While Christmas in July is celebrated by some in the peak of summer, a round of thunderstorms more commonly seen in one of the hottest months of the year instead swept through the state just 10 days before the holiday Wednesday evening.

The KNIA/KRLS Severe Weather Action Team was on the air from 5:30 until just before 8 p.m. as six large warnings impacted Marion and Warren Counties. Confirmed wind gusts of 60-70 MPH impacted most area communities, with thousands of central Iowans losing electricity and tree damage impacting several locations.

Before and after the storm, historic non-thunderstorm wind gusts battered the region, with the Des Moines Airport recording a gust of 74 MPH. The Mile Long Bridge over Highway 14 was closed starting at 6 p.m.