Thunderstorm Wind, Wapello
- When
- April 21, 2:50 PM CST
- Where
- Wapello County
- Measured
- 65 kt (75 mph)
- Coordinates
- 41.100, -92.450
Tornadoes and Hail in Iowa, April 21, 1973
4 tornado, 3 hail, 1 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
- 0
- Injuries
- 6
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 8
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
4 tornado, 3 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Henry
- When
- April 21, 3:00 PM CST
- Where
- Henry County
- Measured
- 4 in hail
- Coordinates
- 40.900, -91.400
Tornado, Iowa
- When
- April 21, 3:40 PM CST
- Where
- Iowa County
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 6.6 mi
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Injuries
- 6 direct, 0 indirect
- Coordinates
- 41.580, -91.920
Tornado, Johnson
- When
- April 21, 3:56 PM CST
- Where
- Johnson County
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 6.6 mi
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Coordinates
- 41.670, -91.830
Hail, Des Moines
- When
- April 21, 4:00 PM CST
- Where
- Des Moines County
- Measured
- 3 in hail
- Coordinates
- 41.000, -91.300
Hail, Delaware
- When
- April 21, 4:20 PM CST
- Where
- Delaware County
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Coordinates
- 42.400, -91.550
Tornado, Lee
- When
- April 21, 6:10 PM CST
- Where
- Lee County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 4.1 mi
- Path width
- 250 yd
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Coordinates
- 40.780, -91.580
Tornado, Henry
- When
- April 21, 9:20 PM CST
- Where
- Henry County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 1 mi
- Path width
- 150 yd
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Coordinates
- 41.130, -91.450
What these are
- 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.
- 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.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
More
Every storm in Iowa in 1973Every state in 1973This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Iowa, 1973
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: 10013305, 10013306, 10013307, 10013308, 10013309, 10013310, 10013311, 10013312.