Today: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 9am. Cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 70. S-W/NW @ 15-30 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 45.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 74. S/SE winds 10-20.
Sat. Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Low around 56.
Sunday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 74.
Sun. Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Low around 50.
Memorial Day: A slight chance of showers, otherwise mostly sunny & breezy. High 72.

Thursday’s High in Atlantic was 78. The Low was 58. We received .43″ rain at KJAN since the storms began early this morning (through 6-a.m.). Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 84 and the Low was 51. The record High for May 24th was 101 in 1939. The record Low was 33 in 1924. Sunrise: 5:53. Sunset: 8:40.

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
358 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024

…NWS Damage Survey for 05/21/2024 Tornado Event Update #2…

.Update…

After completing damage assessments across Adams and Adair Counties, including Greenfield, survey teams have identified damage consistent with EF4 tornado damage, with peak wind speeds of 175-185 mph. EF4 damage was located within the community of Greenfield and across rural portions of southern Adair County. Additional analysis of data will occur through the coming days and weeks, so further refinement of the tornado statistics are possible.

.Greenfield Tornado…

Rating: EF4
Estimated Peak Wind: 175-185 mph
Path Length /statute/: 43.98 miles
Path Width /maximum/: 1000 yards
Fatalities: 5
Injuries: 35

Start Date: 05/21/2024
Start Time: 02:57 PM CDT
Start Location: 3 SSE Villisca / Page County / IA
Start Lat/Lon: 40.8866 / -94.9571

End Date: 05/21/2024
End Time: 03:43 PM CDT
End Location: 4 ENE Greenfield / Adair County / IA
End Lat/Lon: 41.337 / -94.3825

EF Scale: The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies tornadoes into the
following categories:

EF0…..65 to 85 mph
EF1…..86 to 110 mph
EF2…..111 to 135 mph
EF3…..136 to 165 mph
EF4…..166 to 200 mph
EF5…..>200 mph

NOTE:
The information in this statement is preliminary and subject to change pending final review of the event and publication in
NWS Storm Data.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the National Weather Service report that a tornado affecting parts of Page, Montgomery and Adams counties has a preliminary rating of EF-3, with estimated peak winds of 140-to 150-miles per hour. The event began at 2:43-p.m. and ended at 3:19-p.m. The 1,300 yard wide tornado traveled 32 miles.

The damage was limited primarily to rural areas of Adams County. Officials say five or six houses were destroyed, two homes sustained major damage, and fences, livestock, and several wind turbines were toppled.

Today: Sunny & breezy. High near 78. S/SE winds 10-25 mph.
Tonight: Showers & possibly a thunderstorm. Low around 57. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy early w/a 30% chance of thunderstorms. Gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 70. SW-NW winds @ 15-30 mph.
Tom. Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 44.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 74.
Sat. Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Low around 54.
Sunday: A 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms. High near 69.
Sunday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Low around 48.
Memorial Day: A 30% chance of showers, otherwise mostly sunny, with a high near 72.

Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 74. The Low was 52. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 81 and the Low was 50. The record High for May 23rd was 97 in 1939. The record Low was 26 in 1963. Sunrise: 5:54. Sunset: 8:39.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says debris in Greenfield needs to be stabilized before volunteers will be able to enter the town to help residents recover from Tuesday’s tornado strike. The governor is hoping to have damage estimates completed by tomorrow (Thursday), so she can submit a request for a presidential disaster declaration that would trigger federal aid.

“We’re going to file for individual assistance again and public assistance,” Reynolds said. “The hospital was damaged and so we want to make sure that we’re providing resources for them as well.” The governor says four injured people were flown out of Greenfield on helicopters to area hospitals last (Tuesday) night, but she cannot confirm the number of people who were killed or injured.

“It’s still a search and rescue and we don’t want to give out any misinformation. That’s one of the reasons we’re keeping the site secure,” Reynolds said. “We wouldn’t want to give out a wrong number and we’re still assessing and there are properties in the country that have been impacted as well so we want to make sure we have an accurate count.” There’s a 10 a.m. to 7 a.m. curfew in Greenfield and people have to show proof they have a Greenfield address in order to enter the community.

John Cooper, Adair County’s Emergency Management Coordinator, says that’s an element of their coordinated search to confirm injuries and deaths in the community. “When we have this many homes that have been destroyed and just fully demolished, we want to make sure every person, every resident is accounted for,” Cooper says. “We’re going to continue doing that and then encountered for, so we’re going to continue doing that and then, once we have those numbers, we’ll send that information out.”

