Unrated tornado, Derby to Chariton, Iowa, March 5, 2022

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

March 5, 2022

Touchdown

5:28 PM CST (23:28 UTC)

Lifted

5:33 PM CST (23:33 UTC)

On the ground

5 minutes

Path length

2.1 miles (3.3 km)

Path width

60 yards (55 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Lucas County

Touchdown point

40.903, -93.439

Lift-off point

40.916, -93.403

Record number

2203051728-01

21 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS DMX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 138 mph.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

On March 5, 2022 a total of 15 tornadoes occurred across the state of Iowa as a warm front lifted across the area. Supercells initially developed across southwest Iowa in the vicinity of the triple point of the surface low with strong, rotating updrafts. Longevity was initially lacking with the storms, producing funnel clouds, brief tornadoes, and hail in southwest Iowa. As the cells moved northeast and matured, larger hail began to fall with golf ball sized hail falling in Adams county and baseball sized hail into Adair county. Following this period of large hail the storms produced a tornado which would remain on the ground for just over 70 miles, carving a path across central Iowa from southwest of Winterset to just northeast of Newton. The tornado peaked in Winterset, Iowa, producing EF-4 damage with wind speeds estimated near 170 mph. The tornado continued across the southern portion of the Des Moines metro area and to Newton. This is the furthest north EF-4 tornado in the CONUS this early in the year on record, the first EF-4 tornado in Iowa since October 4, 2013 which occurred in Woodbury and Cherokee Counties, and is the second longest tornado in Iowa since 1980, behind the longest occurring on June 7, 1984 at a length of 117 miles across southern Iowa. As the storm skimmed the southern Des Moines metro, cells across south central became tornadic, producing several destructive tornadoes including an EF-3 tornado in Chariton, Iowa. This heartbreaking day resulted in seven fatalities, six in Winterset and one in Chariton, making it the deadliest tornado outbreak in Iowa since 2008. At 15 tornadoes, this is also one of the earliest outbreaks of this magnitude to occur so early in the season.

Video from a storm chaser documented this tornado. This was a second satellite tornado to a larger tornado which had an earlier satellite tornado in Decatur and Wayne counties. This tornado remained in southern rural Lucas county and did not impact any damage indicators, hence the EFU rating.

This tornado moved into Lucas county from Wayne county. This portion of the tornado was documented via video from storm chasers and high resolution satellite imagery. The tornado had no documented interaction with damage indicators, hence the EFU rating.

This tornado formed as two other tornadoes dissipated in southern Lucas county. The tornado moved to the northeast across rural areas of southern into central Lucas county primarily in wooded areas and cropland with little damage. Of note however, was a satellite tornado observed in chasing video (in seperate Storm Data entry) which developed north of the main tornado and moved south toward the main circulation, doing a complete revolution around the main tornado before being absorbed. Shortly afterwards, the tornado crossed State Highway 14 south of Chariton destroying a conservation center which was rated EF3. The tornado continued to the northeast removing a roof from a house along 235th Trail and passed through an open field before entering Red Haw State Park. The tornado ripped through a campground in the park with one fatality and one injury occurring. The tornado exited the park and crossed Highway 34 east of Chariton with numerous outbuildings and power poles damage or destroyed. The tornado then remained in rural wooded areas and cropland for the rest of its path with little additional damage noted.

This was a satellite tornado which formed near the tornado which went on to impact areas just south and east of Chariton, Iowa. This satellite tornado was captured on video by storm chasers and left a path observed in high resolution satellite imagery. This tornado developed north of the main tornado and travelled due west before turning ninety degrees to the south with movement toward the main circulation. The tornado did a full revolution around the main tornado before being absorbed into the overall circulation. There was some tree damage associated with the satellite tornado but otherwise did not impact any other structures.

The deaths

1 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

25 minutes of warning. NWS DMX issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:03 UTC, 25 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:18 UTC and running to 00:48 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:48 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.

Chariton (CNC), 13 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), 95 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:30 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 2022 tornado in IowaEvery tornado in Iowa since 1950Warnings in force in Iowa nowThe forecast where you are

18 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.