Tornadoes · United States · Iowa

1999 tornadoes in Iowa

58 tornadoes touched down in Iowa in 1999, 43 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 2 people and injured 28. 2 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1998 2000 The whole country in 1999

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 1999

April 5 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 5	4:02 PM CDT	F1	Taylor	3.0	0	$100,000
April 5	4:28 PM CDT	F0	Taylor	0.2	20	$2,000
April 5	5:44 PM CDT	F0	Warren	0.2	20	$1,000

April 8 16 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 8	1:33 PM CDT	F1	Story	2.0	0	2	$800,000
April 8	2:08 PM CDT	F0	Fremont	0.0	40
April 8	2:18 PM CDT	F0	Pottawattamie	0.3	60
April 8	2:22 PM CDT	F1	Page	5.0	70		$10,000
April 8	2:36 PM CDT	F1	Page	8.0	440	1	$100,000
April 8	2:38 PM CDT	F1	Montgomery	8.0	60		$40,000
April 8	2:48 PM CDT	F1	Page	9.0	100		$20,000
April 8	2:54 PM CDT	F0	Montgomery	5.0	80		$10,000
April 8	2:54 PM CDT	F4	Taylor	49.0	1,000	3	$2.7 million
April 8	3:48 PM CDT	F4	Union	56.0	1,250	1	$2.4 million
April 8	5:00 PM CDT	F0	Polk	0.2	30		$40,000
April 8	5:13 PM CDT	F2	Warren	32.0	0		$120,000
April 8	5:18 PM CDT	F3	Lucas	39.0	0	5	$1.4 million
April 8	6:15 PM CDT	F3	Davis	16.0	300		$650,000
April 8	6:25 PM CDT	F0	Jefferson	0.1	10
April 8	6:25 PM CDT	F0	Jefferson	0.1	10

May 16 12 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 16	3:33 PM CDT	F2	Monona	22.5	90			$620,000
May 16	3:45 PM CDT	F3	Harrison	6.2	200			$100,000
May 16	4:04 PM CDT	F0	Crawford	0.1	0
May 16	4:15 PM CDT	F1	Crawford	2.0	50			$50,000
May 16	4:16 PM CDT	F3	Harrison	7.5	440	2	16	$1.9 million
May 16	4:30 PM CDT	F0	Crawford	0.2	0
May 16	5:07 PM CDT	F0	Pottawattamie	1.0	80			$10,000
May 16	5:14 PM CDT	F2	Pottawattamie	5.0	120			$690,000
May 16	5:33 PM CDT	F0	Audubon	0.1	20
May 16	7:36 PM CDT	F0	Dallas	0.3	0			$2,000
May 16	8:13 PM CDT	F1	Taylor	1.2	40			$50,000
May 16	8:52 PM CDT	F0	Story	0.2	30			$10,000

May 27 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 27	7:39 PM CDT	F0	Sac	0.1	20

June 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 1	4:55 PM CDT	F0	Calhoun	0.1	20

June 5 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 5	5:15 PM CDT	F0	Plymouth	0.1	50
June 5	6:12 PM CDT	F0	O'Brien	2.2	50			$10,000

June 6 9 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 6	3:40 PM CDT	F1	Webster	2.0	40	$10,000
June 6	4:10 PM CDT	F0	Wright	0.1	20
June 6	4:19 PM CDT	F0	Wright	0.1	20
June 6	4:27 PM CDT	F0	Hancock	0.1	20
June 6	4:30 PM CDT	F1	Franklin	11.5	40	$10,000
June 6	4:46 PM CDT	F0	Cerro Gordo	0.1	20
June 6	7:05 PM CDT	F0	Hamilton	0.2	0
June 6	7:14 PM CDT	F1	Story	0.7	30	$2,000
June 6	7:15 PM CDT	F0	Hamilton	0.1	20

June 8 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)
June 8	5:59 PM CDT	F0	Humboldt	0.1
June 8	6:09 PM CDT	F0	Wright	0.2
June 8	6:15 PM CDT	F0	Hancock	0.2

June 10 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 10	2:00 PM CDT	F0	Linn	0.1	10
June 10	2:16 PM CDT	F0	Jones	0.1	10
June 10	2:17 PM CDT	F0	Linn	0.1	10

June 12 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 12	1:03 PM CDT	F0	Henry	0.1	10

July 2 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 2	2:10 PM CDT	F1	Audubon	0.5	30			$2,000
July 2	9:45 PM CDT	F2	Butler	8.5	50			$100,000

July 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 16	5:25 PM CDT	F0	Adams	0.1	0

July 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 20	5:30 PM CDT	F1	Floyd	2.1	70

August 9 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 9	9:02 PM CDT	F2	Winnebago	11.5	40			$150,000
August 9	10:01 PM CDT	F0	Cerro Gordo	0.1	0

September 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 7	7:30 PM CDT	F0	Taylor	0.7	30

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
May 16	3:03 PM CDT	F0	Cass, NE to IA	2.0	60			$10,000

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.