(Spirit Lake)– A line of thunderstorms producing damaging wind, hail and flooding rains plowed its way through the heart of the Iowa Great Lakes Tuesday evening. In some cases the storm nearly blew away everything in its path.
Dickinson County Emergency Services Coordinator Mike Ehret says this time it was northern Dickinson county that took the brunt of the severe weather, compared to last Thursday when the southern part of the county was hard hit.
A peak wind gust of 59 miles-per-hour was recorded at the KUOO studios at the height of the storm. A gust of 80 miles-per-hour was reported by a ham radio operator in the vicinity of Pike’s Point on the east side of West Lake Okoboji.
There were numerous reports of patio furniture and other items being blown away in an area between Manhattan Beach and Village West on the west side of West Lake Okoboji.
Ehret says there was crop damage just west of Orleans and northwest of Wahpeton where corn was blown down.
There were numerous reports of branches down and street flooding in Spirit Lake. A large tree was blown down in the area of Applewood and 27th Street.
Six to 10 inch tree limbs were reported down in Okoboji.
While only three quarters of an inch of rain was reported here at the KUOO studios, amounts were much higher in some areas, with as much as two inches or more falling in just minutes.
There were numerous reports of pea-size hail, with nickel-size hail reported on the east side of East Lake Okoboji.
