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Jackson County, Iowa severe weather history spans 329 recorded events between 1955 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 54.1% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,611 nationally and #73 in Iowa.
329
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
8
Direct injuries
$40.1M
Property damage
The record
What the Jackson County, Iowa severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Jackson County, Iowa severe weather history averages 4.6 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 92 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 42 events fall before 1990 and 287 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is hail, with $20.2M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Jackson County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 178 | 0 | $6.9M | 96 | 1960–2026 |
| Hail | 80 | 0 | $20.2M | 3 | 1961–2026 |
| Tornado | 29 | 0 | $9.4M | F2 | 1955–2026 |
| Flash Flood | 21 | 0 | $1.8M | 0 | 1997–2026 |
| Flood | 16 | 0 | $1.8M | 0 | 1999–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 3 | 0 | $2K | 1.5 | 2003–2006 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1999–2013 |
Decade by decade
Jackson County, Iowa severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
30 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 26 touched down inside it and 4 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965-04-11 | EF4 | 1 | 3 | 91.5 mi | Crossed in |
| 2025-07-11 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2007-06-01 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1991-03-27 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1975-11-09 | EF2 | 0 | 4 | 13.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 1960-11-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1958-07-29 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 14.5 mi | Crossed in |
| 1955-04-19 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 15.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-06-25 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2023-03-31 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Jackson County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 2023 | Tornado | BELLEVUE | 0 | 3 | $0 |
| Nov 10, 1975 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $250K | |
| Jun 6, 2010 | Tornado | MAQUOKETA | 0 | 1 | $250K |
| Apr 3, 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | MAQUOKETA | 0 | 1 | $5K |
| May 27, 1965 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $3K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A tornado touched down about 3.5 miles south of Bellevue, IA. It moved north to county road Z15 and then northeast crossing the Mississippi River just south of Lock and Dam 12 into Jo Daviess County Illinois. Along the path, damage consisted of snapped and uprooted trees, farm out buildings, and roofs. The most significant damage occurred near the junction of county highway Z15 and 407th Avenue. A mobile home was rolled over and destroyed. The residents of the mobile home had taken shelter in the farm house about 100 feet away. The farm house only had damaged gutters.
Torrential downpours of rain fell across much of northeastern Jackson County during the evening of July 27 and early morning hours of July 28 resulting in flash flooding of much of the area. Rainfall totals of 7 to 15 inches were common across the area, with most of the rain falling in under 12 hours.||Several bridges were closed and roads washed out in northern Jackson County, including the bridge on 308th Street between Sieverding Ridge Road and U.S. 52, a wooden bridge in Tete De Morts Township on High Bridge Road, and a bridge on 248th Avenue. Some culverts on 370th Street were destroyed. Spruce Creek Park was evacuated. Some basements in Bellevue were also flooded. Annie's Acres along Mill Creek Road was also flooded.
Three mobile homes and a business in Canton on the western edge of Jackson County were flooded with up to 3 feet of water by the Maquoketa River. Numerous roads and bridges across the county suffered damage as a result of the record flooding. Near Maquoketa, three homes in the Hurstville Road area were flooded. ||Near Spragueville, a welding business was inundated by several feet of water as flood waters from the Maquoketa River backed up along nearby Deep Creek. ||The majority of flood damage in Jackson County was to crops, as most soybean fields affected by the floods were expected to be a total loss.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
19,390
Population (ACS)
$175K
Median home value
21
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 24, 2024 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR |
| May 24, 2024 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Aug 25, 2023 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
| Aug 17, 2020 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS | DR |
| Mar 23, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Jackson County, Iowa?
329 events are on record between 1955 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths and $40.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Jackson County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 178 recorded events — 54.1% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Jackson County?
30 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 26 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Jackson County?
21 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Jackson County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Jackson County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Jackson County as very low risk, placing it in the 36 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Jackson County, Iowa severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Iowa County 368
- Jasper County 577
- Ida County 262
- Jefferson County 256
- Humboldt County 312
- Johnson County 652
Cite this page
“Jackson County, Iowa.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/iowa/jackson-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.