July 6, 2014: A small tornado in Tama County was visible from the Morrison farm. The debris in the foreground is from a different tornado that hit Monday. Photo by Judy Morrison.
The Traer area just had tornadoes roll through again. This is the worst outbreak in my lifetime, and most likely the worst in Tama County history.
The northern two townships of Tama County — the northernmost tier plus Perry and Clark specifically — have had three days in the past eight where tornado warnings were issued. (There was also a severe thunderstorm warning on June 27.)
The most recent tornado or tornadoes (may or may not have been the same one that hit near Reinbeck) was/were captured on video at the Buckingham corner, the southwest corner of Traer, and way way WAY too close for rational thought. It nearly took out the Zobel farmstead but only hit the barn, according to this tweet from Samantha Zobel. KWWL has a gallery that includes submitted pictures taken from Traer.
The expanded NWS report for the June 30 tornado is available now. The tornado was hard to see on radar because it was right about that time that the front congealed into a derecho that went east all the way to Lake Michigan. The Chicago NWS reports that two separate derechos formed that day. The first is tracked back to central Iowa at 2 PM; the Traer tornado warning was issued at 2:03.
From tornadoes to blizzards, it’s easy to see why Midwesterners have a healthy respect/fear of nature.