Indianola

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 Warren County, the county that contains Indianola.

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 Warren County, the county that contains Indianola.

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 Warren County, the county that contains Indianola.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 5, 2022Tornado$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is a continuation of the tornado which started in Madison county and passed into Warren county. The tornado remained very broad with a maximum width of up to 500 yards at times. Video evidence supports a multi-vortex circulation with the tornado across much of Warren county. The tornado cross Interstate 35 shortly after entering the county but fortunately, no vehicles were impacted. The tornado remained in rural areas to the west southwest of Norwalk producing mostly tree and outbuilding damage. The tornado passed along the southeast edge of Norwalk producing EF0 to EF1 damage along Coolidge Street and along Highway G14 near Warrior Run Golf Course. The tornado crossed…

2. Aug 1, 2003Drought, Warren$12.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dry weather settled in over Iowa during the month. The last widespread rain occurred on 09 July. With the increasingly dry conditions became a primary concern as the month progressed. An extended period of heat and humidity from the 15th to 25th saw highs into the 90s to over 100 degrees F. in some locations. By month's end drought indices had worsened to severe to extreme drought across south central Iowa and at least moderate drought over the remainder of the HSA. Waterloo had its driest August on record, Des Moines its 3rd driest and Ottumwa its 8th driest. A cold front brought only a brief respite from the intense heat, as temperatures rebounded into the 90s to near 100…

3. Oct 26, 1997Heavy Snow, Warren$3.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first major winter storm of the season developed over the central Rockies as a powerful upper level jet stream dove into the southern Rockies. Intense low pressure developed over northern Oklahoma, then drifted northeast on the early morning of the 26th. A cold high pressure of Arctic origin was poised to the north of Iowa. The high gradually pushed cold air south into the central U.S. causing the precipitation on the northwest edge of the storm system to change to snow. During the early morning hours, the system went convective with widespread "thundersnow" reported over the south half of Iowa. Lightning struck a tree outside of a house in Nevada causing damage to electrical…

4. Jun 25, 2015Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency Manager reported Highway 92 closed between S23 and S31. Three bridges were destroyed across the county and numerous culverts washed out. Numerous farm to market roads sustained damage including bridge approaches and also several structures damaged.

5. Jun 18, 1998Flood, Warren$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Following a brief break from the rain on the 16th, rainfall resumed on the 17th and 18th. Heavy rain fell over just about the entire state on both days, with the heaviest amounts of 1 to 3 inches on the first night in the Nishnabotna River basin, the Upper Des Moines and Iowa basins, and the lower parts of the South Skunk basin. These rains fell on already saturated soils and resulted on considerable runoff. On the 18th, the Des Moines metropolitan area was blitzed with a massive flooding event. Local rains in the city ranged form 1 to 4 inches, much of it falling in one to two hours. Much of this water was quickly added to the flows on the already high Raccoon River. The Raccoon…

6. Jul 23, 2010Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado west to west northwest of Indianola. Multiple reports with barns and houses damaged.

7. Jun 22, 2007Tornado$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado spotted by amateur radio, law enforcement, Warren County Emergency Manager, and trained spotters. Touched down near Cumming and lifted south of the Norwalk area. Damage was done to several buildings. One house had the roof taken off. Numerous trees and power lines were downed. The tornado track was generally east-southeast, however the track was not straight.

8. Jun 10, 2011Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Water over Highway 5 between County Roads S31 and S23 reported by the IDOT.

9. Jul 28, 2015Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Emergency Manager sent a list of all the roads impacted by water. They included the following: Hwy 5 at the Hartford railroad underpass, Hwy 92 at the South River, 20th Ave from Hwy 92 to Jersey St., Kennedy St. just east of 150th Ave with signs of it being washed out and 4 feet of water over the road, 180th and Hwy 92, Hwy S23 and Grimes had 3 feet of water over the road, Interstate 35 between mile marker 57 and 59, Hwy 92 and the railroad overpass by Beech and S31, 165th Ave and Clarke St. had 2 feet over the road, Hwy 92 west of S23, Fulton both at 115th and around S23, G24 from west of R57 to 73rd and from 115th to Hwy 65/69, Idaho St. east of Hwy 28. Hwy 28 on the north…

10. Jun 18, 1998Flash Flood$350,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A warm front extended from a low pressure area over northeast Nebraska, southeast through central into southeast Iowa. A cold front extended south from the low into Kansas. South of the warm front, dew point temperatures were in the low 70s. A speed max passed to the northwest of the state, placing Iowa in the right rear entrance region of the speed max. This set the stage for thunderstorm development. A strong low level jet was in place with speeds in excess of 50 knots. Initially, a small like of strong, but not severe, thunderstorms formed from southwest into north central Iowa. As the morning progressed, the storms initially produced hail of three quarters inch up to golf ball…

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

108°FAug 16, 1983

All-time low

−26°FFeb 3, 1996

Warmest night

81°F3 times, most recently Jul 27, 2026

Coldest day

−12°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

6.18 inAug 27, 1975

Snowiest day

13.7 inJan 26, 1996

Hottest year

2012mean 56.1°F

Coldest year

1951mean 46.9°F

Wettest year

199355.88 in

Driest year

195617.07 in

Snowiest season

69.0 in2009-10

Station Des Moines International Airport (USW00014933), 939 ft elevation, 12.7 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1945 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 Warren 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 USW00014933.
• 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.