Linn County, Iowa

What hazards hit Linn County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 579 since 1955. 60% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1955 fell in June and July. 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 Linn County had?

NOAA records 64 tornadoes in Linn County from 1953 to 2025, the strongest rated F4, with 0 deaths and 29 injuries recorded in the county. That is 5th of 99 Iowa counties and 162nd of 3,080 U.S. 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 66 tornadoes whose track touched Linn County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 64: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 1 person, 0 of them in Linn 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 Linn County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the April 7, 2021 tornado (1 injury).

A brief tornado caused damage to several manufactured homes and a garage in the southwest part of Cedar Rapids Wednesday evening. One home sustained significant roof damage, with additional siding damage to nearby homes. One person sustained minor injuries from glass after their bedroom window blew in. The tornado lofted debris into a nearby field. Maximum sustained winds were around 85 mph and the tornado was rated EF-0.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 951119)

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

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 Linn 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?

60% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1955 fell in June and July. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Linn County

FEMA's register lists 23 declarations that include Linn County: 21 major disasters, 2 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (11) and severe storm (8).

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 Linn County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 88 flood or flash flood records for Linn County from 1996 to 2026, on 68 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Linn County ranks 265th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $69.4 million on 1,351 claims filed in Linn County; the most in one year was 639 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 Linn County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Linn County Relatively Moderate overall, with an expected annual loss of $79.1 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 Linn County

1. Linn County 1,436
2. Benton County 989
3. Johnson County 901
4. Buchanan County 822
5. Jones County 739
6. Cedar County 737
7. Delaware County 697
8. Iowa County 600

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
• Severe thunderstorm wind in IowaThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, 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 Linn CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Linn County's FEMA declarations (CSV)23 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis