Iowa Trooper's Radar Records Wind Speeds Topping 90 MPH During Rare Storm

An Iowa State Trooper captured wind speeds topping 90 mph on Monday, August 10, as a rare storm ripped across Iowa, uprooting trees, flipping over vehicles and damaging thousands of acres of crops.

This footage shows the officer’s dashboard radar changing speeds, as the windshield wiper whips back and forth in the wind. The tweet said: “Sgt. Trainor stopped UNDER a bridge just as the worst of the storm came through Linn County yesterday. (Hwy 30- Cedar Rapids) Any guesses on what speed the radar would have picked up if he was on TOP of that bridge?”

Unlike a hurricane, a derecho moves in a straight line and has no eye. The unusual windstorms pack great strength and the potential for widespread damage, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

The storm barreled the Midwest throughout Monday afternoon, including Chicago, where a confirmed tornado touched down in the neighborhood of Rogers Park.

In central Iowa, Marshall County Homeland Security Coordinator Kim Elder said on Monday that several residents were injured by the storm.

The NWS said the last derecho Des Moines experienced was on July 11, 2011. Credit: Iowa State Patrol via Storyful