Tornadoes · United States · Iowa

2019 tornadoes in Iowa

56 tornadoes touched down in Iowa in 2019, 38 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 2.

2018 2020 The whole country in 2019

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 2019

May 22 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 22	1:04 AM CDT	EF1	Cass	1.1	50			$15,000
May 22	1:29 AM CDT	EF2	Adair	4.8	150	1	1	$500,000

May 24 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 24	6:36 PM CDT	EF1	Johnson	10.8	75
May 24	7:27 PM CDT	EF0	Cedar	0.0	10

May 27 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 27	12:23 PM CDT	EF1	Floyd	9.8	105	$625,000
May 27	1:10 PM CDT	EF0	Chickasaw	4.1	25	$35,000
May 27	1:25 PM CDT	EF1	Howard	12.6	95	$1.3 million
May 27	1:25 PM CDT	EF3	Van Buren	7.3	100
May 27	1:36 PM CDT	EF1	Lee	0.5	20
May 27	1:49 PM CDT	EF0	Howard to MN	6.2	30	$202,000
May 27	2:03 PM CDT	EF0	Des Moines	0.1	20

May 29 15 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 29	4:00 PM CDT	Unrated	Sac	1.2	30
May 29	4:11 PM CDT	Unrated	Sac	0.7	20
May 29	4:49 PM CDT	Unrated	Pocahontas	0.2	40
May 29	6:21 PM CDT	Unrated	Humboldt	0.5	30
May 29	6:23 PM CDT	EF0	Iowa	0.1	20
May 29	7:01 PM CDT	EF1	Poweshiek	3.5	50	1	$10,000
May 29	7:28 PM CDT	Unrated	Poweshiek	0.9	30
May 29	7:37 PM CDT	EF0	Hardin	1.1	30
May 29	7:39 PM CDT	Unrated	Poweshiek	0.9	30
May 29	7:46 PM CDT	EF0	Iowa	3.3	20
May 29	8:13 PM CDT	EF0	Johnson	0.3	20
May 29	8:15 PM CDT	EF0	Hardin	1.2	30
May 29	8:29 PM CDT	EF0	Hardin	0.6	40		$30,000
May 29	8:31 PM CDT	EF0	Hardin	1.3	50		$10,000
May 29	8:54 PM CDT	Unrated	Hardin	0.7	20

June 9 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 9	3:53 PM CDT	Unrated	Buchanan	7.3	10
June 9	4:24 PM CDT	Unrated	Linn	6.4	10
June 9	5:14 PM CDT	Unrated	Jones	1.1	10

June 15 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 15	2:21 PM CDT	EF0	Hardin	0.2	20	$1,000
June 15	7:54 PM CDT	Unrated	Des Moines	0.8	40
June 15	8:20 PM CDT	EF2	Des Moines	1.8	260
June 15	8:24 PM CDT	EF2	Des Moines	1.3	300

June 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 17	10:59 AM CDT	Unrated	Dickinson	0.8	10

July 9 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 9	7:08 PM CDT	Unrated	Scott	0.1	10
July 9	7:41 PM CDT	Unrated	Scott	0.0	10

July 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 16	3:38 PM CDT	Unrated	Cass	1.4	30

August 5 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 5	10:07 PM CDT	EF1	Dubuque	0.3	50

August 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 17	10:34 PM CDT	EF1	Lyon	7.0	75			$200,000

August 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 18	5:40 AM CDT	EF0	Clinton	0.1	20

August 20 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
August 20	5:21 AM CDT	EF1	Madison	1.2	150	$5,000
August 20	5:55 AM CDT	EF3	Warren	5.4	710	$350,000
August 20	6:21 AM CDT	EF1	Marion	1.6	120	$15,000

September 9 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 9	4:32 PM CDT	Unrated	Dallas	1.4	10
September 9	4:33 PM CDT	Unrated	Dallas	2.9	10

September 12 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 12	4:49 PM CDT	EF0	Winneshiek	2.8	150			$60,000
September 12	5:34 PM CDT	EF0	Clayton	4.2	40			$30,000

September 21 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 21	12:53 AM CDT	Unrated	Polk	1.6	25

September 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 22	1:03 AM CDT	Unrated	Jasper	0.8	25

September 24 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
September 24	5:31 PM CDT	Unrated	Ida	0.0	10
September 24	5:42 PM CDT	Unrated	Ida	0.7	10
September 24	5:57 PM CDT	Unrated	Harrison	0.1	25

October 1 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 1	3:25 PM CDT	Unrated	Montgomery	0.0	50
October 1	3:35 PM CDT	Unrated	Page	0.0	50

November 30 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 30	4:04 PM CST	Unrated	Guthrie	0.5	20
November 30	4:13 PM CST	Unrated	Guthrie	1.2	25

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.