(Des Moines, Iowa) – The National Weather Service office in Des Moines, in it’s latest update on Monday, said based on preliminary reports and completed storm surveys, severe storms that lifted northeast across western into central Iowa late in the afternoon into the evening of Friday, April 26, 2024, numbered at least 19. Damage to trees and homes has been reported in multiple counties from Crawford to Union and Ringgold up to around Polk and Jasper Counties.

Teams continue to evaluate damage. Additional tornado tracks and rating will be added in the coming days. A final tornado count will take days to a few weeks as we review radar data, examine hi-res satellite imagery, and look at videos.

• A tornado affecting parts of Shelby & Crawford Counties was rated EF-2, with winds of up to 112-mph and a width of 200-yard. It tracked 9..24-miles. A second tornado was rated EF-1, with winds of 107-mph, a track of 12.32-miles, and a width of 200-yards.
• One tornado hit part of Creston just before 7-p.m., Friday. It was rated an EF-2, with 125-mph winds. It traveled nearly 8.5-miles and was 350-yards wide. A second tornado near Creston was an EF-1 w/100-mph winds, and a width of 80-yards. It tracked for nearly 3-miles.
• Another tornado formed west of Afton and traveled 6.23-miles, with an estimated width of 150-yards and winds as high as 125-mph. EF-2 rating.
• A tornado that formed east of Afton was EF-2 that whipped across Union and into Madison County (13.91-miles), with winds of up to 130-mph. It was 150-yards wide.
• A Ringgold County tornado, near Tingley, was an EF-2 that was 100-yards wide, and traveled 10.31-miles.
• A second tornado near Mount Ayr was rated EF-1, with 100-mph winds, a track of 11.74-miles, and a width of 300-yards.

Learn about the other tornadoes covered by the NWS office in Des Moines, HERE.