PlainHazard

Iowa drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 99 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 2,602 drought records in Iowa from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 159 a year since 2000. The costliest was the July 1, 2005 drought ($197 million in 2025 dollars). Iowa ranks 9th of 51 states and territories by count and 10th of 50 per square mile.

Drought in Iowa, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
2,6021996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
159average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$754Mas filed
Busiest year
2023466 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in Iowa?

Iowa averages about 159 drought records a year since 2000, 9th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2023 (466). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Iowa records 466 drought records since 1996, 10th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Iowa have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Ida County leads Iowa: 46 days with a drought record since 1996, 106.6 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Plymouth County has the most drought records (61 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Ida County 106.6 (46)
  2. Dickinson County 99.9 (38)
  3. Osceola County 97.8 (39)
  4. Cherokee County 91.9 (53)
  5. Buena Vista County 87.0 (50)
  6. O'Brien County 82.0 (47)
  7. Clay County 81.1 (46)
  8. Wapello County 81.0 (35)
  9. Clarke County 76.5 (33)
  10. Lucas County 74.3 (33)
  11. Monroe County 73.8 (32)
  12. Humboldt County 73.7 (32)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in Iowa?

Iowa's drought records by month. The busiest month is August (502 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 146 · Feb 153 · Mar 143 · Apr 106 · May 62 · Jun 102 · Jul 271 · Aug 502 · Sep 350 · Oct 353 · Nov 256 · Dec 158 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The costliest drought records in Iowa

Iowa: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2005-07-01 DroughtClinton County and Jackson County · forecast zone Clinton One storm episode: 20 records in 20 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $197M
2012-07-01 DroughtKossuth County · forecast zone Kossuth One storm episode: 51 records in 51 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $174M
2023-10-01 DroughtWoodbury County · forecast zone Woodbury One storm episode: 8 records in 8 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $64M
2005-08-01 DroughtCedar County · forecast zone Cedar One storm episode: 16 records in 16 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $59M
2022-07-01 DroughtPlymouth County · forecast zone Plymouth One storm episode: 8 records in 8 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $31M
2013-08-01 DroughtCarroll County · forecast zone Carroll One storm episode: 45 records in 45 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $27M
2022-08-01 DroughtPlymouth County · forecast zone Plymouth One storm episode: 6 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $25M
2003-08-01 DroughtDes Moines County · forecast zone Des Moines One storm episode: 21 records in 21 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $24M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in Iowa?

Iowa's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: Iowa and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeIowaUnited StatesIowa's share
1996-99465,6000.8%
2000s38718,5712.1%
2010s67931,4412.2%
2020-261,49030,1474.9%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in Iowa

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-23 DroughtPlymouth County · forecast zone Plymouth 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtPlymouth County · forecast zone Plymouth 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtLyon County · forecast zone Lyon 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtPlymouth County · forecast zone Plymouth 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtLyon County · forecast zone Lyon 0 0 –
2026-04-01 DroughtLyon County · forecast zone Lyon 0 0 –
2026-04-01 DroughtPlymouth County · forecast zone Plymouth 0 0 –
2026-04-01 DroughtSioux County · forecast zone Sioux 0 0 –
2026-04-01 DroughtOsceola County · forecast zone Osceola 0 0 –
2026-04-01 DroughtO'Brien County · forecast zone O'brien 0 0 –
2026-04-01 DroughtWoodbury County · forecast zone Woodbury 0 0 –
2026-04-01 DroughtCherokee County · forecast zone Cherokee 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in Iowa

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in Iowa for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on March 31, 1977.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1977-03-31EM-3036Drought3

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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