Iowa County, Wisconsin

What hazards hit Iowa County most?

The most frequent records are winter storm records: 213 since 1996. 52% of its winter storm records since 1996 fell in January and February. The rank column places the county among Wisconsin'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 Iowa County had?

NOAA records 35 tornadoes in Iowa County from 1954 to 2026, the strongest rated F5, with 9 deaths and 206 injuries recorded in the county. That is 30th of 72 Wisconsin 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 31 tornadoes whose track touched Iowa County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 35: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 9 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Wisconsin.

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 Iowa County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 17, 2026 tornado ($277,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

Tornado appears to have started southwest of Ridgeway, hitting the Town of Ridgeway salt shed near Highway 18/151. It then tracked to the southeast and destroyed a metal shed along County Road H. Otherwise, sporadic tree damage was noted along the end of the path with rear flank downdraft winds occurring to the south-southeast of the path. Some tree damage was noted east of the end of the path but appeared to fan out and not be a path near County Rd K and Mounds View Rd.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1353801)

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 Iowa 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).

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

What time of year?

52% of its winter storm records since 1996 fell in January and February. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Iowa County

FEMA's register lists 17 declarations that include Iowa County: 14 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (9) and flood (2).

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 Iowa County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 25 flood or flash flood records for Iowa County from 1998 to 2026, on 23 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Iowa County ranks 2003rd of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $216,000 on 25 claims filed in Iowa County; the most in one year was 7 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 Iowa County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Iowa County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $10.8 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 Iowa County

1. Dane County 1,787
2. Grant County 1,007
3. Sauk County 940
4. Green County 872
5. Iowa County 812
6. Lafayette County 771
7. Richland County 399

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 WisconsinEvery Wisconsin tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Winter storms in WisconsinThe state's winter storm records, by county, year and month
• The Wisconsin recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Iowa CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Iowa County's FEMA declarations (CSV)17 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis