A NEW TWISTER RECORD...

There's been no question that it's been an active severe season in the Midwest. Across the country the preliminary tornado count is over 1500 so far:

This is pacing ahead by 400 tornadoes to-date:

In Iowa this year has set a record for tornadoes already but it does come with a caveat. The National Weather Service in Des Moines put together these graphics with the information on the record-breaking 122 tornadoes for the year:

This breaks the record for 2004 and overtakes 2021 with the December derecho that produced 63 tornadoes in a single day.

While the tornadoes in 2021 came during an usual time of year, this year there have also been more tornadoes outside of our typical severe season, with 49 in April:

While there have been some strong tornadoes this year, the majority have been brief, weak tornadoes. Here's a breakdown of the EF scale, the system that rates tornadoes based on the damage:

And here's how many of each occurred in 2024:

Unfortunately this year also came with destructive tornadoes -- 6 EF-3 and EF-4s. That's the most in a single year since 1999 in Iowa. Two of those were the Minden and Greenfield tornadoes which unfortunately caused injuries and fatalities:

Thankfully the week ahead will be rather quiet across the region. It's gong to be sunny and calm with temperatures near normal, near 80 degrees. Some more summery heat will start to build back in by the end of the week:

Hopefully - still - the rest of the severe season stays on the quiet side.

Rebecca Kopelman