TWISTED MESS IN THE PEARL CITY

Severe weather stomped through Muscatine, Iowa last night leaving a trail of damage in its wake. Reports of a funnel on the ground came from several different spotters.

The bulk of the damage appeared to have been in the downtown...specifically in the area around 4th street and Iowa Avenue.

Our seasoned storm chaser, John Miller of Muscatine, provided us with these photographs of the damage. As he shows us, the Wesley United Methodist Church and the Muscatine Center for Social Action were hit hard.

There were also chunks of debris left in piles and power lines downed. The good news is that there were no injuries reported.

Just northeast of Muscatine, the town of Blue Grass also saw significant storm damage. This community of 1450 had reports of trees downed and structural damage.

According to Terry, last night's tornadic activity is incredibly rare. This comes on the heels of last week's storms which were the only recorded tornadoes in the month of February in the Quad Cities forecast area.

"With two tornado outbreaks, and it's only March 7th, the season is off to a remarkably fast start," says Terry Swails. "Based on a number of parameters, it appears this should continue to be an active year for severe weather particularly in eastern Iowa and western Illinois. This just may be the tip of the iceberg." he added.

The peak of the tornado season is normally in the months of May and June, so we are two months ahead of schedule.