Tornadoes · United States · Iowa

2023 tornadoes in Iowa

72 tornadoes touched down in Iowa in 2023, 78 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

2022 2024 The whole country in 2023

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 2023

January 16 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 16	2:01 PM CST	EF1	Iowa	4.7	400
January 16	2:50 PM CST	Unrated	Linn	0.8	10

March 31 25 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
March 31	3:36 PM CDT	EF3	Wapello	26.1	1,000		$2.0 million
March 31	3:52 PM CDT	Unrated	Poweshiek	3.6	60
March 31	4:10 PM CDT	EF4	Keota–Wellman tornado	19.9	700	3
March 31	4:22 PM CDT	EF1	Grundy	3.5	80		$50,000
March 31	4:22 PM CDT	EF1	Grundy	4.1	80		$50,000
March 31	4:36 PM CDT	EF2	Benton	1.7	50
March 31	4:37 PM CDT	EF0	Johnson	6.1	50
March 31	4:46 PM CDT	EF2	Johnson	16.9	75	2
March 31	4:47 PM CDT	EF2	Benton	4.9	50
March 31	4:51 PM CDT	Unrated	Benton	1.4	10
March 31	4:53 PM CDT	EF2	Johnson	14.7	100
March 31	5:03 PM CDT	Unrated	Buchanan	1.7	10
March 31	5:06 PM CDT	EF2	Johnson	9.0	75
March 31	5:06 PM CDT	EF1	Cedar	8.3	10
March 31	5:14 PM CDT	EF2	Cedar	16.4	250
March 31	5:17 PM CDT	EF1	Cedar	5.2	100
March 31	5:18 PM CDT	EF2	Cedar	19.6	200	2
March 31	5:20 PM CDT	EF1	Delaware	4.1	50
March 31	5:32 PM CDT	EF1	Delaware	11.1	90
March 31	5:41 PM CDT	EF1	Jones	1.4	50
March 31	5:41 PM CDT	EF2	Des Moines	0.9	150
March 31	5:50 PM CDT	EF2	Clinton	18.0	350	1
March 31	5:58 PM CDT	EF1	Jackson	1.2	50
March 31	6:09 PM CDT	EF0	Jackson	0.2	15
March 31	6:16 PM CDT	EF1	Jackson to IL	1.9	100	3

April 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 4	6:43 PM CDT	EF1	Warren	15.3	130			$100,000

April 19 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
April 19	7:10 PM CDT	Unrated	Pottawattamie	0.5	10
April 19	7:56 PM CDT	Unrated	Crawford	1.9	50
April 19	8:16 PM CDT	Unrated	Fremont	0.1	10
April 19	8:23 PM CDT	EF0	Fremont	0.5	10

May 7 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 7	5:48 PM CDT	EF1	Muscatine	5.0	100
May 7	8:08 PM CDT	Unrated	Fremont	0.1	50

May 13 17 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 13	1:21 PM CDT	Unrated	Buena Vista	0.0	10
May 13	1:22 PM CDT	EF0	Warren	1.1	40	$2,000
May 13	1:36 PM CDT	Unrated	Sac	0.3	30
May 13	1:50 PM CDT	Unrated	Buena Vista	1.0	75
May 13	3:23 PM CDT	Unrated	Marion	0.5	30
May 13	3:29 PM CDT	EF0	Marion	0.5	50	$10,000
May 13	3:52 PM CDT	EF0	Marion	0.7	40	$1,000
May 13	4:15 PM CDT	Unrated	Pocahontas	1.2	30
May 13	4:17 PM CDT	EF0	Buena Vista	2.0	75
May 13	4:51 PM CDT	Unrated	Calhoun	0.6	30
May 13	5:18 PM CDT	Unrated	Greene	0.4	40
May 13	6:20 PM CDT	Unrated	Marion	0.3	30
May 13	6:22 PM CDT	EF0	Calhoun	1.4	50	$20,000
May 13	6:26 PM CDT	Unrated	Pocahontas	0.5	40
May 13	6:52 PM CDT	Unrated	Pocahontas	0.5	30
May 13	6:52 PM CDT	EF0	Marion	0.9	50	$2,000
May 13	7:22 PM CDT	Unrated	Pocahontas	0.6	30

June 24 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 24	10:31 PM CDT	EF0	Scott	9.6	20
June 24	11:02 PM CDT	EF0	Pocahontas	2.8	80			$10,000

July 12 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 12	6:05 AM CDT	EF2	Harrison	9.4	100
July 12	6:17 AM CDT	EF1	Shelby	0.5	50
July 12	6:28 AM CDT	EF1	Pottawattamie	1.5	40
July 12	6:32 AM CDT	EF0	Pottawattamie	0.9	40
July 12	6:38 AM CDT	EF0	Cass	1.5	50
July 12	6:39 AM CDT	EF0	Cass	2.1	75	$5,000

July 28 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 28	5:46 PM CDT	EF1	Franklin	2.8	120	$60,000
July 28	5:55 PM CDT	EF1	Franklin	1.8	125	$70,000
July 28	9:16 PM CDT	EF0	Whiteside to IL	1.0	20

August 5 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
August 5	2:30 PM CDT	EF0	Sioux	0.9	30
August 5	2:42 PM CDT	Unrated	Sioux	0.1	10
August 5	9:24 PM CDT	Unrated	Carroll	0.3	25
August 5	9:29 PM CDT	EF0	Sac	0.9	35	$50,000
August 5	9:30 PM CDT	Unrated	Sac	0.3	50

August 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 14	1:25 PM CDT	Unrated	Dubuque	1.2	20

September 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 22	5:42 PM CDT	Unrated	Benton	0.3	20

September 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 26	3:15 PM CDT	Unrated	Benton	0.1	20

October 13 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 13	2:12 PM CDT	Unrated	Webster	0.2	25
October 13	4:09 PM CDT	EF0	Jasper	0.6	80			$1,000

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.