Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Watches in 2026

Tornado Watch 134

April 23, 202640 counties in Iowa; 4 counties in Missouri; 17 counties in Nebraska

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 23, 2026, 12:02 PM CDT for 40 counties in Iowa; 4 counties in Missouri; 17 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Apr 23, 2026, 12:02 PM CDT (17:02 UTC)
Expired: Apr 23, 2026, 7:00 PM CDT
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected: 2.5 in
Strongest gust expected: 60 kt

All 61 counties

Adair County, IA, Adams County, IA, Audubon County, IA, Buena Vista County, IA, Calhoun County, IA, Carroll County, IA, Cass County, IA, Cherokee County, IA, Clay County, IA, Crawford County, IA, Dickinson County, IA, Emmet County, IA, Fremont County, IA, Greene County, IA, Guthrie County, IA, Hancock County, IA, Harrison County, IA, Humboldt County, IA, Ida County, IA, Kossuth County, IA, Mills County, IA, Monona County, IA, Montgomery County, IA, O'Brien County, IA, Osceola County, IA, Page County, IA, Palo Alto County, IA, Plymouth County, IA, Pocahontas County, IA, Pottawattamie County, IA, Ringgold County, IA, Sac County, IA, Shelby County, IA, Sioux County, IA, Taylor County, IA, Union County, IA, Webster County, IA, Winnebago County, IA, Woodbury County, IA, Wright County, IA, Andrew County, MO, Atchison County, MO, Holt County, MO, Nodaway County, MO, Burt County, NE, Cass County, NE, Dodge County, NE, Douglas County, NE, Gage County, NE, Jefferson County, NE, Johnson County, NE, Lancaster County, NE, Nemaha County, NE, Otoe County, NE, Pawnee County, NE, Richardson County, NE, Saline County, NE, Sarpy County, NE, Saunders County, NE, Thurston County, NE, Washington County, NE

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 130 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:03 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes: 50%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes: 20%
Ten or more severe wind reports: 60%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more: 20%
Ten or more severe hail reports: 50%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more: 40%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports: 90%

