Winterset, Iowa

This past Saturday I made my first storm chasing trip down into Iowa. My initial target was Carroll, northwest of Des Moines. As I made my way south, forecasts changed and my target area needed to be further south. I stuck with a theme and chose Creston as my new target. This would have been almost ideal for how the day would play out. Unfortunately, I got overexcited and decided to intercept a cell that was forming south of Omaha. Keeping with the theme, I aimed for Clarinda, which is southeast of Omaha, near the Missouri border. Needless to say, I should have stayed put. I was right underneath the storm when the first tornado warning was issued, but with how fast the storm was moving, I was out of position for what was to come. As the storm neared Creston it really began to strengthen and develop a hook echo. There were a couple brief, weak tornadoes reported before the massive tornado touched down just outside of Winterset, quickly turning into what chasers call a “wedge” since that’s what it looks like. I took some drone video and helped block a couple roads, turning people around from some downed powerlines. I put together a short video of what I saw.