DAVENPORT, Iowa — An active spring severe weather season continues as severe storms Sunday evening brought large hail, damaging wind gusts, and now two confirmed tornadoes to the Quad Cities region.
Meteorologists with the U.S. National Weather Service in the Quad Cities confirmed that two tornadoes touched down, one in Muscatine County, Iowa, and another in rural Bureau County, Illinois.
The first tornado touched down 1 mile northwest of West Liberty, Iowa around 5:48 p.m. with winds of 95 mph. It traveled nearly five miles, crossing U.S. Highway 6 before lifting near Atalissa at 5:54 p.m. Power poles were snapped at their base, and damage was done to several farm outbuildings with debris scattered into nearby fields. A metal large metal batting cage that was anchored in concrete was also twisted and bent sharply at the base.
A second landspout tornado touched down in northern Bureau County, near Yorktown, Illinois around 6:40 p.m. Pictures and video confirm the tornado was classified as a landspout, meaning rotation was observed at its base rather than above the ground stretching down from a cloud.
Meteorologists are still gathering information and will provide further updates as necessary. At this time, it appears no damage was found, making this an EF-U, or unknown rating.
You can read more about landspouts and how they differ from other tornadoes by checking out this Ask Andrew segment.
The storms also blew a semi-trailer off I-80 near Springdale, Iowa, and quarter-sized hail near Barstow. Large tree branches were also reported down near 53rd Street and US-61 in Davenport.
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