Unrated tornado, La Moille to Marshalltown, Iowa, August 10, 2020

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. 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.

7. Unratedthis tornado

   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.

Rating

Unrated

Date

August 10, 2020

Touchdown

11:36 AM CDT (16:36 UTC)

Lifted

11:37 AM CDT (16:37 UTC)

On the ground

1 minutes

Path length

0.4 miles (0.7 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Crop damage

$500

County

Marshall County

Touchdown point

42.125, -93.068

Lift-off point

42.122, -93.061

Record number

2008101036-01

Basic Summary: A cluster of storms in northeast Nebraska and southeast South Dakota developed into the destructive derecho that raced eastward across large portions of Iowa, northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, northern Indiana, and southern Michigan during the morning and afternoon of August 10th. The strongest winds were experienced in central and east-central Iowa where 100+ mph winds were observed. Some of the strongest winds were in an area from roughly Marshalltown, IA eastward along the Highway 30 corridor to the Mississippi River, where estimated winds exceeded 120+ mph and approached 140 mph. A number of QLCS tornadoes were also experienced within the Highway 30 corridor. One of the most remarkable aspects of the derecho was the duration of severe winds, with many areas experiencing at least periodic, if not persistent, severe level (58+ mph) winds over a roughly 30 minute time frame. As the derecho moved eastward out of Iowa, it continued to expand, but weakened from its peak strength. Winds continued to exceed severe criteria (58+ mph) in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan and began to produce additional QLCS tornadoes across northern Illinois before fading out across northern Indiana and southern Michigan.||In the wake of the derecho, damage was substantial in many areas, rural and urban. Many agriculture fields, mainly corn, were flattened within the swaths of strongest winds. Initial estimates suggest at least 850,000 acres of partial or complete crop loss occurred from this event. Within urban and wooded areas extensive tree and structure damage was seen, including complete roof failure in a few instances. At its peak, total estimated customers without power exceeded 1.4 million across the affected states. In total, early estimates on losses (agriculture, infrastructure, private property) have exceeded $7.5 billion across the states affected. ||Environment: Broadly speaking, it was a ripe day for thunderstorms across the affected area with MUCAPE values often exceeding 3500-4000 J/kg by the mid morning hours concurrent with mid-upper level short wave support, and indications that any cold pool development would be strong (difference between cold pool and ambient air) and potentially long lived. For detailed environmental analysis, including soundings, please view the various local NWS office event review pages: NWS Des Moines, NWS Quad Cities, NWS Chicago, NWS Milwaukee, NWS Central Illinois, NWS Northern Indiana, or NWS Indianapolis.||Additional Details: Numerous injuries occurred during the derecho and in the aftermath during cleanup, including 4 direct and indirect deaths of which 3 occurred in Iowa (two in Poweshiek County and one in Linn County) and 1 in Indiana (Fort Wayne).||Disclaimer: The August 10, 2020 derecho resulted in widespread high-end damage across large portions of central and southern Iowa. Given the size and scope of the event and understanding that final damage and loss estimates (agriculture, infrastructure, and private property) will take months to complete, the NWS is not able to estimate the monetary impact at this time. Values may be added as more data becomes from various sources in future months.

Brief QLCS tornado on leading edge of convection through agricultural fields. Path found via high resolution satellite imagery. The tornado impacted no damage indicators, hence the EFU rating.

Brief tornado captured from post event UAS survey. Stayed in cropland with no impacts to damage indicators, hence the EFU rating.

Tornado initially found from high resolution satellite imagery and confirmed via UAS overflight. Damage was done to crop and trees. Some minor damage to housing structures as well, but mostly superficial.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 13:56 UTC and running to 19:00 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 15:57 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 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.

Marshalltown (MIW), 12 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 16:32 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2020 tornado in IowaEvery tornado in Iowa since 1950Warnings in force in Iowa nowThe forecast where you are

26 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.