5th Anniversary of Tornado Outbreak Across Our Area

On May 22, 2011 6 tornadoes were confirmed across northeast Iowa, southeast Minnesota, and western Wisconsin.

The photo-gallery at the bottom shows the destruction caused by these storms.

Weather.gov provided these details:

The first started about 4 miles northeast of Riceville in Howard County, Iowa at 2:33 p.m. he total track length of this tornado was 28 miles long with a maximum width of 250 yards. The strongest damage was rated a higher end EF2 with winds of 130 to 135 mph.

The second touched down about 3 miles east of Sumner, Iowa. Numerous trees were snapped off or uprooted along with damage to several homes, barns and grain bins

The third small tornado initially touched down 5 miles east of West Union.  Numerous trees, some 100 feet in height and 3 feet in diameter, were uprooted or snapped halfway up the trunk.  Significant damage to a couple houses, barns, and out-buildings indicated damage consistent with low end EF2 tornado damage with winds estimated at 105 to 120 mph.

The fourth was around 4 p.m. in central Houston county.  Damage was to a few medium sized trees 20 to 40 feet in height and about 2 feet in diameter that were uprooted or snapped off about half way up. This damage is consistent with high end EF0 to low end EF1 damage with winds estimated at 80 to 90 mph.

The fifth began southwest of Hokah, MN (Houston County) crossed the Mississippi River around 4:20 pm near Target Lake and entered the city of La Crosse shortly after.  Several trees, houses and an apartment building were damaged. The damage was given a lower end EF2 damage with winds estimated to have been about 115 to 120 mph.

The sixth touched down 1 mile southwest of Rockland Wisconsin. Damage was mainly to trees, windows and power lines.  There was some minor damage to roof tops and sheds as well.  One of the worst hit homes also had a car moved along with windows busted out.