Iowa, 1998

Tornado in Iowa, May 15, 1998

May 15, 1998 · NWS FSD · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A tornado touched down briefly but no damage was reported.

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
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS FSD wrote it up.

A tornado touched down briefly but no damage was reported.

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:18 UTC.

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Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Sioux

When
May 15, 3:20 PM CST
Where
Sioux County, 5 mi W of Sioux Center
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
50 yd
Reported by
BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates
43.080, -96.280

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.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Iowa in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Iowa, 1998Warnings in Iowa, May 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. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5645282.