Photo of tornado damage in Greenfield by Melissa Ehrman Johnson

Reynolds spoke with reporters after visiting Greenfield this (Wednesday) morning and she said it appears the damage in Greenfield is worse than what she saw Minden, where 40 percent of homes were damaged or destroyed by a tornado a month ago. “It’s just gut wrenching,” Reynolds says. “I was just in Minden…three and a half weeks ago and that was horrific and I think there’s even more debris and more impacted here. It is is horrific. It is hard to describe, until you can see it, the devastation.”

Reynolds is praising the work of meteorologists at the National Weather Service for advance notice of yesterday’s (Tuesday’s) dangerous conditions. “Letting individuals know when it would hit and where it would hit and they were almost spot on,” Reynolds says. “And I tell ya the other reason that was so important…we had a lot of kids still in school and based on the early, advance notice that we got, many of our schools let out early and it hit here (in Greenfield) at three and that would have been the time the kids were on a bus and headed home and it could have been devastating.”

Reynolds is also thanking Greenfield’s hospital staff for their response to the tornado after it damaged their facility. They established a make-shift triage center at Greenfield’s lumber yard to treat people who were injured and set up the transfers for people who needed treatment in a hospital. The state education director has issued a waiver, so the district’s school year is officially over.

The Nodaway Valley High School in Greenfield is serving as an emergency shelter and field hospital for anyone who might be injured during clean-up.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the National Weather Service in central Iowa at Noon today (Wednesday) said on social media: “Initial storm surveys have confirmed at least EF-3 damage in Greenfield, Iowa. Additional damage assessment evaluation will continue over the next several days and results are subject to change. Additional tornado paths and ratings will be added as data continues to be collected.

An EF-3 tornado typically packs winds of 136-to-165-miles per hour, according to the Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale.

Debris in the form of paperwork was lofted about 40,000-feet into the atmosphere, and landed as far as 90-miles away, according to some media reports. Checks and other items from Greenfield were discovered near Ames and Boone, to name a few locations.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Reynolds has declared 15 counties state disaster areas and many of those counties had significant flash flooding from storms that moved through on Monday and Tuesday. Algona got five inches of rain, flooding roads and basements. Flash flooding in the Newton area stranded vehicles and closed roads, including a portion of Highway 5. Applington-Parkersburg and Dike-New Hartford schools are closed today (Wednesday) due to flooding. In Clay County, there was rain and hail on Monday night, then more rain on Tuesday. Clay County Emergency Management director says the small community of Webb and surrounding areas were hard hit.

“They received a substantial amount of rain down on some rural areas in southeastern Clay County, so there’s some roads closed down there,” he says. “It’s just a high water table right now and we need to be aware of it.” Strong winds last (Tuesday) night broke the Queen Two cruise boat loose on West Lake Okoboji. Jon Pausley, manager of the Arnolds Park Amusement Park, says there’s no visible damage above the water line.

“We had the Queen tied up to the dock there,” Pausley says. “The rope that was holding the backside broke and then the wind just started turning it sideways and even though we had a bunch of us from the boardwalk and bunch of our staff come down trying to pull it back in or get close enough to hop somebody on board to turn the engines on and push it back, the wind just kept beating up against it and turned it sideways against the dock, took out a little of the dock.” It appears the keel of the boat is sitting on the beach. A barge service is going to try to pull the boat back to the dock today (Wednesday).

“Then assess what, if any, damage is there,” Pausley says. “We certainly know we lost some paint. That can be fixed, so we’re hopeful nothing else underneath is going to be an issue.” The Queen Two underwent a million dollar renovation this winter and its first excursion of the season is scheduled this Saturday.

(Des Moines, Iowa) –  The National Weather Service said this (Wednesday) morning, they have three teams currently on the road, to survey Tuesday’s storm damage. The Weather Service says if you encounter a team (or any first responders or recovery and cleanup efforts), please give them space and let the teams do their work.

Damage assessments, tornado ratings and paths take time. The NWS says teams will provide initial in the field assessments, and in some cases additional feedback is sought by damage and structural experts. Then additional information is gathered and digested (photos, videos, satellite data) to help ensure accurate and reliable results.

Officials will post additional information as they are able to so.