57
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
99
Direct injuries
$85.1M
Property damage
Tornado in Pottawattamie County, Iowa: 57 recorded events between 1970 and 2024. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #279 nationally and #7 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Pottawattamie County, Iowa: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Pottawattamie County is the 2020s, when 15 of the county's 57 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Pottawattamie County archive, tornado makes up 10.1% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #279 for this hazard and #7 within Iowa, putting it in the 90.5 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for tornado in Pottawattamie County with 17 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976-06-26 | EF4 | 5.1 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 2024-04-26 | EF3 | 40.3 mi | 1,900 yd | Touched down here |
| 2024-04-26 | EF3 | 19.1 mi | 550 yd | Touched down here |
| 2024-04-26 | EF3 | 13.3 mi | 900 yd | Touched down here |
| 1988-07-15 | EF3 | 2.8 mi | 73 yd | Touched down here |
| 1968-08-18 | EF3 | 21.3 mi | 10 yd | Crossed in |
| 2021-12-15 | EF2 | 2.3 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
| 2021-12-15 | EF2 | 6.7 mi | 75 yd | Touched down here |
| 2014-06-03 | EF2 | 2.8 mi | 680 yd | Touched down here |
| 2007-05-05 | EF2 | 6.8 mi | 400 yd | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 26, 2024 | MC CLELLAND | EF3 | 1 | 3 | $0 |
| Jul 15, 1988 | F2 | 0 | 42 | $25.0M | |
| Jul 15, 1988 | F3 | 0 | 34 | $25.0M | |
| Jul 15, 1988 | F1 | 0 | 12 | $25.0M | |
| Jun 26, 1976 | F4 | 0 | 6 | $2.5M | |
| Apr 28, 1989 | F0 | 0 | 2 | $250K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 2024 | TREYNOR | EF0 | $0 |
| May 7, 2024 | MINDEN | EF1 | $0 |
| May 7, 2024 | MACEDONIA | EF1 | $0 |
| Apr 26, 2024 | MC CLELLAND | EF3 | $0 |
| Apr 26, 2024 | DUMFRIES | EF3 | $0 |
| Apr 26, 2024 | CARTER LAKE | EF3 | $0 |
| Apr 26, 2024 | COUNCIL BLUFFS | EF1 | $0 |
| Jul 12, 2023 | AVOCA | EF0 | $0 |
| Jul 12, 2023 | HANCOCK | EF1 | $0 |
| Apr 20, 2023 | MACEDONIA | EFU | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Pottawattamie County
- Hail 259
- Thunderstorm Wind 195
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The tornado started just south of the County Road 18 to the west of the city of Avoca, Iowa. The tornado tracked to the north northeast through open fields initially. Due to the recent harvest the tornado was easily tracked through the fields due to ground scouring of the left-over corn stocks. The tornado narrowly missed a farmstead along 420th street but did destroy one empty grain bin located across the street from the farm. The tornado continued to track across open fields until it crossed the busy Interstate 80 where a semi was lofted and tossed into a ditch on the north side of the interstate. At this location there were also large hardwood trees that were uprooted. The tornado continued to the northeast into Shelby County.
Numerous reports of a landspout were received of a landspout tornado over Lake Manawa in Council Bluffs. The tornado was viewed live on local television stations in the Omaha area, and received significant social media attention in the area. The tornado appeared to be nearly stationary over the lake, and no damage was reported in the area.
A brief touchdown of a very narrow and short-lived tornado. The storm spotter that reported it said it appeared and then dissipated in a matter of 15 or 20 seconds, "it was very snake-like in appearance" according to the spotter.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Pottawattamie County, Iowa?
57 tornado events are recorded in Pottawattamie County between 1970 and 2024, causing 1 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Pottawattamie County?
The strongest tornado on record in Pottawattamie County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Pottawattamie County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Tornado in Pottawattamie County, Iowa.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/iowa/pottawattamie-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.