Chasing the Johnson County Iowa tornado (5/24/19)

Iowa City you need to take shelter now you hear the roar you can hear the roar these cars it's like a 500 millibar jet coming in at like 55 knots that's probably what these are starting to kind of you know that's what's kicking everything loose that is actually a lot that's what fired everything off Don Kansas right now it's kind of working its way upstream about 30,000 feet trying checking in out our CBS 2 road warrior weather weather first meteorologist Nick Stuart is out there at Cedar Rapids tracking today's weather that we've seen and what's to come now Nick what's it look like out there right now there right now the Sun is beginning to shine the humidity is building on it as well we're starting to get ready for a potential severe weather event later on this afternoon still a lot of question marks whether storms can form right now that I tell you the environment is getting more and more primed we've got a fairly strong south wind right now gusting as high as 20 miles per hour times and the temperatures right now upper 70s to near 80 degrees when we get the humidity upper 70s to near 80 percent that makes the dew point close to 70 degrees so it's very moist unstable out here for sure and we're already starting to see some Towers begin to build up the early manifestation if you will of some thunderstorms they may be starting to kind of increase here in a couple of hours something we are keeping an eye on one storm kind of northwest at Cedar Rapids more storms kind of in our far southern counties so we're to keep an eye on these storms to kind of give you the very lives that will tell you that south wind right now is kind of bring it up some of the severe weather parameters right now so we'll need to keep it close on as we go through the rest of the afternoon but again not a slam-dunk severe weather day up we'll keep an eye on it regardless well I haven't see the Rapids I'm one of the first meteorologists think Stuart CBS 2 News live at 5 and we'll check in now with water first chief meteorologist Terry swales and yeah a very fluid situation right now Terry that it is Mitch we are trying to see some thunderstorms develop down to the south of us here but at this moment the atmosphere is a little bit capped things not really blowing up like they they will later on tonight 22 to the west won't have to go too far once we get past this storm is for our window we'll get a much better view other one I gotta say even just this little little itty bitty yeah that's a pretty good structure to it so we could see some storms moving also through the holiday weekend all the road work keeps a eye on things out there in the corridor chief meteorologist Harry swells just Marne and everything from a weather Center here in a very active very fluid situation yeah in fact you could see a big thunderstorm developing there where Nick is located I think he's pretty close to Kelowna down in our southern counties I'm like it's got like kind of a hook feature on the radar too I don't know if that's just another updraft forming or if it's starting to try and get some super cellular structure still put out a few lightning strikes still trying and here down south around Sigourney in Washington up to Iowa City in Williamsburg that little region right in there is where our storms are beginning to take off now there is a chance these could become severe and certainly produce some heavy downpours as they move off to the Northeast during the evening hours tonight let's get to the top of that hill look stuff like that is looking very good that's our critter right here yeah right here let's just turn right at the top and still try to get a good view Oh baby yeah okay we got ourselves your very nice pronounced bass bass okay well the Lightning is gonna stand with you Wow yeah let's do I sell the car again let's do that you can start you gonna really see the rip it on the left side at this hall storm is rotating right now that is a big wall cuts gonna form that is a big wall clouds starting to form there you can see the rising motion and as its rising it's actually turning to welcome back to the show everyone I'm chief meteorologist Terry swales and what you're looking at now are some strong thunderstorms that are developing down in the southern parts of our viewing area our Nick Stewart has been out in the road warrior tracking these storms and he's in this general area right now and it does appear that that storm might actually have a bit of a wall cloud developing on it so Nick could you tell us what you're seeing and what's going on down your way naked evening Terry Oh right now we're just a little bit west of Wellman you can see a very classic supercell beginning to form here right in extreme northwestern Washington County you can start seeing some of these wall clouds are beginning to form or even start to see some early indications of rotation in that wall cloud especially kind of above that leftmost barn this is a very strong storm that continues to develop on the far left side of that storm base you can actually start seeing that the inflow tail there is kind of pulling in that warm moist air