Tornado Watches in Iowa
588 tornado watches 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 watches reaches back to 1997.
Tornado Watches by county
Each county as a circle sized by its count since 1986. Tap one for its archive.
- Tornado Watches
- 588
- Busiest year
- 200439 tornado watches
- Average year
- 20over 30 years on file
Over time
By year
Watches are counted from 1997, when the Storm Prediction Center archive begins.
By month of the year
By county
Every county with at least one alert. A county page lists each alert that covered it.
- Fremont County169
- Union County169
- Wayne County169
- Adams County168
- Lucas County168
- Ringgold County168
- Taylor County168
- Decatur County167
- Page County167
- Clarke County165
- Adair County164
- Mills County163
- Madison County159
- Montgomery County159
- Appanoose County157
- Cass County157
- Guthrie County156
- Warren County156
- Monroe County155
- Polk County155
- Pottawattamie County155
- Dallas County154
- Marion County154
- Boone County153
- Greene County152
- Jasper County149
- Audubon County148
- Mahaska County148
- Harrison County147
- Shelby County146
- Wapello County146
- Carroll County144
- Monona County144
- Story County143
- Davis County142
- Louisa County140
- Poweshiek County139
- Marshall County138
- Des Moines County137
- Hamilton County137
59 more counties
- Muscatine County137
- Scott County137
- Cedar County136
- Crawford County136
- Hardin County135
- Lee County135
- Tama County135
- Henry County134
- Webster County133
- Johnson County132
- Washington County131
- Keokuk County130
- Woodbury County130
- Calhoun County129
- Ida County129
- Iowa County129
- Jones County129
- Clinton County127
- Jefferson County127
- Linn County127
- Van Buren County126
- Benton County124
- Grundy County124
- Hancock County123
- Humboldt County122
- Sac County122
- Cerro Gordo County121
- Cherokee County121
- Jackson County121
- O'Brien County121
- Clay County120
- Franklin County120
- Wright County120
- Osceola County119
- Plymouth County119
- Pocahontas County119
- Dickinson County118
- Sioux County117
- Buena Vista County116
- Worth County116
- Palo Alto County115
- Chickasaw County114
- Kossuth County114
- Lyon County114
- Winnebago County113
- Winneshiek County113
- Black Hawk County111
- Butler County111
- Fayette County111
- Floyd County111
- Delaware County110
- Emmet County110
- Dubuque County109
- Allamakee County108
- Bremer County107
- Buchanan County105
- Howard County105
- Clayton County103
- Mitchell County103
The latest tornado watches
The most recent on file, newest first.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14, 4:51 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adair, Adams, Audubon, Boone, Carroll, Cass and 18 more | 7 hr |
| Jul 20, 3:03 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adair, Allamakee, Appanoose, Benton, Black Hawk, Boone and 55 more | 7 hr |
| Jun 11, 1:57 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Appanoose, Cedar, Clinton, Davis, Des Moines, Henry and 19 more | 7 hr |
| Jun 11, 7:31 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Appanoose, Benton, Buchanan, Cedar, Clinton, Davis and 25 more | 7 hr |
| Jun 10, 4:01 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cedar, Clinton, Des Moines, Henry, Iowa, Jackson and 11 more | 7 hr |
| Jun 10, 2:12 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Appanoose, Clarke, Davis, Decatur, Lucas and 8 more | 9 hr |
| Jun 9, 8:36 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Ida, Lyon and 6 more | 5 hr |
| May 18, 3:49 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Cass, Clarke, Davis and 21 more | 6 hr |
| May 17, 8:07 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adair, Adams, Audubon, Black Hawk, Boone, Calhoun and 29 more | 5 hr |
| May 17, 6:12 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bremer, Butler, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Emmet, Fayette and 13 more | 6 hr |
| May 17, 3:16 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie and 1 more | 8 hr |
| May 17, 1:42 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Ida, Lyon and 6 more | 8 hr |
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.