Storms in Iowa in 1997

1,542 events in 410 episodes

Every storm the National Weather Service filed in Iowa in 1997, with each episode’s narrative and every event in it. From 1996 the record holds 48 kinds of event with each office’s narrative; before that, tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind only, and before 1955 tornadoes alone.

Iowa in 1997 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: 1,542
Deaths: 2
Injuries: 33
Damage: $165 million
Episodes: 410

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 event	Events	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
Thunderstorm Wind	249	0	7	$7.5 million
High Wind	198	0	1	$5.0 million
Cold/Wind Chill	193	0	0	$750,000
Heavy Snow	184	0	0	$101 million
Flood	170	0	0	$2.2 million
Hail	161	1	10	$4.5 million
Winter Storm	131	0	0
Blizzard	54	0	3	$155,000
Frost/Freeze	51	0	0	$1.1 million
Ice Storm	44	0	0	$88,000
Flash Flood	32	1	0	$1.5 million
Tornado	26	0	0	$41 million
Lightning	22	0	0	$543,000
Heat	22	0	12	$500
Funnel Cloud	5	0	0

Every episode, month by month

January 1997

February 1997

March 1997

April 1997

May 1997

June 1997

July 1997

August 1997

September 1997

October 1997

November 1997

December 1997

Every year in Iowa Every state in 1997 Tornadoes in Iowa in 1997 Warnings in Iowa in 1997 1996 1998

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.