Warren County, Iowa

What hazards hit Warren County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 338 since 1962. 54% of its hail reports since 1962 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 Warren County had?

NOAA records 48 tornadoes in Warren County from 1953 to 2024, the strongest rated EF3, with 0 deaths and 3 injuries recorded in the county. That is 8th of 99 Iowa counties and 224th 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 50 tornadoes whose track touched Warren County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 48: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 6 people, 0 of them in Warren 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 Warren County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the May 24, 2024 tornado ($1,882 in damage in 2025 dollars).

A TDS was observed on the KDMX WSR-88D Doppler radar to the northeast of Indianola. Damage was also reported from the same area via social media. The brief tornado remained in mostly rural areas of Warren County with the bulk of the damage to trees.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1170130)

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 Warren 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?

54% of its hail reports since 1962 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 Warren County

FEMA's register lists 18 declarations that include Warren County: 15 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (6) 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 Warren County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 138 flood or flash flood records for Warren County from 1996 to 2019, on 80 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Warren County ranks 2020th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $287,000 on 24 claims filed in Warren County; the most in one year was 6 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 Warren County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Warren County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $18.7 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 Warren County

1. Polk County 2,373
2. Dallas County 1,181
3. Warren County 1,065
4. Marion County 919
5. Madison County 585
6. Clarke County 549
7. Lucas County 490

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