that started to kind of spin as well so the storm is definitely strengthening we're seeing a lot of moisture being pulled in with it the structure continues to intensify as well as we a little bit to in the 5 o'clock show as well the environment is definitely very very ripe for development for these storms we have temperatures right now about 80 or so degrees dew points around 70 and that'll be the fuel for the storm we're gonna stick with it here for the next couple of hours because this definitely has a potential of being coming quickly severe here in the next couple of minutes really so we do have a risk of severe storms here from the Storm Prediction Center from the northeastern corner of the state back to about Waterloo but in my opinion is probably this region right in here that stands the best chance of seeing the severe weather which could include wind hail and even a tornado spin up then we get to tomorrow and the threats a little bit further south from about Cedar Rapids on down into southeastern Iowa and so we definitely have to watch that very closely there now from what I'm understanding we have a tornado warning that has now been issued from that storm so I am going to back the radar up here a little bit and we'll take another look at it and show you what's currently out there so since I'm not over at the wall don't have all the specifics on this just yet but as you can see it's for Iowa and Johnson County a little part of Washington County as well and there is the core of the storm that were concerned about and that's what's gonna be moving northeast and heading into Johnson County over the next Oh 15 20 minutes or so but again nothing on the ground right now but very clearly evidence of rotation with the storm I'm gonna zoom in out here on the right side of that wall cloud that's what we call an inflow tail and that means we're getting warm moist air flowing into that storm here again this is just northwest of Wellman very clearly defined supercell big rotating wall cloud but right now no tornado closing in on it we have a pretty good funnel that just started forming again this is just northwest of Amish southwest of Windham this is kind of that storm right now we're starting to get into what's called the RFD or rear flank downdraft of the storm and usually this RFD is what can kind of kick these storms into gear to kind of get things going but you can see that wall cloud right there pretty low contrast a little of rain started wrapping around that wall cloud but there was a funnel that formed about two minutes ago it kind of dissipated but still a strongly rotating wall cloud you can see it on the radar I have radar in my car I can tell you I could definitely see it visually as well very strong rotation at this road we're gonna make it right then so Nick how far would you say that you're away from the actual storm right now are you within 2 miles mile something like that I'd say the actual circulation we're probably less than a half mile it's it's literally right over that next hill but we're obviously keeping safety in mind that's why we're coming in from the angle that we're doing this this is my tenth year storm chasing so we have a little bit experience doing this here in this car again this is a it looks like Nick is in an area where he's not getting the best signal right now I'm sure he's going to come out of that as he gets closer to Iowa City but we're going back to the radar right now and there is where we are focused on as the storm is north of Wellman now and continuing to move off in a northeasterly direction there is highway one which it goes right north out of Kelowna there and heads on up towards Iowa City and the storm appears to be moving to the northeast now that scan came in they're a little bit less aggressive on it it's not as well organized let's put it that way but one thing you need to stress in a situation like this these storms have been pulse it's kind of like the human heart it's just beating away out there and sometimes it goes a little faster and sometimes a little bit slower but that is currently where we're most concerned about in that area there just to the northwest of Kelowna probably 2 or 3 miles northwest of there we had a pretty well-defined funnel there not too long ago it kind of dissipated a little bit but it looks like it's really starting to tighten up over the last about five to 10 minutes this whole walk thought it's really kind of been tightening in this one smaller area and that's exactly kind of what we are looking for in terms of seeing a possible tornado the rotation kind of centralizing and boy that's that's getting pretty close it might be trying to do a little bit of a funnel right in there as we speak whether or not that goes down to the ground remains to be seen but now you're starting to see the rotation and what appears to be a funnel developing with the storm and there it is it is certainly trying to come down as soon as we get past this tree in this house here we'll have a better look at it but it's it's really trying hard to do it look at that right in there you are just about to see a tornado touch the ground here and there it is there's