(Photo courtesy of the Atlantic Park and Recreation Facebook Page)
(Area) Southwest Iowa was hit by a line of severe thunderstorms during the early morning hours of June 11, bringing widespread damaging wind gusts and at least one reported tornado.
The strongest measured wind gust was 90 miles per hour in Essex at 5:55 a.m., an 80 mph at 5:47 a.m. approximately 2.1 miles south-southeast of Silver City in Mills County. Other significant wind gusts included 73 mph near Villisca at 6:14 a.m., 73 mph north-northeast of Tabor at 5:42 a.m., and 71 mph north of Glenwood and south-southeast of Coburg.
Numerous Mesonet stations recorded severe wind gusts as the storms moved east across the region. Gusts reached 67 mph northwest of Silver City, 66 mph southeast of Stanton, 63 mph near Glenwood and north-northwest of Coburg, 59 mph east-southeast of Oakland, and 58 mph west of Hepburn, north of Silver City, and near Plattsmouth.
A trained spotter reported a tornado in Coburg at 5:58 a.m. The report indicated a small tree and debris in the community.
Additional storm damage was reported in Coburg at 6:07 a.m. A trained spotter estimated winds of 60 mph and reported quarter-sized hail along with large tree limbs down.
The severe weather reports spanned portions of Audubon, Adair, Adams, Cass, Fremont, Guthrie, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, Shelby, and Union counties as the thunderstorm complex moved through southwest Iowa during the morning commute period.
Storm Damage Reports:
*Sunnyside Park in Atlantic has experienced significant tree damage, including damage to the restroom at Kiddie Koral, which will remain closed until further notice.
*5:07 a.m. two-inch hail reported via social media in Shenandoah
*5:30 a.m. two-and-a-half inch hail in Yorktown in Page County
*5:35 a.m. report of several tree branches down, in Glenwood.
*5:45 a.m. Several tree branches down in Malvern
*5:45 –Report of damage to a self-serve gas station, with one third of the roof a metal building removed by straight line winds.
*5:55-90 Miles per hour wind gust in Essex
*6:12 a.m. Emergency Management reported several trees and large branches down along the Page/Montgomery County Line. Power lines across roads. The majority of north/south roads are blocked by trees at some point in the area.
*Grain bins blown near the interchange of Highway 34 and Highway 71, north of Villisca.
*6:24 AM – 1 mile NNE of Atlantic – NWS Cooperative Weather Observer reports thunderstorm winds lifted the stainless-steel rain gage out of its holder and tossed it around 30 ft away.
*6:30 AM – Reports of several tree limbs down in Adams County
*6:30 a.m. Flash Flooding in Clarinda and several inches of water over the roadways.
*6:30 a.m. Flash Flooding in Shenandoah several inches of water over residential roadways.
*6:31 a.m. 65 miles per hour wind in Shambaugh in Page County.
*6:38 AM – 1 NNW Audubon – 68mph wind
*6:47 AM – 6 NE Audubon – 64mph wind
*6:53 AM – 1 SW Adair – 70 mph wind
*6:55 AM – Creston – 70 mph wind
*6:55 AM – Afton – 1.00-inch hail
*6:45AM – Creston – 1.00 hail
*6:18AM – Griswold – 65MPH wind
*6:26 A.M. 1.1o inch hail five miles Northeast of Council Bluffs
*0630 AM-Flash Flood one mile west-southwest of Sidney, Fremont County.
*6:34 A.M. One inch Hail in Clarinda
*7:00 a.m. Six inches for rain in Sidney, Iowa.
*The Creston Police Department and Union County Sheriff’s Office responded to stranded motorists in flooded roadways, an overturned semi on Highway 34, and multiple downed trees and power lines that blocked roadways throughout the city and county.
