Unless you happened to be outside looking south, had a scanner or phone emergency alert app, you probably wouldn’t have known that funnel clouds and tornadoes were seen in southern Cass County, Tuesday afternoon. That’s because the National Weather Service’s Weather Radio transmitter located near Hancock, in Pottawattamie County, has been down due to ice and snow storm in December, 2018. The transmitter…KZZ-52…serves all of Pottawattamie, and parts of Cass, Montgomery, of Audubon, Shelby and Harrison Counties.

Funnel cloud in southern Cass County (Montgomery County EMA)

Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon told KJAN News he first became aware of the severe weather phenomenon when the phone calls started coming in. He said they received numerous calls about a funnel cloud southeast of Atlantic at around 2:30-p.m. About a funnel seen near Highway 71 and Oxford Road (Between Lewis and Cumberland). As he drove south out of Atlantic, Kennon said you could “Clearly see a funnel cloud.” The funnel didn’t appear to be rotating much at first, but that all changed as Kennon got closer. He said he saw the funnel finger down and eventually rope out before dissipating altogther. Kennon said he observed the tornado for about 10-minutes. It’s not clear if it actually touched down.

The tornado was visible from as far away as Interstate 80, Atlantic, Marne and elsewhere in Cass County. There were reports of another funnel cloud/twister, but Kennon says it’s likely it was the same event visible from many different locations. There were no reports of damage or injuries, but Kennon said if anyone had damage, to call him at 712-254-1500.

There was no warning from the National Weather Service until about 20-minutes after the funnel cloud was first reported. Kennon said he’s received calls about why the warning didn’t go out sooner, and why the Weather Radio alert didn’t work. The issue boils down to the weather transmitter being off-line. Kennon says he’s complained to “Numerous entities about it.” He says the Weather Radio service has been worthless to Cass and surrounding counties since December. Paul Fajman, a Meterologist at the National Weather Service Office in Valley, Nebraska, told KJAN News they’re still on track to hopefully get the transmitter up and running sometime next month.

Getting the transmitter operational, he said, involves gathering the parts and personnel. He said they’re waiting for a part to arrive. After that a crew must test the integrity of the transmitter tower before the replacement equipment can be installed. Fajman says “We’re waiting for the Central region HQ in Kansas City, who make facility and equipment decisions like this. We’re waiting on them to get clarification on an analysis on the tower, which they hope to get yet this week. If that tests well, they’ll get the go ahead to set-up the antennae,” and become operational next month.

In the meantime, to be notified via cell- or landline- telephone, sign-up for Alert Iowa, which is available on most County Emergency Management websites. You can select how you want to receive your alert (cell/landline or both), for what cities in your county, and what types of alerts you want to receive. In Cass County, if you feel you need help in signing-up, or want to change/add-to the communities you want notifications for, call Mike Kennon at 712-249-1500 for assistance.