Shelby County, Iowa

What hazards hit Shelby County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 134 since 1967. 51% of its hail reports since 1967 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 Shelby County had?

NOAA records 30 tornadoes in Shelby County from 1955 to 2024, the strongest rated EF3, with 0 deaths and 0 injuries recorded in the county. 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 Shelby County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 30: 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 Shelby 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 Shelby County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the November 11, 2015 tornado ($1.5 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

This tornado entered Shelby County from Pottawattamie County from the southwest. The tornado impacted a total of 6 farmsteads in the county as it tracked to the north northeast. Damage at these farmsteads was confined to mainly outbuilding being damaged or destroyed, trees uprooted, and electrical power poles downed. The tornado tracked across the western side of the Harlan Airport without doing damage to the airport, but a wind gust associated with the rear-flank downdraft of the storm was measured at 76 mph at the automatic observing equipment on the east side of the airport. The tornado finally ended just to the southeast of the city of Harlan.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 602066)

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 Shelby 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?

51% of its hail reports since 1967 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 Shelby County

FEMA's register lists 20 declarations that include Shelby County: 17 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (8) and flood (6).

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 Shelby County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 20 flood or flash flood records for Shelby County from 1996 to 2014, on 17 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Shelby County ranks 2212th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $258,000 on 15 claims filed in Shelby County; the most in one year was 10 in 1993. 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 Shelby County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Shelby County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $12.6 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 Shelby County

1. Pottawattamie County 774
2. Cass County 724
3. Harrison County 698
4. Carroll County 691
5. Crawford County 627
6. Shelby County 590
7. Audubon County 447

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 Shelby CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Shelby County's FEMA declarations (CSV)20 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis