THE MARCH 13, 1990 TORNADO OUTBREAK....
I figured while the weather is quiet and mild I figured we could talk about some of the wild weather March has brought to the Midwest. 32 years ago on Sunday there were nearly 60 tornadoes in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Iowa.
(Photo via NWS Wichita)
Of those tornadoes, 27 of them were rated F2 or higher. One of which was an F4, hitting Prairieburg and Worthington. 39 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed in Worthington and 13 farms were destroyed as well. The tornado was a half-mile wide at times.
(Photo via The Des Moines Register)
(Photo via The Courier)
There was an F2 around the town of Ankeny. The rain-wrapped tornado severely damaged 20 homes in Ankeny, with 16 others sustaining lesser damage. A condominium lost part of its roof, which was thrown onto I-35, resulting in a major car accident. At least a dozen other cars were blown off of the interstate by the tornado. Caused $2,000,000 in damage and injured 15 people.
Among the tornadoes that day was the first major tornado to be recorded on view by multiple people, an F5 in Hesston, Kansas.
226 homes and 21 business were damaged or destroyed, with 30 structures totally destroyed (as in gone) and 90 wrecked beyond being fixable.
The state of Kansas actually recorded tornadoes for four consecutive days, on the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th in March of 1990. The entire outbreak produced around 70 tornadoes.
On March 13, 1990 in Iowa there were also hail reports ranged up to golf ball size near Elvira and wind gusts in excess of 75 mph were reported around Little Sioux and Logan. The National Weather Service out of Des Moines says this was part of a wild stretch of weather in early to mid March of 1990 that saw a significant ice storm followed by several severe weather and tornado outbreaks then a big snow storm, all in a nine day stretch.
March 13, 1990 still sits in the number two spot for largest tornado outbreaks in the state during the month of March. The outbreak this year may challenge that as the NWS is still reviewing damage and satellite imagery.
The outbreak produced the first EF-4 in Iowa (in Winterset) since October of 2013. The tornado was on the ground for nearly 70 miles, in the top ten on record for longest tracks in Iowa.
After that outbreak we had two snowfall events and some late season cold. We're now in for some more mild conditions over the next few days. Temperatures will be back in the 50s Monday:
The 50s continue Tuesday and we'll peak in the 60s on Wednesday:
Little to no precipitation is expected at least through Thursday. Enjoy!
RK
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