Adams County, Iowa

What hazards hit Adams County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 102 since 1985. 47% of its hail reports since 1985 fell in May and June. The rank column places the county among Iowa's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Adams County had?

NOAA records 26 tornadoes in Adams County from 1958 to 2024, the strongest rated F4, with 1 death and 3 injuries recorded in the county. That is 50th of 99 Iowa counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 28 tornadoes whose track touched Adams County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 26: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 5 people, 1 of them in Adams County.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Iowa.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Adams County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the May 21, 2024 tornado ($941,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

The tornado entered into Adams County from Montgomery County. This tornado remained in rural areas of western and northern Adams County until lifting north of the town of Carl near the Adair County line. The tornado impacted a house on the north side of 200th street shortly after entering the county removing much of the roof with general collapse of the structure. A large hog confinement facility near the intersection of 190th and Aspen was severally damage with most buildings destroyed. EF3 damage occurred to a house along 175th Street near Cherry Avenue with all wall removed except a couple of the interior walls. The outbuildings at this location were all destroyed as well. Another house along 150th Street near Dogwood Avenue had all but a few interior walls removed with EF3 damage as well. All outbuildings were destroyed at this site as well. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1170282)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Adams County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Drought in the 2020-26: 17 records against 5 in the decade before, 17 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Adams County days with a record above.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

47% of its hail reports since 1985 fell in May and June. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Adams County

FEMA's register lists 17 declarations that include Adams County: 15 major disasters, 2 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (7) and flood (5).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Adams County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 40 flood or flash flood records for Adams County from 1996 to 2019, on 27 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Adams County ranks 2523rd of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $221,000 on 6 claims filed in Adams County; the most in one year was 5 in 2008. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Adams County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Adams County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $8.0 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Adams County

1. Cass County 724
2. Adair County 612
3. Taylor County 580
4. Union County 570
5. Page County 509
6. Ringgold County 461
7. Montgomery County 454
8. Adams County 424

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in IowaEvery Iowa tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Hail in IowaThe state's hail reports, by county, year and month
• The Iowa recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Adams CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Adams County's FEMA declarations (CSV)17 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis