Tornado and Hail in Iowa, March 18, 1986

Name: Tornado and Hail in Iowa, March 18, 1986
Start: 1986-03-18T14:20
End: 1986-03-18T16:43
Location: Iowa

March 18, 1986 · NWS DSM · 6 events in 3 counties and zones

5 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $25,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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

Hail, Warren

When: March 18, 2:20 PM CST
Where: Warren County
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Coordinates: 41.480, -93.680

Hail, Cass

When: March 18, 2:35 PM CST
Where: Cass County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 41.320, -94.950

Tornado, Adair

When: March 18, 4:03 PM CST
Where: Adair County
Rating: F1
Path length: 0.2 mi
Path width: 20 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 41.420, -94.650

Hail, Warren

When: March 18, 4:20 PM CST
Where: Warren County
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Coordinates: 41.320, -93.600

Hail, Warren

When: March 18, 4:43 PM CST
Where: Warren County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 41.320, -93.600

Hail, Warren

When: March 18, 4:43 PM CST
Where: Warren County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 41.480, -93.680

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.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Iowa in 1986 Every state in 1986 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Iowa, 1986 Warnings in Iowa, March 1986

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: 10012826, 10012827, 10012828, 10012829, 10012830, 10012831.