Iowa January Tornadoes? Only Once Before.

 

Only once before in Iowa's history during the month of January has there been an occurrence of tornadoes, and that was on January 24, 1967 (above). At left a tornado touches down about four miles west of Wapello, Iowa, one of the 13 that occurred that day. The map at right shows positions and tracks of tornadoes in Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. (See my archived posting from January 25, 2011 for a more extensive personal story of that particular event as the system moved east). 

Radarscope frame captures for 9:28 and 9:44 am CST,  Monday, January 16, 2023. A small cell began to form and moved northeast through Cedar Rapids, Iowa and included the rumble of thunder, a very unexpected development! This was to be but a small hint of weather conditions to come.

My home weather station (Tempest Weatherflow) in Cedar Rapids at 9:49 am showing very un-January like conditions.

Weather station data at 11:33 am, now showing 45 degrees F temperatures and 42 degree dew points.

College of DuPage (COD) water vapor satellite images for 12:15 pm (left) and 2:00 pm (right). Note the prominent area at right that was tornado-warned.

There was no reason to believe something like an Iowa tornado in the month of January would ever happen again, even when this Storm Prediction Center (SPC) Convection Outlook was posted at 1:43 pm on Monday, January 16, 2023. It posted a 2% chance of tornadoes in the shaded area. Even a 2% chance in January was highly unusual. 

IEM mesonet surface plot for 2:00 pm CST on January 16, about the time a tornado touched down near Williamsburg, Iowa (yellow circle).

2:16 pm. After having left work shortly after 2:00 pm when a tornado warning was broadcast, I am northbound here on Interstate 380 near St. Luke's Hospital. Visible just above the horizon is an inflow cloud feeding into the storm (toward the left).

2:18 pm. Radarscope frame capture, showing the tornado-warned area (red polygon) as it has moved northeast from Williamsburg. The storm was moving in the direction of Cedar Rapids.

Emailed AccuWeather tornado warning notification for 2:20 pm.

Data from my home weather station at 2:25 pm, showing an abnormally high temperature (47 degrees F), humidity (92%) and dew point (44 degrees).

Radarscope image for 2:27 pm at my stationary spotting position at the Cedar Rapids Family Dental Center (42° 0'34.32"N,  91°39'49.18"W) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. My position is shown within the tornado-warned area as the target icon.

2:32 pm. A view of my spotting vehicle's thermometer, showing a balmy 48 degrees F.

Radarscope images for 2:39 pm (left) and 2:42 pm (right), now showing an extended tornado warning to the northeast in the second image. 

2:43 pm. Looking southeast at approaching clouds, which are churning and swirling. The Emergency Alert System tone was sounding on my cell phone and sirens were blaring at this moment.

2:47 pm. Looking south. At center is a thin funnel than formed seconds earlier and dissipated seconds later. 

2:49 pm. Looking southeast. Rising motion with funnel.

2:50. Tornadic clouds looking southeast. A very vigorous rising motion was occurring behind the building in the background.

2:52 pm. Looking south.

2:52 pm. Tornadic clouds looking southeast.

2:55 pm. Departing clouds looking northeast.

2:56 pm. Similar view.

2:59 pm. My spotting vehicle, looking south. The most intense part of this tornado-warned storm moved south and east of my position. iPhone 11 camera.

January 16, 2023 now joined January 24, 1967 as dates in which tornadoes have occurred in Iowa during this month. Two tornadoes touched down on this day: an EF1 wedge tornado touched down near Williamsburg in Iowa County (seen in the Vince Waelti video from Interstate 80 above), and an EFU touchdown near Ely, Iowa in Linn County. An early and remarkable start for the 2023 severe weather season!

Tornado Event Summary for January 16, 2023, compiled by the National Weather Service (NWS) in the Quad Cities.