By: Matt Scher, matts@977thebolt.com
Hardy, IA – An apparent tornado touched down in Humboldt County Thursday afternoon north of Hardy. Humboldt County Emergency Management Coordinator Kyle Bissell says he was alerted by Humboldt County Engineer Ben Loots that an apparent tornado was on the ground.
Bissell says damage was reported from the storm near Texas Ave. and 120th St.
No injuries were reported in the storm. According to Bissell, the storm was reportedly on the ground for 2-3 miles.
In a video of the apparent tornado taken by Jeff Habben of Humboldt County Secondary Roads that was shared by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, it was initially reported that there was only minor crop damage. The time of the video was listed by the sheriff’s office as 4:10 p.m.
Bissell says he alerted the National Weather Service after a trucker notified the Humboldt County Law Enforcement Center at 3:56 p.m. of a tornado on the ground.
A Tornado Warning for the storm did not go into effect until 4:12 p.m., 16 minutes after the storm was spotted on the ground. By then, the system was located between the Renwick and Corwith area.
TIMELINE OF NOTIFICATION
3:56 p.m. – Trucker reports tornado to the Humboldt County Law Enforcement Center (LEC)
3:58 p.m. – Bissell alerted by LEC of possible tornado
3:59 p.m. – Humboldt County Engineer Ben Loots notifies Bissell
4:06 p.m. – Tornado is confirmed by spotters, storm sirens sound, Bissell notifies National Weather Service (NWS)
4:12 p.m. – Tornado Warning issued by NWS
The timing between the apparent tornado being reported, its distance traveled before the warning, the NWS not detecting the storm on radar, and the damage being observed was concerning to Bissell. He says this is a classic case of the weather gap in North Central Iowa and southern Minnesota.
A weather gap is an area that is caught in between National Weather Service radars that causes a lapse in coverage. The cause of the weather gap is due to the curvature of the Earth, which Bissell says causes radars to not reach our area for adequate imaging. This is due to radars sending out a straight signal that at farther distances cannot see under 6,000 feet in some areas and up to 10,000 feet in the far upper reaches of North Central Iowa into Minnesota.
The National Weather Service is currently investigating the storm reports for the storm.