Travis Randall (click here) walks through the debris-strewn yard of his parent's home in Hickman, Neb., Friday, Oct. 4, 2013, after it was struck by a tornado. Powerful storms crawled into the Midwest on Friday, dumping heavy snow in South Dakota, spawning a tornado in Nebraska and threatening dangerous thunderstorms from Oklahoma to Wisconsin. Photo: Nati Harnik 

By M. Alex Johnson
Staff Writer
NBC News

Multiple tornadoes — one of them a mile wide (click here) — struck Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota on Friday, injuring up to 15 people and causing significant damage, meteorologists and local authorities said.

The Weather Channel counted 17 reports of tornadoes across the three states. The National Weather Service reported late Friday that it had confirmed six of the reports — four of them in Iowa.

The injuries were reported in Wayne, Neb., where a tornado hit about 5:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET). Providence Medical Center said it was treating seven "walking wounded" and seven others who were injured in auto accidents. A trauma patient was being treated at a second hospital, it said....

This is the vortex, exactly one hour ago.

UNISYS Water Vapor US Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you)
October 5, 2013
0130:19z

Below is the time of the tornadoes:

The Weather Channel
October 5, 2013
0315:15 gmt


It has a water vapor source off the Equator. It gained velocity from it. The vortex is mixing the two air masses at the border between the two increasing turbulence.