Storms in Iowa in 1998

1,847 events in 339 episodes

Every storm the National Weather Service filed in Iowa in 1998, 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 1998 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: 1,847
Deaths: 3
Injuries: 216
Damage: $300 million
Episodes: 339

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	606	1	35	$74 million
Hail	367	0	0	$7.7 million
Flood	277	0	0	$60 million
High Wind	149	1	2	$22 million
Ice Storm	125	0	1	$1.4 million
Winter Storm	81	0	0
Heavy Snow	81	1	0	$2.2 million
Tornado	78	0	178	$125 million
Flash Flood	48	0	0	$7.7 million
Funnel Cloud	12	0	0
Lightning	11	0	0	$240,000
Blizzard	11	0	0	$250,000
Heavy Rain	1	0	0

Every episode, month by month

January 1998

February 1998

March 1998

April 1998

May 1998

June 1998

July 1998

August 1998

September 1998

October 1998

November 1998

December 1998

Every year in Iowa Every state in 1998 Tornadoes in Iowa in 1998 Warnings in Iowa in 1998 1997 1999

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.