Storms in Iowa in 2003

1,646 events in 332 episodes

Every storm the National Weather Service filed in Iowa in 2003, 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 2003 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: 1,646
Deaths: 2
Injuries: 93
Damage: $1.1 billion
Episodes: 332

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
Hail	567	0	89	$65 million
Thunderstorm Wind	326	0	0	$5.7 million
Winter Storm	173	0	0	$265,000
High Wind	144	1	2	$5.0 million
Flood	110	0	0	$9.5 million
Drought	72	0	0	$958 million
Winter Weather	68	0	0
Heavy Snow	48	0	0	$30,000
Heavy Rain	32	0	0	$50,000
Tornado	31	0	1	$17 million
Flash Flood	21	0	0	$8.9 million
Ice Storm	20	0	0	$100,000
Funnel Cloud	14	0	0
Lightning	9	1	1	$128,000
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill	8	0	0
Frost/Freeze	3	0	0

Every episode, month by month

January 2003

February 2003

March 2003

April 2003

May 2003

June 2003

July 2003

August 2003

September 2003

November 2003

December 2003

Every year in Iowa Every state in 2003 Tornadoes in Iowa in 2003 Warnings in Iowa in 2003 2002 2004

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.