First In Decades; Tornado Touches Down In Iowa County [VIDEO]

Today, January 16^th marks the first January tornado in Iowa since 1967.

At  2:17 pm a tornado touched down on the ground for several minutes just northeast of Williamsburg Iowa.

Warnings were sent out on January 16th

A tornado warning was first put into place for Iowa, Benton, and Johnson at around 2 pm this afternoon until 2:30 as thunderstorms and hail came through the area.

At 2:20 pm the tornado warning was extended until 2:45 pm and was covering Linn, Benton, Johnson, and Iowa County.

As the storm continued to move east, the tornado warning moved to Jones and Linn County. The warning was extended until 3:15.

The last tornado warning was issued until 3:30 for Linn, Jones, and Cedar County.

As of an update from KCRG at 3:20 pm, the only tornado to touch down is the one just northeast of Williamsburg.

There have also been reports of a pea to quarter-sized, debris being blown around and a semi being flipped from the storm.

Iowa Tornado History: January Storms

Since 1986, there wasn't been a tornado warning issued in the state in the month of January.

The last time there was a tornado was in January in Iowa was January 24th, 1967. This late-afternoon outbreak hit  Missouri, eastern Iowa, northwest, central Illinois, and south-central Wisconsin.

There were 13 tornados that hit southeast Iowa that day.

This story will be updated if more information becomes available. 

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