‘It would have hit me’: Massive tornado seen crossing highway as Iowa records first January twister in decades
The NWS urged residents in the Quad Cities to take cover at 2:10 p.m. Monday as the tornado was seen on the ground north of Interstate 80 about 3 miles east of Conroy in central Iowa. The NWS said the EF-1 tornado had estimated peak winds of 90 mph and spanned almost a quarter-mile wide.
Motorist captures tornado crossing Iowa highway
A tornado swept through Conroy in central Iowa on Monday, Jan.16, the National Weather Service said.
WILLIAMSBURG, Iowa – A rare twister was caught on camera as Iowa experienced its first January tornado in decades.
The National Weather Service urged residents in the Quad Cities to take cover at 2:10 p.m. Monday as the tornado was seen on the ground north of Interstate 80 about 3 miles east of Conroy in central Iowa. The NWS said the EF-1 tornado had estimated peak winds of 90 mph and spanned almost a quarter-mile wide.
Matt Krieger captured the massive funnel cloud passing across the interstate near Williamsburg in front of him.
"It would have hit me had I kept going," he said in the video.
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Footage by Matt Krieger shows the massive funnel cloud spinning across Interstate 80, near Williamsburg, he said.
(Matt Krieger via Storyful)
As the storm passed him while pulled off along the interstate, hail could be heard on the video as it pelted his vehicle.
Tornado warnings were also issued for parts of Benton, Linn, Johnson and Iowa counties, including the Cedar Rapids metro area.
While no injuries were reported, a semi truck and a passenger vehicle were blown off the roadway near rural Williamsburg in addition to a few downed power lines, the Des Moines Register reported.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, the last January tornado in Iowa before Monday was on Jan. 24, 1967. The strongest that day was an EF-4, with 13 tornado reports that day across the state.
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"And that's it for the entire timeline of Iowa and January tornadoes," FOX Weather senior weather data specialist Shane Brown said. "Compare that to a state like Mississippi, which has well over 200 in its history – at least since 1950."
It was also the first January Tornado Warning issued in Iowa since 1986, which is only as far as records go back for modern-day Tornado warnings.