Iowa, 1981

Tornado and Hail in Iowa, April 11, 1981

April 11, 1981 · NWS NG · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

4 hail, 1 tornado, 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
2
Property damage
$2.5 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
5

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 hail, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Taylor

When
April 11, 7:40 PM CST
Where
Taylor County
Rating
F2
Path length
6.9 mi
Path width
50 yd
Injuries
2 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$2.5 million
Coordinates
40.680, -94.750

Hail, Montgomery

When
April 11, 8:25 PM CST
Where
Montgomery County
Measured
1.5 in hail
Coordinates
41.020, -95.180

Hail, Louisa

When
April 11, 10:13 PM CST
Where
Louisa County
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
41.280, -91.200

Hail, Muscatine

When
April 11, 10:43 PM CST
Where
Muscatine County
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
41.420, -91.280

Hail, Clarke

When
April 11, 11:10 PM CST
Where
Clarke County
Measured
1.75 in hail
Coordinates
40.950, -93.780

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.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Iowa in 1981Every state in 1981This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Iowa, 1981

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: 10014864, 10014865, 10014866, 10014867, 10011522.