Wind, hail and tornadoes possible Tuesday

Apr. 15—OTTUMWA — More than two-thirds of Iowa will be under a severe weather threat Tuesday, the National Weather Service says. Those threats include damaging winds, large hail and even some tornadoes.

Southeast Iowa, including Ottumwa and the surrounding area, are currently the biggest targets for all of the above severe weather possibilities, forecasters said in their Monday morning briefing.

Confidence in the tornado threat has grown, with strong tornadoes rating EF-2 or greater possible across southeast Iowa. The storm could also bring wind gusts of 60-70 mph as the storms move quickly across the area. There's a high probability of large hail, measuring in excess of quarter-size and up to baseball-size hail.

The threats led the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center to place a large area of southeastern Iowa — the area is outlined by the cities of Ames, Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Lamoni, and down to the Iowa/Missouri state line and Mississippi River — in an enhanced risk.

As of Monday morning, forecasters didn't have high confidence in the timing of severe weather, but believed morning and mid-afternoon were the greatest chances for widespread severe weather in Iowa, but storms could linger into the evening hours.

The storms are also expected to bring heavy rainfall in some areas, which could lead to localized flooding of streets.

Kyle Ocker is the editor of the Ottumwa Courier and the Oskaloosa Herald. He can be reached at kocker@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, and on Threads @Kyle_Ocker.