Tornadoes · United States · Iowa

2008 tornadoes in Iowa

105 tornadoes touched down in Iowa in 2008, 159 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 13 people and injured 133. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

2007 2009 The whole country in 2008

The rating scale

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

EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 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 2008

April 10 11 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 10	4:33 PM CDT	EF0	Wayne	0.6	20
April 10	4:49 PM CDT	EF0	Wayne	0.4	20
April 10	4:57 PM CDT	EF1	Appanoose	2.0	30	$75,000
April 10	5:10 PM CDT	EF1	Appanoose	2.9	50	$75,000
April 10	5:43 PM CDT	EF1	Mahaska	3.0	50	$100,000
April 10	6:16 PM CDT	EF2	Van Buren	1.8	220	$150,000
April 10	6:21 PM CDT	EF1	Poweshiek	7.6	50	$100,000
April 10	6:25 PM CDT	EF1	Van Buren	5.3	50	$30,000
April 10	6:36 PM CDT	EF0	Poweshiek	2.4	25	$50,000
April 10	7:03 PM CDT	EF0	Keokuk	1.8	100	$50,000
April 10	7:05 PM CDT	EF0	Keokuk	0.0	25

April 24 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 24	4:47 PM CDT	EF0	Kossuth	0.1	30
April 24	8:21 PM CDT	EF0	Hamilton	1.7	50			$50,000

April 25 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 25	1:35 PM CDT	EF0	Davis	0.8	30	$25,000
April 25	3:08 PM CDT	EF1	Henry	1.3	20	$10,000
April 25	3:15 PM CDT	EF2	Muscatine	6.5	150	$200,000

May 1 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 1	6:55 PM CDT	EF0	Sioux	0.1	50
May 1	6:59 PM CDT	EF2	Sioux	12.9	400	$510,000
May 1	7:30 PM CDT	EF0	Lyon	0.1	50
May 1	7:42 PM CDT	EF0	O'Brien	0.1	50
May 1	7:44 PM CDT	EF0	Lyon	0.1	50
May 1	8:05 PM CDT	EF0	Osceola	0.1	50

May 25 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 25	4:48 PM CDT	EF5	Grundy	41.0	2,100	9	70	$100 million
May 25	5:07 PM CDT	EF0	Grundy	1.1	50			$1,000
May 25	6:05 PM CDT	EF3	Buchanan	32.0	1,232		3	$1.1 million
May 25	6:25 PM CDT	EF1	Clarke	6.8	50
May 25	6:40 PM CDT	EF1	Buchanan	3.5	100			$50,000
May 25	7:31 PM CDT	EF1	Delaware	8.5	250			$350,000
May 25	11:06 PM CDT	EF1	Iowa	6.2	440			$100,000
May 25	11:38 PM CDT	EF0	Johnson	0.1	100			$10,000

May 29 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 29	8:00 PM CDT	EF1	Monona	3.8	200
May 29	8:37 PM CDT	EF0	Crawford	0.8	50	$30,000
May 29	8:46 PM CDT	EF1	Crawford	2.5	75	$150,000
May 29	9:10 PM CDT	EF1	Carroll	4.1	100	$200,000
May 29	9:23 PM CDT	EF1	Calhoun	2.8	100	$50,000
May 29	9:25 PM CDT	EF0	Calhoun	2.4	50	$30,000
May 29	11:06 PM CDT	EF0	Dallas	0.1	25
May 29	12:50 AM CDT	EF1	Dallas	3.7	150	$100,000

May 30 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 30	4:13 AM CDT	EF1	Clarke	9.1	150		$50,000
May 30	4:51 AM CDT	EF1	Warren	7.2	125		$80,000
May 30	5:07 AM CDT	EF2	Marion	19.2	900	10	$825,000

June 4 9 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 4	6:04 PM CDT	EF1	Mills	4.8	220
June 4	6:50 PM CDT	EF1	Mills	5.1	440
June 4	7:04 PM CDT	EF0	Union	0.9	50
June 4	8:13 PM CDT	EF0	Adams	2.3	75
June 4	8:24 PM CDT	EF1	Adams	9.5	150	$15,000
June 4	8:58 PM CDT	EF1	Adams	5.6	150	$25,000
June 4	9:18 PM CDT	EF0	Union	1.1	75	$5,000
June 4	9:37 PM CDT	EF1	Union	3.9	150	$50,000
June 4	9:58 PM CDT	EF1	Union	10.9	100	$5,000

