Live
Active alerts for this county
Heat Advisory
Pottawattamie; Mills; Montgomery; Fremont; Page; Saunders; Douglas; Sarpy; Lancaster; Cass; Otoe; Gage; Johnson; Nemaha; Pawnee; Richardson
Pottawattamie County, Iowa severe weather history spans 564 recorded events between 1962 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 45.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #678 nationally and #24 in Iowa.
564
Recorded events
5
Direct deaths
106
Direct injuries
$116.2M
Property damage
The record
What the Pottawattamie County, Iowa severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Pottawattamie County, Iowa severe weather history averages 8.8 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 150 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 89 events fall before 1990 and 475 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Pottawattamie County, Iowa record is thunderstorm wind, responsible for 3 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $85.1M 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 Pottawattamie County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 259 | 0 | $65K | 4 | 1962–2026 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 195 | 3 | $11.3M | 95 | 1965–2025 |
| Tornado | 57 | 1 | $85.1M | F4 | 1970–2024 |
| Flood | 24 | 0 | $10.5M | 0 | 2007–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 19 | 0 | $9.3M | 0 | 1997–2024 |
| Funnel Cloud | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2019 |
| Heavy Rain | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2019–2023 |
| Lightning | 2 | 1 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2004 |
Decade by decade
Pottawattamie County, Iowa severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
62 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 54 touched down inside it and 8 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976-06-26 | EF4 | 0 | 6 | 5.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-04-26 | EF3 | 1 | 3 | 40.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-04-26 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 13.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-04-26 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 19.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1988-07-15 | EF3 | 0 | 34 | 2.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 1968-08-18 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 21.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 2021-12-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 6.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-12-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2014-06-03 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2007-05-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 6.8 mi | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Pottawattamie County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 27, 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | LAKE MANAWA | 2 | 1 | $11.0M |
| Apr 26, 2024 | Tornado | MC CLELLAND | 1 | 3 | $0 |
| Apr 10, 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | COUNCIL BLUFFS | 1 | 1 | $20K |
| May 3, 1996 | Lightning | LAKE MANAWA | 1 | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 15, 1988 | Tornado | 0 | 42 | $25.0M | |
| Jul 15, 1988 | Tornado | 0 | 34 | $25.0M | |
| Jul 15, 1988 | Tornado | 0 | 12 | $25.0M | |
| Jun 26, 1976 | Tornado | 0 | 6 | $2.5M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Two men working alone atop a new meatpacking building were blown off the 40-foot-high roof by the thunderstorm that rolled through the area and produced the widespread hail reports. The winds were measured at 35 to 40 mph at the Council Bluffs airport and at Omaha Eppley Airfield, but could have been locally stronger. One of the men died later that day as a result of the fall. The sudden wind gust blew a section of roof and the men off the building.
Numerous reports of flash flooding were received from broadcast media, spotters, and social media. Very heavy rainfall occurred during the overnight and into the early morning hours on the 23rd with the Council Bluffs area seeing over 7 inches of rainfall. This lead to significant flash flooding of streets and small streams. This had a large impact on the morning rush hour with numerous cars stalled with several water rescues taking place. Basement flooding also occurred throughout the city during the morning hours.
Very heavy rain fell across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa from Friday 8/6/99 into Saturday morning 8/7/99. Over 10 inches of rain fell at Omaha Eppley Airfield, just across the Missouri River to the west of Council Bluffs Iowa. An unofficial 24 hour rainfall total of 13 inches was reported at Treynor, 10 miles east of Council Bluffs. The heavy rain caused significant damage to around 3000 homes in Council Bluffs with over 3 million dollars damage. Severe street and basement flooding was also observed in Council Bluffs and other homes throughout the county.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
93,424
Population (ACS)
$196K
Median home value
26
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 |
| May 14, 2024 | Tornado | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | 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 |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Pottawattamie County, Iowa?
564 events are on record between 1962 and 2026, causing 5 direct deaths and $116.2M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Pottawattamie County?
Hail, with 259 recorded events — 45.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Pottawattamie County?
62 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 54 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Pottawattamie County?
26 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Pottawattamie County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Pottawattamie County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Pottawattamie County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 80 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Pottawattamie 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
- Polk County 2,151
- Poweshiek County 371
- Pocahontas County 356
- Ringgold County 312
- Plymouth County 692
- Sac County 292
Cite this page
“Pottawattamie County, Iowa.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/iowa/pottawattamie-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.