Southwest Iowa Tornadic Supercells & Damage Recap – 3/5/2022

March 5th was early for the first chase of the year in Iowa. It turned out to be a more potent tornado day than expected. Possibly due to an outflow boundary from earlier convection. It was a tough chase as storms were moving 50+ mph! Many chasers, including myself, had a hard time staying in perfect position on the long-track supercell that produced several tornadoes between Winterset and Norwalk, IA. I started the chase day south of Emerson and ended up near Des Moines. I witnessed a stout funnel south of Emerson on the middle storm and a tornado near Emerson, IA from a distance. I approached the larger supercell to my East before it produced a tornado and decided not to core punch the large hail. I ended up on the SW side of the storm, without a view of the large, EF-4 tornado. Due to the fast storm motions, I decided to stop and watch the cells to my West pass over, and take time to soak in the beauty of the sky, instead of race to catch the monster in the metro area. Just before the sun set, it peeked out from behind the clouds and lit up the sky with an incredible rainbow (double!). It only lasted a minute or so before fading. It’s precious moments like these I love to capture. It’s not always about the tornado.

My heart aches for those impacted by the massive hail and tornadoes yesterday in Iowa. I have family in the Norwalk area. Thankfully they are ok. That area sustained some damage to homes. Sending love and hugs to all!

SID: Melanie Metz
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