Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Watches

Tornado Watches in Iowa, 2025

12 tornado watches in 2025. 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 in 2025. Tap one for its archive.

Tornado Watches
12
Busiest month
April6 tornado watches
Busiest day
April 28, 20253 tornado watches

Over time

By month

The alerts

Every alert, in the order issued. Times are local, Central Time. Each opens its own page with the text, the map, the radar and the sounding.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 19, 12:16 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCScott9 hr
Apr 17, 4:48 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdair, Adams, Audubon, Carroll, Cass, Clarke and 17 more7 hr
Apr 20, 3:41 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCDes Moines, Henry, Jefferson, Keokuk, Lee, Louisa and 4 more7 hr
Apr 28, 12:29 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBuena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Lyon and 5 more10 hr
Apr 28, 3:27 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCButler, Calhoun, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Floyd, Franklin and 13 more8 hr
Apr 28, 4:58 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdair, Adams, Audubon, Boone, Carroll, Cass and 16 more7 hr
Apr 28, 7:34 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAllamakee, Winneshiek5 hr
May 19, 1:11 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCFremont, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie7 hr
Jun 25, 2:59 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAllamakee, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Floyd, Hancock, Howard and 4 more6 hr
Jun 26, 12:55 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAllamakee, Chickasaw, Floyd, Howard, Mitchell, Winneshiek7 hr
Jul 10, 3:11 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCHarrison, Monona, Plymouth, Woodbury7 hr
Jul 11, 12:54 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdair, Adams, Appanoose, Benton, Cedar, Clarke and 33 more7 hr

By county

Every county with at least one alert. A county page lists each alert that covered it.

48 more counties

The busiest days

Days with the most alerts issued, by UTC date.

Nearby

Alerts in force nowTornadoes on recordThe radar archive20242026

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. Warning verification from the Mesonet's Cow. Rebuilt daily.