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2021 a "Typical" Year for Iowa Tornadoes

DES MOINES, Iowa -- 2021 was a pretty typical year when it comes to tornadoes in Iowa.

"Fifty-one tornadoes recorded this year--that's just about average. There's nothing really outstanding about this year," says National Weather Service Meteorologist Craig Cogil.

He says the majority of tornadoes in Iowa this year were weak, by Weather Service standards. Forty-nine of the twisters were rated EF1 or less.

"The majority of the tornadoes we typically see do fall into the category of EFU (for unknown), EF0 or EF1. Typically the strong tornadoes--EF2 and EF3--we see only a couple, two or three, in a given year. An EF4 or EF5 we rarely see--which is a good thing," Cogil says.

He says there another good thing about seeing mostly weak tornadoes, as Iowa saw in 2021.

"There were no deaths, and only a couple of injuries so, overall, we were pretty fortunate this year," Cogil says.

The Weather Service says July 14th saw Iowa's strongest tornadoes for the year.

They say the strongest tornado of the year was an EF3 that touched down near Lake City in Western Iowa, while an EF2 tornado touched down in Shell Rock--in Northeast Iowa--a little more than an hour later.


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