Severe weather conditions created several tornadoes in northwest Iowa Tuesday afternoon. A Tornado Watch was issued for all of Northwest Iowa just before 1pm, and a little more than an hour later, the first tornado warning was issued in the Sioux City and Hinton areas. The storm crept northward and eventually spawned another tornado near Maurice where activity began to increase. Local law enforcement requested tornado sirens be sounded in Sioux Center and Orange City as they were seeing evidence of rotation in those areas at the same time. Law enforcement reported a tornado on the ground just 2 miles east of Sioux Center at around 2:35pm. The storm stayed mainly in rural areas, prompting later warnings for portions of Lyon and Osceola Counties, with reports of multiple rotations within the same storm.
Sioux County Sheriff Jamie Van Voorst was amazed at how fast the storm came and how minimal the damage was, at least at the time he talked with KSOU.
Van Voorst says some cattle gates were damaged in some areas, but no animals were lost or hurt. He says he’s extremely proud of his team and how they handled the storm as it blew over.
By 3:30 Tuesday afternoon, all tornado warnings had expired, and just a few showers and thundershowers remained in the area.
