National Weather Service confirms tornados in southern Iowa Friday evening

Friday is expected to kick off a weekend of potentially severe weather in Iowa. Portions of western and central Iowa are under a tornado watch for the afternoon and evening hours as storms develop and spread across the state.

Here are the latest updates on severe weather potential in the state:

The National Weather Service in Des Moines confirmed a tornado located near Afton moving northeast at 30 mph.

At 7:34 p.m., another tornado was reported near Redding moving northeast at 40 mph.

The National Weather Service in Des Moines has issued a tornado warning for Madison, Union, Adair and Ringgold counties until 8 p.m.

At 7:16 p.m., a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located 5 miles northeast of Green Valley Lake State Park moving northeast at 40 mph.

At 7:21 p.m., a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over Irena moving northeast at 45 mph.

The National Weather Service in Des Moines confirmed a tornado located over Manilla moving northeast at 45 mph.

At 7:05 p.m., NWS confirmed a tornado located over Creston moving northeast at 40 mph.

At 7:07 p.m., NWS confirmed a new tornado located 5 miles south of Vail moving northeast 40 mph.

The NWS reports that the tornados are on the ground and residents should take cover.

The National Weather Service in Des Moines has issued a tornado warning for Union, Adams and Adair counties until 7:45 p.m. Friday.

At 6:54 p.m., the NWS confirmed a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado near Kent moving northeast at 30 mph.

The National Weather Service in Des Moines has issued a tornado warning for northeastern Crawford County in west central Iowa until 7:30 p.m.

At 6:43 p.m., the NWS confirmed a ‘large and extremely dangerous’ tornado located 5 miles southwest of Vail moving north at 30 mph.

The NWS has labeled the tornado as life-threatening and urges residents to take cover.

The National Weather Service in Des Moines confirmed a “large and extremely dangerous” tornado was located near Irwin moving northeast at 30 mph.

The NWS has labeled this a “particularly dangerous situation” and urges residents to take cover.

The National Weather Service in Des Moines has issued a tornado warning from southeastern Adams County and Taylor County until 7 p.m. Friday.

At 6:20 p.m., a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located 5 miles east of Braddyville moving northeast at 40 mph.

At 6:28 p.m., the thunderstorm was located near Corning Municipal Airport moving northeast at 55 mph.

The storm could produce a tornado as well as quarter-size hail.

Spotters confirmed a tornado around 5:15 p.m. about 9 miles east of Council Bluffs, The National Weather Service reported. The tornado was moving northeast at 45 mph.

The tornado touched down in another area about 7 miles southwest of Treynor, moving in the same direction.

NWS radars also confirmed a tornado 7 miles northwest of Neola around 5:20 p.m.

3:47 p.m.: Tornado watch issued for parts of central Iowa, stop just short of Polk County

A tornado watch has been issued for parts of central Iowa until 9 p.m. Friday.

The watch picks up on the edge of an earlier tornado watch in western Iowa and extends up to the Des Moines metro area. Dallas County is included in the watch, but Polk, Story and Warren counties are not at this time.

Severe weather including a few tornadoes, large hail and strong wind gusts are possible, according to the National Weather Service in Des Moines. Isolated heavy rainfall may also occur.

A tornado watch has been issued by the National Weather Service for parts of western Iowa until 7 p.m. Friday.

Counties in the watch are at risk of seeing tornadoes, apple size hail and wind gusts up to 70 mph.

This is the first wave in a weekend of storms expected in Iowa. Most of the state has the potential to see severe storms, tornadoes and heavy rainfall all weekend. Storms are expected to move toward central Iowa in the evening hours Friday.

More:What's the difference between a severe weather watch and a warning?

Here's a look at the National Weather Service's Des Moines radar loop:

What should you do in the case of severe weather?

Staying weather aware will be important. Look out for wireless emergency alerts on your smartphone or stay up to date on forecasts at weather.gov/desmoines.

NWS has some more tips for severe weather:
• Get in: If you are outside, get inside. If you're already inside, get as far into the middle of the building as possible.
• Get down: Get underground if possible. If you can't, go to the lowest floor possible.
• Cover up: Flying and falling debris are a storm's number one danger. Use pillows, blankets, coats, helmets to cover up and protect your head and body from flying debris.

Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez is a general assignment reporter for the Register. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @VictoriaReynaR