It wasn’t a tornado

Weather Service declares storm ‘strong straight-line winds’

The National Weather Service has declared the intense storm that swept Storm Lake and neighboring communities in the early morning hours Friday was caused by straight-line winds. 

Meteorologists have claimed the storm was not a tornado. The NWS confirmed winds near Storm Lake reached between 60 and 80 miles per hour, per a statement released Friday evening. 

Todd Heitkamp, a meteorologist in charge at the NWS branch in Sioux Falls, S.D., stated this afternoon that “the storms developed well behind the cold front, so the odds of any tornado developing with the storms would be very small.” 

Without a tornado warning from the NWS, the automatic tornado siren system in Storm Lake remained off. It’s unclear how many miles per hour wind gusts reached. A semi-truck driver told the Times Pilot Friday morning that gales pushed his vehicle 20 feet while he was inside of it. 

“I don’t think it was a tornado,” speculated Jerry Kahl, of Jerry’s Tree Service around 2 p.m. Friday as he helped clear a fallen 40-foot-tall Colorado spruce from the roof of a house on Irving Street. “There would’ve been more houses destroyed.”

Residents awake around 1 a.m. when a tremendous wind hit would have heard a loud roar and the crackle of debris hitting house siding. The gust lasted less than a minute, followed by a quiet stillness. 

“Based on photos of the scene, strong straight-line winds appear to be the cause of all the damage,” according to a statement from Dana Larsen, city communications coordinator, Friday around 2 p.m. 

City sets up debris drop-off

The city has established three drop-off locations for debris:

• The Field of Dreams parking area at 5941 Vestal St.

• The Discovery Center parking lot at Highway 110 and Abner Bell Road

• The lot east of the Storm Lake Fire Station at 820 Oneida St.

All departments in Buena Vista County assisted in cleanup and damage response and assessment, according to Larsen’s statement Friday afternoon. The Cherokee and Spencer fire departments assisted and relieved some of the Storm Lake fire department and volunteers. 

The city is offering “heartfelt thanks to the many volunteers from fire departments around the area who responded to assist in the wake of the storm.” 

Volunteers interested in helping with debris drop-off and cleanup may assist at the Storm Lake fire station Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.