Chad Hahn, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service, also confirmed a tornado did not touch down in Newton or Jasper County. He said there was a strong rotating wall cloud on the storm, which along with the rotation identified on radar prompted the tornado warning.

This means that instead of receiving a tornado warning just 15 minutes before a storm strikes, residents could get up to two hours’ notice. The technology also allows for more targeted alerts, potentially narrowing warnings from entire regions to just one or two counties.