Tornado Warnings in Iowa
3,431 tornado warnings since 1986. An alert counts here when it covered any part of the state, so the counties below add up to more than the state. The archive of tornado warnings reaches back to 1986.
Tornado Warnings by county
Each county as a circle sized by its count since 1986. Tap one for its archive.
- Tornado Warnings
- 3,431
- Busiest year
- 2008242 tornado warnings
- Average year
- 84over 41 years on file
Over time
By year
Before October 2007 these were issued for whole counties, and a storm crossing three counties was often three warnings; since then one polygon follows the storm. The count changed with the practice, not only with the weather.
By month of the year
By county
Every county with at least one alert. A county page lists each alert that covered it.
- Pottawattamie County118
- Linn County109
- Jones County105
- Polk County101
- Mills County94
- Harrison County92
- Fremont County92
- Dallas County88
- Cedar County87
- Marion County87
- Jasper County86
- Scott County86
- Johnson County85
- Warren County85
- Clinton County83
- Madison County78
- Montgomery County77
- Muscatine County77
- Benton County77
- Sioux County76
- Webster County76
- Jackson County76
- Delaware County75
- Boone County73
- Page County73
- Pocahontas County72
- Woodbury County72
- Union County71
- Hardin County69
- Marshall County69
- Dubuque County69
- Tama County68
- Adair County67
- Mahaska County66
- Hamilton County65
- O'Brien County64
- Guthrie County64
- Story County64
- Iowa County63
- Plymouth County63
59 more counties
- Ringgold County62
- Buchanan County62
- Washington County62
- Monona County61
- Calhoun County61
- Shelby County61
- Decatur County59
- Lyon County59
- Poweshiek County59
- Wright County59
- Black Hawk County59
- Lucas County58
- Kossuth County57
- Clarke County57
- Louisa County56
- Crawford County54
- Osceola County54
- Greene County54
- Carroll County53
- Clay County51
- Grundy County50
- Cass County49
- Cerro Gordo County49
- Monroe County49
- Lee County49
- Wayne County48
- Adams County48
- Palo Alto County48
- Keokuk County47
- Butler County47
- Des Moines County46
- Appanoose County46
- Howard County46
- Henry County45
- Franklin County45
- Cherokee County44
- Taylor County43
- Humboldt County43
- Van Buren County43
- Chickasaw County41
- Buena Vista County40
- Wapello County40
- Hancock County40
- Davis County39
- Clayton County36
- Winneshiek County36
- Dickinson County36
- Fayette County35
- Floyd County35
- Bremer County35
- Audubon County33
- Sac County33
- Jefferson County33
- Mitchell County32
- Worth County32
- Winnebago County27
- Allamakee County25
- Emmet County22
- Ida County20
The latest tornado warnings
The most recent on file, newest first.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14, 6:55 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Fremont, Mills | 15 min |
| Sep 14, 6:40 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Fremont | 29 min |
| Sep 8, 8:50 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Johnson, Linn | 25 min |
| Sep 1, 10:04 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Lyon, O'Brien, Osceola, Sioux | 26 min |
| Aug 19, 2:53 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Des Moines, Louisa | 24 min |
| Aug 19, 1:57 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Fremont | 14 min |
| Aug 13, 9:10 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Jefferson, Keokuk, Washington | 50 min |
| Aug 13, 6:48 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Jasper, Marshall, Polk, Story | 27 min |
| Aug 13, 6:44 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Marshall, Story | 20 min |
| Aug 13, 5:46 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Greene | 29 min |
| Aug 13, 5:30 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Carroll | 30 min |
| Aug 13, 4:44 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Carroll, Crawford | 31 min |
Nearby
Sources
National Weather Service watches, warnings, advisories and statements from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's VTEC archive, which reconstructs tornado, severe thunderstorm, flash flood and marine warnings back to 1986 from the NWS text archive. Storm Prediction Center watches and mesoscale discussions from SPC's archive through the Mesonet. County centers from the US Census Bureau. Rebuilt daily.