Warnings issued inside it

71 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 23, 12:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Woodbury	48 min
Apr 23, 12:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Burt, Cuming, Dodge	51 min
Apr 23, 12:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Plymouth, Woodbury	42 min
Apr 23, 12:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Saunders	26 min
Apr 23, 1:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Burt	39 min
Apr 23, 1:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Harrison, Monona	41 min
Apr 23, 1:37 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Harrison, Monona	38 min
Apr 23, 1:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Dodge, Douglas, Saunders, Washington	43 min
Apr 23, 2:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Harrison, Monona	40 min
Apr 23, 2:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Crawford	63 min
Apr 23, 2:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Lancaster, Sarpy, Saunders	26 min
Apr 23, 2:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Gage, Jefferson, Saline	40 min
Apr 23, 2:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	OAX	Cass, Lancaster, Saunders, Seward	39 min
Apr 23, 2:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	OAX	Harrison, Pottawattamie	53 min
Apr 23, 2:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Douglas, Saunders, Washington	44 min
Apr 23, 2:36 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Gage, Jefferson, Saline	39 min
Apr 23, 2:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Harrison, Monona	52 min
Apr 23, 2:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Cass, Lancaster, Saunders	51 min
Apr 23, 2:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Gage, Jefferson	47 min
Apr 23, 2:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Cass, Lancaster	50 min
Apr 23, 3:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Harrison, Monona, Shelby	39 min
Apr 23, 3:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Harrison, Pottawattamie	49 min
Apr 23, 3:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Crawford	63 min
Apr 23, 3:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Buena Vista, Cherokee	48 min
Apr 23, 3:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Ida, Woodbury	48 min
Apr 23, 3:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Douglas, Sarpy, Washington	34 min
Apr 23, 3:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Clay	38 min
Apr 23, 3:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Harrison, Shelby	67 min
Apr 23, 3:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Gage, Johnson, Pawnee	48 min
Apr 23, 3:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Pottawattamie	58 min
Apr 23, 3:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Carroll, Crawford	42 min
Apr 23, 3:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Gage, Jefferson	40 min
Apr 23, 4:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Harrison, Pottawattamie, Shelby	60 min
Apr 23, 4:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Palo Alto	40 min
Apr 23, 4:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Calhoun, Carroll, Crawford, Sac	57 min
Apr 23, 4:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Pottawattamie, Shelby	55 min
Apr 23, 4:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Johnson, Nemaha, Otoe	52 min
Apr 23, 4:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Gage	48 min
Apr 23, 4:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Shelby	21 min
Apr 23, 4:38 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Johnson, Nemaha, Otoe	52 min
Apr 23, 4:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Mills, Montgomery	45 min
Apr 23, 4:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Audubon	56 min
Apr 23, 4:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Gage, Johnson, Nemaha, Pawnee	50 min
Apr 23, 4:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Calhoun, Humboldt, Pocahontas, Webster	49 min
Apr 23, 5:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observed	DMX	Audubon, Carroll	27 min
Apr 23, 5:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	OAX	Fremont	43 min
Apr 23, 5:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Calhoun, Carroll, Greene, Webster	41 min
Apr 23, 5:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Fremont	41 min
Apr 23, 5:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Atchison	23 min
Apr 23, 5:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Mills, Montgomery, Pottawattamie	51 min
Apr 23, 5:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Gage, Johnson, Nemaha, Otoe, Pawnee, Richardson	48 min
Apr 23, 5:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adair, Audubon, Carroll, Cass, Greene, Guthrie	30 min
Apr 23, 5:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Emmet, Kossuth, Palo Alto, Winnebago	40 min
Apr 23, 5:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Kossuth	22 min
Apr 23, 5:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Atchison	42 min
Apr 23, 5:35 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Fremont, Page	40 min
Apr 23, 5:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Boone, Calhoun, Carroll, Greene, Humboldt, Pocahontas and 1 more	69 min
Apr 23, 5:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adair, Audubon, Cass, Guthrie	66 min
Apr 23, 5:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Fremont, Mills, Montgomery, Page	76 min
Apr 23, 5:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Nemaha, Pawnee, Richardson	69 min
Apr 23, 5:56 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	OAX	Montgomery, Pottawattamie	3 hr
Apr 23, 6:06 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Atchison, Nodaway	24 min
Apr 23, 6:08 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Montgomery, Page	40 min
Apr 23, 6:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Boone, Greene, Hamilton, Humboldt, Webster, Wright	50 min
Apr 23, 6:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adams, Taylor	64 min
Apr 23, 6:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Atchison, Holt, Nodaway	46 min
Apr 23, 6:18 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Page	42 min
Apr 23, 6:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adair, Boone, Cass, Dallas, Greene, Guthrie and 1 more	50 min
Apr 23, 6:33 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Adams, Taylor	42 min
Apr 23, 6:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Andrew, Atchison, Holt, Nodaway, Worth	48 min
Apr 23, 6:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Boone, Greene, Hamilton, Hardin, Story, Webster	62 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 330 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 830 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 222 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 96 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 23, 11:13 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Adair, Adams, Audubon, Boone, Buena Vista, Calhoun and 36 more	2 hr
Apr 23, 2:37 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Adair, Adams, Audubon, Boone, Buena Vista, Calhoun and 34 more	83 min
Apr 23, 5:04 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Adair, Adams, Audubon, Boone, Bremer, Butler and 40 more	116 min
Apr 23, 5:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer and 30 more	6 hr
Apr 22, 7:06 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Boyd, Brown, Cherry, Grant, Holt, Keya Paha and 1 more	3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Iowa, 2026 Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 2026 Tornado Watches in Missouri, 2026 Every tornado watch in 2026

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.