debris look at that coming right out of there fan or not you can see it up in the air there so we do have a tornado touchdown and it looks like this is well just south of Oxford is that correct Rebecca it is just west of Hills north of Kelowna almost due north of Cologne and near highway 1 and there it is folks I mean look at that broken out right in there there it is we are just north of Kelowna one stress to you if you're down there in Johnson County this is a dangerous storm a confirmed tornado you're seeing right there on the ground watch for the power flashes when it comes over here we'll see if we get one might have gotten through there without any didn't see any but there is debris you can see that cut cross and right over the road there what road is that Rebecca here's highway 101 okay amazing sight there actual tornado live tornado right now in Eastern Iowa in Johnson County southwest of Iowa City Nick let's hear what you got to say about this thing that's a pretty amazing sight you're right on the tail of it this is condensating a very rapidly Terry this is definitely a pretty decent tornado it's got really quick rotation you were watching it live right here on cbs2 trees were getting ripped out of the ground at the base of this tornado this is very rapid rotation right now very close to Kelowna this is northwest of Kelowna Rebecca if you haven't already if you can pass along to the NWS chat that we have a tornado on the ground we're now in the rft the rear flank downdraft of this tornado look at that they got horizontal suction for to season that that is a strong tornado right now we are going right here strong tornado right now this is a west of hill southwest of Iowa City this is heading towards you Iowa City Iowa City you need to take shelter now this is a confirmed damaging tornado heading in your direction and you are watching it live here all right Rebecca let's go back to the radar here if we can split screen this obviously we don't want to take off the tornado so let's keep that up there if at all possible and I'm sure you're going to get that taken care of but I do want to try to pinpoint precisely where the tornado is on the ground Rebecca if you can get in a little bit closer on it looks like it's really close to Sharon's Center there so you can see here's Iowa City and that extends down towards Hills looks like the actual tornado which is located right in there is going to move northeast and approach Iowa City can we go to the CC quote that correlation coefficient now we'll be able to see if we can get some actual debris showing up there a debris drop and that would be in this part of the storm right over in here probably less than eight to nine miles from Iowa City and a fairly large tornado now on the ground this is a dangerous storm I cannot stress enough if you're in the Iowa City metro area this tornado is approaching you and it is a large enough one that it will produce significant damage and perhaps even injuries if you are not taking proper precautions that's a strong tornado is on the ground not too far southwest of Iowa City probably about five or six miles away it's been on the ground now I'm guessing for close to eight or ten minutes moving in a northeasterly direction and at least up to this point hasn't shown any signs yet of weakening at some point these things usually do cycle a little bit and sometimes they can EV and flow and go back up into the clouds and then even come back down alright now this one is on the ground and it is producing damage and it now looks to be a multiple vortex tornado there you can actually see within the storm itself little fingers rotating around it and Nick is back on it now and here's his latest observation well it looks like multiple vortex is there Nick yeah Terry this is incredible this is a multi vortex wide tornado you can see the entire mesocyclone on this tornado rotating this is very quickly approaching Iowa City this is the loudest tornado I've ever heard it had an incredible roar to it this is a strong strong tornado as it's beginning to look like it's lifting right now but you can still see there are still some vortices on the ground again right now we are looking just off to our Northwest thankfully very rural areas but it is quickly right now approaching Iowa City you can still see suction vortices are on the ground this is incredible with this storm right now again this a few miles southwest of Iowa City heading in that direction we're hoping this thing list permanently it looks like it's weakening a little bit but there's still very strong rotation with it I'm gonna tell you the sheriff County the deputies passed us up here they're up on that row they are very close to that tomato right now but again this is southwest of Iowa City fairly rural areas this is likely right along Highway one right now between Iowa City and Kelowna and as we mentioned these storms do tend to cycle and that doesn't mean that it's completely done producing a tornado but right now it appears that most of it has gone back up into the actual wall cloud but we still have very tight hard rotation they're indicating this storm is certainly capable of producing