Tornado watch extended into central Iowa for Friday evening

Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez, Des Moines Register

Friday is expected to kick off a weekend of potentially severe weather in Iowa. Portions of western and central Iowa are under a tornado watch for the afternoon and evening hours as storms develop and spread across the state.

Here are the lastest updates on severe weather potential in the state:

3:47 p.m.: Tornado watch issued for parts of central Iowa, stop just short of Polk County

A tornado watch has been issued for parts of central Iowa until 9 p.m. Friday.

The watch picks up on the edge of an earlier tornado watch in western Iowa and extends up to the Des Moines metro area. Dallas County is included in the watch, but Polk, Story and Warren counties are not at this time.

Severe weather including a few tornadoes, large hail and strong wind gusts are possible, according to the National Weather Service in Des Moines. Isolated heavy rainfall may also occur.

12:55 p.m.: Tornado watch issued for parts of western Iowa

A tornado watch has been issued by the National Weather Service for parts of western Iowa until 7 p.m. Friday.

Counties in the watch are at risk of seeing tornadoes, apple size hail and wind gusts up to 70 mph.

This is the first wave in a weekend of storms expected in Iowa. Most of the state has the potential to see severe storms, tornadoes and heavy rainfall all weekend. Storms are expected to move toward central Iowa in the evening hours Friday.

More: What's the difference between a severe weather watch and a warning?

What's the weather radar in Des Moines, central Iowa?

Here's a look at the National Weather Service's Des Moines radar loop:

Weather

Embedded content: https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/standard/KDMX_loop.gif

What should you do in the case of severe weather?

Staying weather aware will be important. Look out for wireless emergency alerts on your smartphone or stay up to date on forecasts at weather.gov/desmoines.

NWS has some more tips for severe weather:

  • Get in: If you are outside, get inside.  If you're already inside, get as far into the middle of the building as possible.

  • Get down: Get underground if possible. If you can't, go to the lowest floor possible.

  • Cover up: Flying and falling debris are a storm's number one danger.  Use pillows, blankets, coats, helmets to cover up and protect your head and body from flying debris.

Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez is a general assignment reporter for the Register. Reach her at vreynarodriguez@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @VictoriaReynaR

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: NWS: Tornado watches issued for central, western Iowa on Friday

Advertisement