Tornadoes · United States · Iowa

1986 tornadoes in Iowa

41 tornadoes touched down in Iowa in 1986, about the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 9. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1985 1987 The whole country in 1986

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5261 to 318 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Iowa in 1986

March 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 18	4:03 PM CST	F1	Adair	0.2	20			$5,000 to $50,000

April 26 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 26	6:30 PM CST	F2	Lyon to MN	18.5	120	1	4	$500,000 to $5 million
April 26	6:42 PM CST	F2	Lyon	9.5	70			$500,000 to $5 million
April 26	9:05 PM CST	F0	Crawford	0.1	20

May 8 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 8	3:50 PM CDT	F0	Monroe	0.1	13	$5,000 to $50,000
May 8	4:38 PM CDT	F0	Polk	0.1	10
May 8	5:00 PM CDT	F1	Jasper	0.1	20	$5,000 to $50,000
May 8	5:05 PM CDT	F0	Plymouth	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000

May 9 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 9	7:36 PM CDT	F0	Dallas	0.2	10
May 9	7:40 PM CDT	F0	Dallas	0.1	10
May 9	7:48 PM CDT	F0	Dallas	0.1	10
May 9	7:55 PM CDT	F0	Dallas	0.1	10
May 9	8:09 PM CDT	F0	Dallas	0.2	10
May 9	8:12 PM CDT	F0	Dallas	0.1	10
May 9	8:40 PM CDT	F0	Dallas	0.1	10
May 9	8:49 PM CDT	F0	Polk	0.2	10

May 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 10	7:52 PM CDT	F0	Decatur	0.1	10			$500 to $5,000

June 10 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 10	6:55 PM CDT	F0	O'Brien	0.1	13
June 10	9:05 PM CDT	F0	Lucas	0.1	10	$50 to $500
June 10	9:43 PM CDT	F0	Marion	0.1	13	$500 to $5,000
June 10	10:30 PM CDT	F1	Iowa	0.2	23	$50,000 to $500,000
June 10	10:40 PM CDT	F1	Iowa	0.2	23	$50,000 to $500,000

June 29 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 29	10:05 PM CDT	F2	Guthrie	1.0	50	$500,000 to $5 million
June 29	10:50 PM CDT	F2	Guthrie	2.0	73	$50,000 to $500,000
June 29	11:35 PM CDT	F2	Polk	5.0	50	$500,000 to $5 million

July 8 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 8	9:15 PM CDT	F0	Decatur	0.2	10
July 8	10:45 PM CDT	F0	Decatur	0.2	10

July 13 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 13	11:47 PM CDT	F2	Clarke	1.0	50			$50,000 to $500,000
July 13	12:20 AM CDT	F1	Decatur	0.5	40			$50,000 to $500,000

July 28 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 28	7:35 PM CDT	F1	Clay	1.0	40	$50,000 to $500,000
July 28	7:38 PM CDT	F1	O'Brien	0.1	13	$5,000 to $50,000
July 28	8:47 PM CDT	F2	Calhoun	4.0	150	$50,000 to $500,000
July 28	9:05 PM CDT	F0	Crawford	0.2	10

August 5 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 5	6:00 PM CDT	F0	Jefferson	0.1	13			$500 to $5,000

August 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 7	6:45 PM CDT	F1	Delaware	0.1	23		3	$5,000 to $50,000

August 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 14	6:37 PM CDT	F1	Marion	0.2	23			$50,000 to $500,000

September 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 22	6:25 PM CDT	F1	Johnson	0.2	10			$5,000 to $50,000

September 28 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
September 28	5:34 PM CDT	F4	Polk	20.0	250		$500,000 to $5 million
September 28	7:05 PM CDT	F1	Clay	0.1	13		$5,000 to $50,000
September 28	7:35 PM CDT	F0	Webster	0.1	13
September 28	9:45 PM CDT	F2	Floyd	0.2	23	2	$50,000 to $500,000

Crossed into Iowa

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Iowa. They are counted under the state they began in.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 28	6:30 PM CDT	F4	Dixon, NE to IA	52.5	73		2	$50 million to $500 million

Nearby

Every tornado in Iowa since 1950 Warnings in force in Iowa The live radar over Iowa

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.