Marshall County, Iowa severe weather history spans 528 recorded events between 1951 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 39.8% of all recorded events. It ranks #788 nationally and #28 in Iowa.
528
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
49
Direct injuries
$240.9M
Property damage
The record
What the Marshall County, Iowa severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Marshall County, Iowa severe weather history averages 7.1 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 174 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 55 events fall before 1990 and 473 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $231.5M in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Marshall County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 210 | 0 | $2.9M | 92 | 1961–2025 |
| Hail | 150 | 0 | $819K | 3 | 1960–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 50 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2007–2025 |
| Tornado | 38 | 0 | $231.5M | F4 | 1951–2020 |
| Flood | 34 | 0 | $3.9M | 0 | 1998–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 23 | 0 | $1.4M | 0 | 2002–2022 |
| Funnel Cloud | 19 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2025 |
| Lightning | 4 | 0 | $367K | 0 | 2005–2022 |
Decade by decade
Marshall County, Iowa severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
40 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 33 touched down inside it and 7 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989-05-24 | EF4 | 0 | 0 | 66.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1978-09-16 | EF3 | 6 | 45 | 31.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 1961-04-23 | EF3 | 1 | 12 | 87.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2018-07-19 | EF3 | 0 | 22 | 8.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1951-06-01 | EF3 | 0 | 7 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1981-04-10 | EF2 | 0 | 9 | 5.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1969-06-06 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1962-05-28 | EF2 | 0 | 5 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1959-05-31 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 17.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2020-08-10 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.9 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Marshall County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 19, 2018 | Tornado | MARIETTA | 0 | 22 | $200.0M |
| Apr 10, 1981 | Tornado | 0 | 9 | $2.5M | |
| Jun 2, 1951 | Tornado | 0 | 7 | $0 | |
| Apr 23, 1961 | Tornado | 0 | 6 | $2.5M | |
| May 29, 1962 | Tornado | 0 | 5 | $250K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
This tornado developed northwest of Marshalltown west of the little hamlet of Marietta. The tornado traveled southeast on the western side of the Iowa River producing extensive crop and tree damage. The tornado strengthened quickly and took on a wedge appearance as it entered northwest Marshalltown. The tornado tracked more easterly as it entered town producing widespread EF1 and EF2 damage. The tornado went directly through the business district of Marshalltown with EF2 and EF3 damage to many structures including the county courthouse which lost the spire off the clock tower. The tornado continued east through housing areas before encountering the Lennox plant on the east side of town, producing EF3 damage once again. The tornado began to weaken rapidly after this point and dissipated near power plant located on the east side of town. The tornado produced a total of 22 direct injuries. An additional indirect injury resulted during the clean-up of storm debris when a tree fell on a man.
Iowa DOT reported Iowa 14 closed between US 30 and County Road E27. Other secondary roads across the county were also reported closed due to flooding. Many roads and some bridges were damaged from the flooding. The bridge on 140th St. was a total loss.
This is a multiple segment tornado with two segments that passed through portions of Marshall and Hardin counties. This is the first segment in Marshall county. As the first tornado from this supercell began to occlude and pull NE, a second tornado appears to have formed a mile to the south and east. A path of more intense damage was noted on a survey that began just north of Marble Road between Eastman and Fredrick Ave. The tornado grazed three farmsteads, causing mostly tree and some outbuilding damage. As the tornado moved into an area with more trees around mile three of its path, convergent wind patterns were noted on the ground survey to the north and south of the track, with a 100-150 yard wide path through a line of trees along a creek east of U Ave. After crossing Ingram Ave, the tornado caused roof damage to at least one outbuilding. The tornado then moved in Hardin county.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
40,114
Population (ACS)
$146K
Median home value
20
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 2024 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND 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 |
| Mar 23, 2019 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Sep 12, 2018 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORM AND TORNADOES | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Marshalltown 179
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Marshall County, Iowa?
528 events are on record between 1951 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $240.9M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Marshall County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 210 recorded events — 39.8% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Marshall County?
40 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 33 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Marshall County?
20 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Marshall County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Marshall County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Marshall County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 62 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Marshall 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
- Marion County 710
- Mills County 329
- Mahaska County 428
- Mitchell County 290
- Madison County 402
- Monona County 337
Cite this page
“Marshall County, Iowa.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/iowa/marshall-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.