Iowa

Storms in Iowa in 1986

358 events in 43 episodes

Every storm the National Weather Service filed in Iowa in 1986, with each episode’s narrative and every event in it. Before 1996 the record holds tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind only, without narratives; floods, heat, winter storms and the other kinds begin in 1996.

Iowa in 1986 on the map

Every episode with a place to put it, colored by kind of event.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over Iowa

The year

Events
358
Deaths
1
Injuries
33
Damage
$517 million
Episodes
43

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.

By kind of event

Kind of eventEventsDeathsInjuriesDamage
Thunderstorm Wind21100
Hail100022
Tornado47111$517 million

Every episode, month by month

March 1986

April 1986

May 1986

June 1986

July 1986

August 1986

September 1986

November 1986

More

Every year in IowaEvery state in 1986Tornadoes in Iowa in 1986Warnings in Iowa in 198619851987

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.