Live
Active alerts for this county
Extreme Heat Warning
Iowa; Johnson; Cedar; Muscatine; Scott; Keokuk; Washington; Louisa; Jefferson; Henry; Des Moines; Van Buren; Lee; Rock Island; Henry; Bureau; Putnam; Mercer; Henderson; Warren; Hancock; McDonough; Scotland; Clark
Scott County, Iowa severe weather history spans 1,008 recorded events between 1954 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 48.8% of all recorded events. It ranks #139 nationally and #4 in Iowa.
1,008
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
24
Direct injuries
$50.1M
Property damage
The record
What the Scott County, Iowa severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Scott County, Iowa severe weather history averages 14.0 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 299 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 99 events fall before 1990 and 909 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Scott County, Iowa record is thunderstorm wind, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $36.2M in reported property damage. In total, 9 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Scott County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 492 | 1 | $4.4M | 93 | 1959–2026 |
| Hail | 270 | 0 | $290K | 7 | 1959–2026 |
| Tornado | 67 | 0 | $36.2M | F3 | 1954–2025 |
| Flood | 66 | 0 | $6.9M | 0 | 1999–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 64 | 0 | $1.2M | 0 | 1997–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 26 | 0 | $115K | 2.5 | 2003–2011 |
| Lightning | 13 | 0 | $897K | 0 | 1997–2015 |
| Funnel Cloud | 9 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1999–2024 |
| Strong Wind | 1 | 0 | $5K | 0 | 2000–2000 |
Decade by decade
Scott 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: 52 touched down inside it and 10 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995-05-09 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1988-05-08 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 32.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1974-05-13 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 3.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1962-05-07 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-07-11 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 7.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2023-03-31 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 19.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 2017-03-06 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 25.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 2017-03-06 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 34.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2001-06-14 | EF2 | 0 | 3 | 6.5 mi | Crossed in |
| 1995-07-27 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.5 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Scott County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 21, 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | DAVENPORT | 1 | 2 | $0 |
| Apr 4, 2000 | Strong Wind | DAVENPORT | 0 | 7 | $5K |
| Jun 14, 2001 | Tornado | BLUE GRASS | 0 | 3 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | LONG GROVE | 0 | 3 | $90K |
| Aug 2, 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | BUFFALO | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Aug 3, 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | DAVENPORT | 0 | 2 | $10K |
| Nov 30, 1991 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 2 | $0 | |
| May 29, 1991 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 2 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Winds downed a large tree into an occupied tent. One 12 year old boy was crushed beneath the tree with two others in the tent slightly injured. A fourth boy was unharmed. These four and several others were camped out in the backyard of the "family" home and were there for a family reunion. All were sleeping when the winds struck.
This tornado destroyed 26 farm buildings, 20 of them with major damage. Nine homes were hit, one destroyed, two with major damage and six with minor damage. Seven of the nine homes were farmhouses. Roxanne Paper, with baby boy Logan in arm, was downstairs when the tornado struck. She reported that it sounded like something big was tearing through the house. The Gary Meincke farm was hit very hard. He and his wife watched the tornado touch down south of their farm at around 1630 CDT. Shortly after that they ran with their children to the basement. Debris from the Leroy Feldhahn farm near Stockton was spread over nearby Interstate 80 causing a two mile long traffic jam. Governor Terry Branstad later proclaimed a Disaster Emergency for Scott County.
Heavy rains during the third week of June resulted in the Wapsipinicon River at De Witt going above the moderate flood stage level of 11.5 feet on June 17 around 630 am. After briefly falling back below 11.5 feet, it crested above the major flood stage around 13.2 feet around 7 pm June 22. It fell below the moderate flood stage level around 7 pm June 28.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk rating
174,608
Population (ACS)
$222K
Median home value
20
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 24, 2024 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | 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 |
| Mar 23, 2019 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Davenport 293
- Davenport Arpt 114
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Scott County, Iowa?
1,008 events are on record between 1954 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths and $50.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Scott County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 492 recorded events — 48.8% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Scott County?
62 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 52 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Scott County?
20 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Scott County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Scott County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Scott County as relatively moderate risk, placing it in the 85 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Scott 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
- Sac County 292
- Shelby County 303
- Ringgold County 312
- Sioux County 690
- Poweshiek County 371
- Story County 1,100
Cite this page
“Scott County, Iowa.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/iowa/scott-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.