Massive EF-4 Iowa tornado ran 70 miles on the ground, up to 800 yards wide

Our potent weekend storm system brought Minnesota plenty of rain, ice, and snow.

But Iowa got the worst of the system with the deadly tornado that tore through central Iowa just south of Des Moines.

Radars lit up across central Iowa as the tornadic supercell showed the classic hook-echo structure Saturday over Winterset, Iowa.

The Winterset-Newton tornado was on the ground for more than 90 minutes and about 70 miles according to the storm survey from the Des Moines National Weather Service office. It caused EF-4 level damage, with peak winds at 170 mph.

The tornado’s path was an incredible 800 yards wide at some points.

The tornado was one of four in Iowa from our potent Midwest storm system Saturday. Here’s more detail from the Des Moines NWS Office.

On March 5, 2022 three supercells swept across Iowa, producing several tornadoes. Two supercells in southern Iowa produced 3 tornadoes.

Meanwhile, a single long-track supercell produced multiple tornadoes from the southwest corner of Iowa all the way through central Iowa and into east-central Iowa. The largest tornado moved across Madison, Warren, Polk, and Jasper counties for nearly 70 miles and at its peak produced winds of nearly 170 mph.

This is the first EF-4 tornado in Iowa since October 4, 2013 which occurred in Woodbury and Cherokee Counties. This is the second longest tornado in Iowa since 1980, behind the longest occurring on June 7, 1984 at a length of 117 miles across southern Iowa.