Tornado, Marshall
- When
- September 16, 7:25 PM CST
- Where
- Marshall County
- Rating
- F3
- Path length
- 11.3 mi
- Path width
- 200 yd
- Coordinates
- 41.970, -93.180
Tornadoes and Hail in Iowa, September 16, 1978
5 tornado, 3 hail, 3 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
- 6
- Injuries
- 46
- Property damage
- $3.3 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 11
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
5 tornado, 3 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Tornado, Jasper
- When
- September 16, 7:35 PM CST
- Where
- Jasper County
- Rating
- F3
- Path length
- 16.4 mi
- Path width
- 200 yd
- Deaths
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Coordinates
- 41.870, -93.000
Hail, Black Hawk
- When
- September 16, 7:45 PM CST
- Where
- Black Hawk County
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 42.380, -92.500
Hail, Black Hawk
- When
- September 16, 7:45 PM CST
- Where
- Black Hawk County
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 42.420, -92.350
Tornado, Poweshiek
- When
- September 16, 7:55 PM CST
- Where
- Poweshiek County
- Rating
- F3
- Path length
- 4.1 mi
- Path width
- 200 yd
- Deaths
- 4 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 43 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Coordinates
- 41.700, -92.770
Hail, Black Hawk
- When
- September 16, 7:55 PM CST
- Where
- Black Hawk County
- Measured
- 3 in hail
- Coordinates
- 42.550, -92.400
Thunderstorm Wind, Wapello
- When
- September 16, 8:32 PM CST
- Where
- Wapello County
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Coordinates
- 41.100, -92.450
Tornado, Mahaska
- When
- September 16, 8:35 PM CST
- Where
- Mahaska County
- Path length
- 1 mi
- Path width
- 100 yd
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Coordinates
- 41.280, -92.670
Tornado, Mahaska
- When
- September 16, 8:45 PM CST
- Where
- Mahaska County
- Path length
- 0.5 mi
- Path width
- 100 yd
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Coordinates
- 41.250, -92.500
Thunderstorm Wind, Johnson
- When
- September 16, 9:10 PM CST
- Where
- Johnson County
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Coordinates
- 41.680, -91.580
Thunderstorm Wind, Muscatine
- When
- September 16, 9:57 PM CST
- Where
- Muscatine County
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Coordinates
- 41.420, -91.050
What these are
- 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.
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- 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 1978Every state in 1978This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Iowa, 1978
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: 10013860, 10013861, 10013862, 10013863, 10013864, 10013865, 10013866, 10013867, 10013868, 10014724, 10014725.