Hail, Appanoose
- When
- April 23, 6:30 AM CST
- Where
- Appanoose County
- Measured
- 3 in hail
- Coordinates
- 40.780, -92.780
Tornadoes and Hail in Iowa, April 23, 1961
6 hail, 4 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 14
- Property damage
- $10 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 12
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
Event by event
6 hail, 4 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Union
- When
- April 23, 8:00 AM CST
- Where
- Union County
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 41.080, -94.080
Tornado, Decatur
- When
- April 23, 8:25 AM CST
- Where
- Decatur County
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 9.3 mi
- Path width
- 600 yd
- Injuries
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Coordinates
- 40.720, -93.730
Tornado, Wayne
- When
- April 23, 8:37 AM CST
- Where
- Wayne County
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 59.3 mi
- Path width
- 600 yd
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Coordinates
- 40.720, -93.550
Hail, Van Buren
- When
- April 23, 9:40 AM CST
- Where
- Van Buren County
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 40.580, -92.080
Tornado, Marshall
- When
- April 23, 10:15 AM CST
- Where
- Marshall County
- Rating
- F3
- Path length
- 7.4 mi
- Path width
- 800 yd
- Injuries
- 6 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Coordinates
- 42.030, -92.920
Hail, Jackson
- When
- April 23, 10:15 AM CST
- Where
- Jackson County
- Measured
- 3 in hail
- Coordinates
- 42.200, -90.680
Thunderstorm Wind, Marshall
- When
- April 23, 10:15 AM CST
- Where
- Marshall County
- Measured
- 87 kt (100 mph)
- Coordinates
- 42.080, -92.900
Tornado, Tama
- When
- April 23, 10:25 AM CST
- Where
- Tama County
- Rating
- F3
- Path length
- 80.3 mi
- Path width
- 800 yd
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 6 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Coordinates
- 42.070, -92.770
Hail, Jackson
- When
- April 23, 12:45 PM CST
- Where
- Jackson County
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 42.080, -90.680
Thunderstorm Wind, Black Hawk
- When
- April 23, 6:35 PM CST
- Where
- Black Hawk County
- Coordinates
- 42.380, -92.400
Hail, Jackson
- When
- April 23, 9:00 PM CST
- Where
- Jackson County
- Measured
- 1.25 in hail
- Coordinates
- 42.200, -90.680
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado, Tama | 1961-04-23 | Direct |
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
More
Every storm in Iowa in 1961Every state in 1961This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Iowa, 1961
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10015911, 10015912, 10015913, 10015914, 10015915, 10015916, 10015917, 10015918, 10015919, 10015920, 10015921, 10015922.