jones, IA | THE EMERGENCY MANAGER RELAYED A REPORT OF QUARTER SIZE HAIL IN THE CITY OF ANAMOSA. |
| 03:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 7 W Monticello | Jones, IA | LARGE BARN BLOWN COMPETELY DOWN AND WAGON MOVED 100FT. AND TIPPED OVER. SOME DAMAGE TO 3 OTHER BARNS ON FARM. TIME OF THE EVENT WAS ESTIAMTED USING RADAR. REPORT RELAYED BY NWS EMPLOYEE. |
| 03:10 UTC | HAIL 1 | 4 Ene Anamosa | Jones, IA | |
| 03:10 UTC | HAIL 1 | 4 Ene Anamosa | Jones, IA | |
| 03:33 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 1.75 | Asbury | Dubuque, IA | |
| 03:33 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 1.75 | Asbury | Dubuque, IA | |
| 03:36 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Ne Wyoming | Jones, IA | PUBLIC REPORT OF A TORNADO TOUCHDOWN. RELAYED BY THE JONES COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGER. |
| 03:44 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 1 Nne Dubuque | Dubuque, IA | WATER 2 TO 3 FEET ON 17TH STREET AND KAUFMANN AVENUE |
| 03:49 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Wyoming | Jones, IA | |
| 03:49 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Wyoming | Jones, IA | |
| 04:17 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Baldwin | Jackson, IA | WINDOWS BLOWN OUT OF A HOME ALONG HIGHWAY 64 AND 82ND STREET. |
| 04:20 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 W Maquoketa | Jackson, IA | CORN FLATTEN. TREES DOWN NEAR HIGHWAY 61. TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR. |
| 04:51 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Olin | Jones, IA | EMERGENCY MANAGER REPORTS FLASH FLOODING IN OLIN, NEAR ONSLOW AND 3 MILES NORTH OF ONSLOW. A PUBLIC REPORT OF 3.30 INCHES 3 MILES NORTH SCOTCH GROVE. |
| 04:55 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 3 E Cedar Rapids | Linn, IA | WIDESPREAD FLASH FLOODING AND BASEMENTS FLOODING |
| 04:55 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Mount Vernon | Linn, IA | TOTAL WASHOUT OF HIGHWAY 1 NORTH OF MOUNT VERNON. VEHICLE WITHIN THE WASHOUT BUT UNSURE OF OCCUPANTS STATUS. RELAYED BY KCRG-TV. |
| 05:26 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 3.25 | Wnw Stanwood | Cedar, IA | RAIN FELL IN 1 HOUR AND 15 MINUTES. ALSO REPORTS FLASH FLOODING. |
| 05:30 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Lowden | Cedar, IA | STREET WASHOUTS IN TOWN. BASEMENTS FLOODED. |
| 05:34 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | West Branch | Cedar, IA | BASEMENTS AND RAODS FLOODED IN WEST BRANCH WITH WIDESPREAD FLASH FLOODING THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY. |
| 05:35 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 4 | 1 Ne Marion | Linn, IA | |
| 05:35 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 4 | 1 Ne Marion | Linn, IA | |
| 05:44 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 4.69 | Olin | Jones, IA | POWER IS OUT. |
| 05:55 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 3.05 | Lowden | Cedar, IA | |
| 05:55 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 3.05 | Lowden | Cedar, IA | |
| 05:55 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 4 | 3 Nne Cedar Rapids | Linn, IA | |
| 05:55 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 4 | 3 Nne Cedar Rapids | Linn, IA | |
| 06:00 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Langworthy | Jones, IA | TOWN EVACUATED. |
| 06:00 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Morley | Jones, IA | TOWN EVACUATED. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2014 tornado in IowaEvery tornado in Iowa since 1950Warnings in force in Iowa nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of June 29, 2014
14 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 29 | 6:05 AM CDT | EF1 | Gove, KS | 1.0 | 50 | $50,000 | ||
| June 29 | 7:28 PM CDT | EF0 | Hamilton, IA | 2.0 | 40 | |||
| June 29 | 8:08 PM CDT | EF0 | Shelby, IA | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| June 29 | 8:18 PM CDT | EF1 | Grundy, IA | 1.9 | 50 | $30,000 | ||
| June 29 | 8:25 PM CDT | EF1 | Hardin, IA | 1.3 | 75 | $1,000 | ||
| June 29 | 9:12 PM CDT | EF0 | Buchanan, MO | 0.3 | 25 | |||
| June 29 | 9:20 PM CDT | EF0 | Shawnee, KS | 1.6 | 30 | |||
| June 29 | 9:55 PM CDT | EF1 | Mercer, MO | 6.3 | 300 | |||
| June 29 | 10:00 PM CDT | EF1 | Grant, WI | 8.2 | 600 | $410,000 | ||
| June 29 | 10:18 PM CDT | EF2 | Iowa, WI | 29.1 | 400 | $3.5 million | ||
| June 29 | 10:26 PM CDT | EF2 | Iowa, WI | 5.0 | 200 | $400,000 | ||
| June 29 | 11:27 PM CDT | EF1 | Dane, WI | 2.3 | 500 | $50,000 | ||
| June 29 | 12:30 AM CDT | EF1 | Carroll, IL | 2.2 | 600 | $50,000 | ||
| June 29 | 12:45 AM CDT | EF1 | Schuyler, MO | 4.7 | 300 |
What this means
Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.