Tornadoes · United States · Iowa

1994 tornadoes in Iowa

49 tornadoes touched down in Iowa in 1994, 21 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1993 1995 The whole country in 1994

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 1994

April 14 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 14	8:48 PM CDT	F3	Adair	14.0	130			$50,000 to $500,000
April 14	11:21 PM CDT	F1	Marshall	1.5	30			$50,000 to $500,000

April 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 25	7:01 PM CDT	F1	Lyon	7.0	40			$50,000 to $500,000

April 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 26	6:03 AM CDT	F1	Story	1.0	30			$5,000 to $50,000

May 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 4	3:10 PM CDT	F1	Emmet	7.5	43			$500 to $5,000

May 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 25	8:05 PM CDT	F1	Clayton	6.5	40			$500 to $5,000

June 5 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 5	3:55 AM CDT	F1	Ida	3.0	70	$50,000 to $500,000
June 5	4:20 AM CDT	F1	Buena Vista	3.5	50	$5,000 to $50,000
June 5	6:45 AM CDT	F1	Taylor	0.1	20	$50 to $500

June 6 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 6	8:08 PM CDT	F0	Hamilton	0.3	23			$50 to $500
June 6	8:35 PM CDT	F0	Boone	0.2	23			$500 to $5,000

June 12 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 12	6:00 PM CDT	F0	Lyon	0.1	20	$50 to $500
June 12	6:58 PM CDT	F0	Osceola	0.1	23	$500 to $5,000
June 12	7:06 PM CDT	F0	Dickinson	0.5	23	$500 to $5,000
June 12	8:20 PM CDT	F2	Palo Alto	13.0	83	$50,000 to $500,000
June 12	8:30 PM CDT	F2	Plymouth	17.5	370	$500,000 to $5 million

June 18 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 18	6:01 PM CDT	F3	Hancock	6.0	173	$50,000 to $500,000
June 18	6:10 PM CDT	F0	Wright	0.5	23	$50 to $500
June 18	6:15 PM CDT	F1	Hancock	1.0	50	$50,000 to $500,000
June 18	6:40 PM CDT	F0	Hancock	0.5	23	$50 to $500
June 18	6:40 PM CDT	F0	Hancock	0.2	23	$50 to $500
June 18	6:56 PM CDT	F0	Kossuth	0.5	60	$500 to $5,000
June 18	7:03 PM CDT	F0	Humboldt	0.1	20	$50 to $500

June 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 19	4:45 PM CDT	F1	Story	7.0	60			$5,000 to $50,000

June 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 20	5:05 PM CDT	F0	Plymouth	0.1	23			$50 to $500

June 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 26	2:45 PM CDT	F0	Scott	0.1	23			$50 to $500

July 5 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 5	8:40 PM CDT	F3	Woodbury	1.8	150			$50,000 to $500,000

July 6 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 6	2:30 PM CDT	F1	Cerro Gordo	11.5	30	$50,000 to $500,000
July 6	4:43 PM CDT	F0	Fayette	0.2	20	$50 to $500
July 6	4:50 PM CDT	F0	Allamakee	0.1	20

July 7 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 7	5:00 PM CDT	F0	Winnebago	0.5	33	$500 to $5,000
July 7	5:21 PM CDT	F0	Worth	0.1	23	$50 to $500
July 7	6:52 PM CDT	F2	Chickasaw	9.5	100	$50,000 to $500,000
July 7	8:00 PM CDT	F0	Fayette	0.3	23	$500 to $5,000

July 19 9 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 19	6:25 PM CDT	F1	Palo Alto	5.5	40	$5,000 to $50,000
July 19	6:30 PM CDT	F1	Palo Alto	8.0	43	$50,000 to $500,000
July 19	8:20 PM CDT	F0	Chickasaw	0.2	30	under $50
July 19	8:20 PM CDT	F0	Chickasaw	0.3	30	$50 to $500
July 19	8:29 PM CDT	F2	Howard	8.5	40	$5,000 to $50,000
July 19	9:06 PM CDT	F1	Howard	0.7	33	$50,000 to $500,000
July 19	9:06 PM CDT	F3	Howard	23.0	150	$50,000 to $500,000
July 19	10:00 PM CDT	F0	Winneshiek	0.2	23	$50 to $500
July 19	10:23 PM CDT	F1	Allamakee	9.0	50	$50,000 to $500,000

July 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 20	6:12 PM CDT	F0	Woodbury	0.1	20			under $50

July 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 31	6:26 PM CDT	F1	Mitchell	1.5	33			$50,000 to $500,000

August 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 3	3:40 PM CDT	F0	Benton	0.1	20

August 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 7	9:16 PM CDT	F3	Osceola	4.5	73		1	$50,000 to $500,000

August 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 17	6:56 PM CDT	F0	Mitchell	0.2	23

October 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 6	7:14 PM CDT	F1	Shelby	2.0	30			$500 to $5,000

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.