EF2 tornado, Elon to Boydtown, Iowa, June 17, 2026

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado

   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.

4. 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.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. 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.

7. 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.

Rating, as surveyed

EF2, preliminary

Date

June 17, 2026

Touchdown

4:53 PM CDT (21:53 UTC)

Lifted

5:37 PM CDT (22:37 UTC)

On the ground

44 minutes

Path length

33.5 miles (53.8 km)

Path width

320 yards (293 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Allamakee and Crawford counties

Touchdown point

43.277, -91.370

Lift-off point

43.144, -90.750

Highest wind the damage implies

115 mph

Surveyed by

NWS ARX

The office's name for it

Elon, IA to Boscobel, WI

Survey last edited

July 5, 2026

Record number

None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

This long-track tornado developed about 5 miles east of Waukon, IA and continued tracking ESE, crossing the Mississippi River at Lock and Dam 9. It continued southeast through Crawford County before lifting just before reaching the Wisconsin River. Nearly continuous tree damage occurred along its path, significant in some areas. Other damage included destruction of some farm outbuildings and minor damage to a few residences. Damage along the 33 mile path was mostly EF0 to EF1 in magnitude, with localized pockets of EF2 damage to trees and powerlines.

Written by NWS ARX in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.

124 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS ARX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 115 mph.

• Lifted structure into trees. Rusted shot nail connection to foundation.
• Weakly attached deck on south side collapsed.
• Likely inflow on south side of tornado.
• Sticks in the road likely start point. RFD wind damage noted to the south of this point.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

This long-track EF-2 tornado developed about 5 miles east of Waukon during the late afternoon hours and trekked east-southeast through Allamakee County resulting in significant tree damage and some structural damage. The tornado eventually reached the Mississippi River just north of Harpers Ferry, where it crossed into Crawford County, Wisconsin near US Lock and Dam No. 9.

During the late afternoon and early evening hours on June 17th, two long-tracked tornadoes moved across portions of Crawford and Grant Counties. The first of these tornadoes was an EF-2 which moved into Crawford County from northeast Iowa and resulted in several instances of tree and structural damage before dissipating near Boscobel. The second tornado, which was rated EF-1, formed just southeast of Boscobel and moved east-southeast through Grant County resulting in various instances of tree and structural damage before exiting into Iowa County.

This strong and long-tracked EF-2 tornado began about 5 miles east of Waukon and continued east-southeast causing a continuous path of tree damage all the way to the Misssissippi River near Lock and Dam 9. The tornado also damaged farm outbuildings and a few residences. Extensive tree damage along Waterville Road formed the basis for the EF-2 rating for this tornado. The tornado crossed the Mississippi River and continued east into Wisconsin.

This strong and long-tracked tornado crossed the Mississippi River into Wisconsin near US Lock and Dam No. 9 from Allamakee County, Iowa. Initially, substantial tree damage was noted near highway 35. As the tornado continued eastward, it downed several power poles along highway 27 at EF-2 intensity before continuing southeastward and damaging additional farm outbuildings and trees. The tornado eventually dissipated just northwest of the intersection of highway 60 and Pleasant Mound road near the border between Grant and Crawford counties.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

3 minutes of warning. NWS ARX issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:50 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:15 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 18:20 UTC and running to 22:40 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:04 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 69 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:55 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2026 tornado in IowaEvery tornado in Iowa since 1950Warnings in force in Iowa nowThe forecast where you are

27 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.

NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.