Council Bluffs

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Pottawattamie County, the county that contains Council Bluffs.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Pottawattamie County, the county that contains Council Bluffs.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Pottawattamie County, the county that contains Council Bluffs.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 27, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$11.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is a continuation of a 5 to 7 mile wide damage path that a bow-echo thunderstorm caused across eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa. In Pottawattamie county Iowa it was estimated by a NWS storm survey that winds reached 70 to 90 mph in an area from Council Bluffs to southwest of Treynor and north of Mineola. There was a concentration of tree damage across this area, which also caused house and vehicle damage. Two adults were killed and one young female adult was injured in Council Bluffs when a tree crushed the parked car they were sitting in. Two Semis were blown off the Interstate near Council Bluffs and grain storage units near Treynor sustained serious damage. In Council…

2. Sep 23, 2015Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous reports of flash flooding were received from broadcast media, spotters, and social media. Very heavy rainfall occurred during the overnight and into the early morning hours on the 23rd with the Council Bluffs area seeing over 7 inches of rainfall. This lead to significant flash flooding of streets and small streams. This had a large impact on the morning rush hour with numerous cars stalled with several water rescues taking place. Basement flooding also occurred throughout the city during the morning hours.

3. Aug 1, 2011Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Missouri River gradually worsened over western Pottawattamie county during June and July and persisted into August as record releases from Gavins Point Dam brought widespread flooding along the River. The river near Omaha climbed to a little under 36 feet by the end of June, flood stage is 29 feet, before falling slightly in July and a little more by early August. By the end of the month decreased releases from Gavins Point Dam had allowed the river to fall to around 31 feet. The flooding in Pottawattamie county closed roads along the river including 16 miles of Interstate 29 north of Council Bluffs and Interstate 680 east of north Omaha. Several parks and…

4. Aug 7, 1999Flash Flood$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very heavy rain fell across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa from Friday 8/6/99 into Saturday morning 8/7/99. Over 10 inches of rain fell at Omaha Eppley Airfield, just across the Missouri River to the west of Council Bluffs Iowa. An unofficial 24 hour rainfall total of 13 inches was reported at Treynor, 10 miles east of Council Bluffs. The heavy rain caused significant damage to around 3000 homes in Council Bluffs with over 3 million dollars damage. Severe street and basement flooding was also observed in Council Bluffs and other homes throughout the county.

5. Jul 1, 2011Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along the Missouri River gradually worsened over Pottawattamie county during June and persisted into July as record releases from Gavins Point Dam brought widespread flooding along the River. The river near Omaha climbed to a little under 36 feet by the end of June before falling slightly early in July before reaching a second peak around 36 feet in late July before falling slightly by early August. The flooding in Pottawattamie county closed 16 miles of Interstate 29 north of Council Bluffs and also closed I680 from the Mormon Bridge to its junction with I29 near Crescent. Several parks and recreation areas were also flooded along with the parking lots and parts of the…

6. Oct 25, 1997Heavy Snow, Pottawattamie$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major early season snowstorm struck portions of southwestern Iowa, blanketing the area with 6 to 9 inches of heavy wet snow. The snow fell on trees, many of which were still fully or partially leafed, and caused extensive damage and/or total destruction. Thousands of residents were without power just after the storm and many of the outages lasted for several days. Emergency shelters were opened in the affected areas for use by those who suffered a hardship from the storm.

7. May 6, 2007Flood$1.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall over the weekend of May 4th through the 6th, caused the West Nishnabotna River to flood across Pottawattamie county. The West Nishnabotna River at Hancock crested around 20.5 feet between 1130 pm and midnight May 6th. Flood stage is 14 feet. The river at Hancock first crossed flood stage around 6 am cdt May 6th and didn't drop below flood stage until around 1 pm cdt on the 7th. The flooding affected farmland and many county roads in the area from around Avoca through Hancock. Some homes were also damaged.

8. Mar 6, 2005Wildfire, Pottawattamie$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Southwest winds of 25 to 45 mph spread a wildfire across rural Pottawattamie east of Oakland and Carson. The blaze swept across 4,000 acres, destroyed 4 homes and many outbuildings, and left about a dozen people homeless. Total damage was reported at one million dollars. Two firefighters were treated at a Council Bluffs hospital for smoke inhalation and were released. The fire evidently spread from a tree stump that was still smoldering from being burnt several days earlier. The fire's containment was greatly aided by farmers who began plowing fields under ahead of the blaze. The fire was first reported around 1 pm and was contained around 7 pm.

9. May 16, 1999Tornado$690,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Destroyed mostly farm buildings and equipment, did damage a few homes.

10. Jun 24, 2024Flood$550,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Excessive rainfall across much of eastern South Dakota resulted in river flooding along the Missouri River at the end of June. Moderate flood stage was observed along the Missouri, with two Omaha river gauges cresting between 32.5 and 33.0 feet. Flood stage for this stretch of the Missouri ranges from 27.0 to 27.5 feet. At 3 pm, emergency management closed down Gifford Road in Council Bluffs as flood waters had reached the edge of the travel portion of the roadway. At 5:52 pm CDT on 6/25, Iowa Department of Transportation closed the I-680 Exit 1 westbound off-ramp as it became impassible due to flooding. By noon on 6/26, water was observed flowing over portions of the interstate…

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

110°FJul 21, 1974

All-time low

−23°F3 times, most recently Feb 16, 2021

Warmest night

84°FJul 24, 2012

Coldest day

−12°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

6.46 inAug 7, 1999

Snowiest day

18.3 inFeb 11, 1965

Hottest year

2012mean 55.8°F

Coldest year

1951mean 48.0°F

Wettest year

196544.85 in

Driest year

202017.65 in

Snowiest season

57.8 in1974-75

Station Omaha Eppley Airfield (USW00014942), 980 ft elevation, 5.8 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 27, 2026; 100.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Pottawattamie County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00014942.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.