A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Washington County at 8:50 p.m. Monday as storms swept across the KCII listening area. Severe thunderstorm warnings were also issued for Keokuk, Jefferson, Iowa, Henry, Louisa and Johnson Counties. Johnson County also had a brief tornado warning in the northwestern portion of the county, near Swisher. Keota mayor Tony Cansler reported sirens going off, heavy rain, lots of lightning and strong winds, with a five-minute power outage.
Winds reached 70 miles per hour near Wellman and 60 miles per hour near Sigourney. Larry Smith, Washington and Keokuk County Emergency Management Coordinator, said with the straightline winds the danger was debris. He did receive reports of minor damage in Keokuk County. According to the Washington County Communications Office, a garage door was removed from the 2700 block of 220th Street at about 9:50 p.m.
A quarter of an inch of rain was recorded in Washington.
Seven members of the KCII Severe Weather Action Team responded and brought up to the minute coverage as the storm progressed. And had the power gone off, KCII would have still continued live coverage with back up generators. A tornado watch was in effect for Washington County until 10 p.m., the severe thunderstorm warning also ended at 10 p.m.


