A couple of very strong super-cell thunderstorms worked into southwestern Iowa early Thursday evening and produced a number of tornadoes. One of the storms promoted NWS Omaha to issue a Tornado Emergency for Essex, IA, which is just northeast of Shenandoah. These are a special class of Tornado Warnings with a known significant tornado headed for a populated location. The featured map presents the unofficial tally of such Tornado Emergencies for locations in Iowa. It is a rather rare occurrence. The IEM has a page that shows lists out these events along with Flash Flood Emergencies.

Voting:
Good = 29
Bad = 1
Abstain = 1