Tornadoes Confirmed in Pella and Bernard Iowa Sunday Evening

A line of storms developed ahead of an approaching cold front late Father’s Day afternoon from northern to southern Iowa. After 6 p.m. a few of those storms ended up spinning up a few tornado warnings, with two of the storms producing confirmed tornadoes. One near Pella, Iowa, and the other near Bernard, Iowa.

The National Weather Service office in the Quad Cities and the office in Des Moines sent survey teams out to go survey the damage left behind from these tornadoes. This is what they found.

Pella, Iowa Tornado:

An EF-1 tornado of about four minutes in duration occurred northwest of Pella, IA on Sunday evening. The tornado touched down just northeast of the intersection of 195th Avenue and Highway 163. The tornado tracked east-southeast for approximately 1.5 miles, dissipating near 210th Avenue. Tree damage and some structural damage to outbuildings were found, along with some shingle and siding damage to residences in the path.

Time: 6:40 PM to 6:44 PM
Strength: EF-1
Est. Peak Winds: 100-110 mph
Path Length: 1.5 miles
Max Width: 150 yards

Bernard, Iowa Tornado:

A brief tornado caused damage to trees and farm outbuildings about 1.5 miles SW of Bernard, IA to about 2 miles east of Bernard.

Time: 8:06 PM to 8:12 PM
Strength: EF-1
Est. Peak Winds: 90-100 mph
Path Length: 3.1 miles
Max Width: 30 yards