another one and it's very possible as these things do develop and cycle like this one that another tornado will touch down here very shortly all right let's get ready to roll Nik just wanted your interpretation of the imitation there tree there you can see a tree has been knocked over the road Nick you're tell us what you're seeing right there yeah right now we are just a maybe two three miles southwest of Iowa City right now again this is debris that definitely came from this tornado crossing the road here I can tell you during this area it didn't appear visually to be on the ground but as you can clearly see it definitely was there's definitely debris still on the road we're gonna see if we can navigate around some of this we're not entirely sure yet but there's definitely a lot of tree damage I can see a building right behind these trees have some roof damage it does appear that it did narrowly miss these two homes here southwest of Iowa City we're about a mile south of highway one on Sharon Center Road Southwest so again there is definitely some shree damage out here but not seeing any structural damage at the time are you going to be able to advance forward there Nick can you get around it we're gonna investigate that right now we're actually our photojournalist scottson but helping us kind of remove some the trees here we're gonna see if we can be able to get moving here again the main reason we're doing this is to try and get everybody early warning of what's going on here and hopefully we were able to do that for Iowa City also to those of you in the booths if you want to look at the highway 218 highway one camera no the d-o-t is tracking the storm too so we might be able to get a visual there if you want to try and pull that up that would be great and since we can't actually see the tornado right now with visually anymore at least the wall cloud I want to go back to the the radar here we'll keep the split screen up so you can see what's going on with our crew out there the trees blocking the road right here these homes were both hit they're okay in this home right here thankfully we checked on them they were taking shelter because of the early warning you want to back up these bars there might be enough to pass it though that might be enough to pass I'm Terry there has been a report from a spotter that they are seeing a funnel visible from Springdale looking towards Iowa City so that's indicating at least we don't have a tornado on the ground but the possibility that we could see it cycling you can see the wall there in the distance you can also notice too that this thing is um definitely not nearly as close to the ground as it was the bases have actually even connected yeah so to me it's it's gotten into an environment that is not nearly as favorable and it's clearly up in the air there is no tornado touching down that we can see right there visually but there is still the wall cloud and it is still rotating so it's still a dangerous storm but at least going over the metro Iowa City right now very good news in the fact that tornado itself has lifted for the time being hey Nick here you needed a little gas out there huh yeah we needed to kind of gas up and kind of reassess so we kind of lost a few things along the way but yeah we are back rolling we understand that the Tomato warnings are continuing downstream so we're gonna get back on Interstate 80 and we're gonna head back eastward towards the West Branch area where I understand there's possibly a tornado still ongoing so we're in try and get you some more live visuals but we've been talking to people here in Iowa City we stopped at the gas station talked to a few folks there were people that were traveling from Minneapolis to st. Louis south through our area they got the alert on their phone and then they basically took shelter in the cooler of the gas station because of the warning they got and they were talking about the fact that right now we're on highway 1 in highway 218 they talk about the fact that tornado was still on the ground very close to here it lifted and then touched down again very very close to the site so even though we weren't able to see that classic you know condensed tornado that we were watching earlier it was apparently still on the ground dropping at times causing damage really close to this location interesting information for sure and this all happened started happening probably an hour and a half or so ago and we watched the wall cloud form live here on TV and then we watched the whole scenario unfold as the tornado started approaching the Iowa City and I think it'd be an excellent idea if we have the video we could go back to that one more time and show people what we were seeing here this afternoon and look at the size and the rotation in that there whoo that would have been a terrible thing if that would have hit a metro area particularly like Iowa City

Channel: TheNStew

Views: 2,226

Keywords: storm, chase, storm chaser, iowa, tornado, tornado chasers, nick stewart, live, coverage, meteorologist, cedar rapids, iowa city

Id: f0E05udJg10

Length: 23min 2sec (1382 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 14 2019