June 5 10 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
June 5	7:02 PM CDT	EF0	Fremont	0.5	50
June 5	7:11 PM CDT	EF0	Fremont	1.3	50
June 5	7:24 PM CDT	EF0	Page	1.2	80
June 5	8:12 PM CDT	EF0	Cass	1.5	50
June 5	9:24 PM CDT	EF1	Union	3.0	150		$25,000
June 5	11:49 PM CDT	EF1	Clarke	7.6	125
June 5	12:10 AM CDT	EF1	Warren	18.3	150		$180,000
June 5	12:36 AM CDT	EF1	Jasper	9.8	125		$75,000
June 5	12:45 AM CDT	EF1	Jasper	14.3	150	2	$250,000
June 5	12:49 AM CDT	EF0	Jasper	10.9	75		$25,000

June 7 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 7	3:41 PM CDT	EF1	Winnebago	6.4	150	$250,000
June 7	4:16 PM CDT	EF0	Worth	1.7	75
June 7	4:23 PM CDT	EF0	Worth	2.1	50	$5,000
June 7	4:50 PM CDT	EF0	Mitchell	0.3	30
June 7	5:28 PM CDT	EF0	Mitchell	1.1	25
June 7	5:42 PM CDT	EF0	Cerro Gordo	1.0	40	$5,000

June 8 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 8	3:35 PM CDT	EF0	Taylor	1.3	70	$50,000
June 8	4:10 PM CDT	EF1	Marshall	1.0	75	$30,000
June 8	7:30 PM CDT	EF1	Wapello	2.1	100	$75,000

June 11 16 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 11	5:25 PM CDT	EF0	Lyon	0.8	50
June 11	5:29 PM CDT	EF0	Osceola	0.8	50
June 11	5:37 PM CDT	EF0	Woodbury	0.9	50
June 11	5:49 PM CDT	EF0	O'Brien	0.9	50
June 11	6:06 PM CDT	EF2	O'Brien	5.7	300			$200,000
June 11	6:20 PM CDT	EF1	O'Brien	0.9	50			$5,000
June 11	6:27 PM CDT	EF3	Harrison	13.0	440	4	48
June 11	6:40 PM CDT	EF2	Clay	13.1	100			$300,000
June 11	7:11 PM CDT	EF0	Clay	0.4	50
June 11	7:20 PM CDT	EF1	Pottawattamie	2.4	40
June 11	7:20 PM CDT	EF0	Monona	0.3	60
June 11	7:21 PM CDT	EF0	Crawford	1.2	60
June 11	7:23 PM CDT	EF0	Pottawattamie	0.8	20
June 11	7:25 PM CDT	EF0	Clay	0.4	50
June 11	7:59 PM CDT	EF0	Shelby	0.4	60
June 11	8:05 PM CDT	EF0	Shelby	0.2	80

June 12 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 12	4:55 PM CDT	EF0	Davis	1.3	50
June 12	5:53 PM CDT	EF0	Van Buren	0.0	25

June 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 15	1:49 AM CDT	EF0	Humboldt	1.7	50			$10,000

June 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 20	4:40 PM CDT	EF0	Pottawattamie	0.3	40

July 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 2	5:10 PM CDT	EF1	Benton	1.5	75			$100,000

July 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 6	4:50 PM CDT	EF0	Woodbury	0.3	50

July 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 9	4:14 PM CDT	EF0	Kossuth	0.5	25

July 10 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 10	2:10 PM CDT	EF0	Clinton	3.4	100	$125,000
July 10	2:42 PM CDT	EF0	Clinton	0.0	25
July 10	6:50 PM CDT	EF0	Jones	1.0	10

July 19 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 19	6:00 PM CDT	EF0	Kossuth	0.6	30	$5,000
July 19	7:39 PM CDT	EF1	Carroll	7.8	100	$150,000
July 19	8:10 PM CDT	EF0	Marshall	0.7	25

July 27 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 27	4:34 PM CDT	EF1	Polk	0.3	100	$50,000
July 27	4:51 PM CDT	EF0	Jasper	0.3	20
July 27	5:15 PM CDT	EF0	Jasper	0.2	20

August 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 4	5:47 PM CDT	EF0	Clinton	8.0	250			$250,000

August 9 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 9	6:56 PM CDT	EF0	Webster	0.6	30
August 9	7:07 PM CDT	EF0	Webster	0.4	25

August 13 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 13	6:08 PM CDT	EF0	Dickinson	0.3	50			$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.