Separate Tornadoes Confirmed Near Reinbeck, Traer

A pair of EF1 tornadoes touched down in Grundy and Tama counties early Sunday evening (July 6, 2014), causing damage but no injuries. The twisters were among five that hit in Iowa as a line of thunderstorms moved across the state.

On Monday, a team of meteorologists from the National Weather Service (NWS) looked at the damage in Northeast Iowa. The survey team found two tornado paths, both of which were rated an EF1.

According to NWS, the first tornado touched down two miles west-northwest of Reinbeck about 7:58 pm and stayed on the ground for 13 minutes. The twister was 100 yards wide and traveled 3.1 miles with peak winds estimated at 100 miles-per-hour. The tornado dissipated at 8:11 pm, about 1.7 miles south of the community.

The NWS says the twister damaged mostly crops, but several structures were hit west of Reinbeck.

The EF1 tornado that touched down in Tama County had peak winds around 90 miles-per-hour. NWS says it carved a path about 6.6 miles long and 200 yards wide after touching down 1.8 miles east-southeast of Dinsdale at 8:18 pm. The tornado was on the ground for 15 minutes before dissipating three miles east of Traer at 8:35 pm.

The National Weather Service officials say photo and video evidence confirms there were at least three additional tornadoes that touched down in Iowa on Sunday, but those twisters weren't surveyed. Those tornadoes all hit central Iowa. They touched down near Jewell (Hamilton County), southeast of Stuart (west of Des Moines) and in eastern Jasper County.