Ida County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Ida County: 0.
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.

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

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.

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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. Mar 13, 2019Flood$810,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding resulted in extensive damage to public infrastructure including numerous county and township roads, culverts, and some bridges.

2. Jun 15, 2014Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Repeated heavy rains caused record flooding of the Maple River. Most of the flooding was to farmland and roads, but a few homes and businesses were flooded, mainly in basements, especially in the communities of Galva and Ida Grove. The river crested at a record 6.37 feet above flood stage near Galva on June 17th.

3. Jun 19, 1996Flood, Ida$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall of 5 to 15 inches during a 30 hour period caused widespread lowland, crop, urban, and river flooding. Rivers and streams including the Big Sioux, Little Sioux, West Fork Little Sioux, and Floyd Rivers were over flood stage for 2 to 6 days. The flooding caused widespread destruction of crops, drowned livestock, flooded and washed out roads, and flooded homes and other buildings, damaging contents.

4. Dec 15, 2021Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado formed in an open field between 280th and 290th Streets near the Woodbury and Ida County line southwest of Battle Creek. The tornado tracked northeast for around one mile before it removed shingles from a house southwest of Battle Creek. As the tornado continued northeast, four additional farmsteads were impacted with|several outbuildings damaged or destroyed. Several trees were damaged and a few power poles were snapped north of Battle Creek. The tornado crossed U.S. Highway 59 just north of 190th Street, and lifted approximately 7 miles north of Ida Grove. The average path width was 50 yards and the maximum estimated wind speed was 100 mph. Property damage costs are a…

5. Aug 8, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds destroyed a machine shed, heavily damaged a large shed at a manufacturing plant, overturned a livestock trailer and a large grain wagon, destroyed a small garage, destroyed or damaged several small sheds, and caused tree damage, including several large trees blown down. A house was damaged by debris from the destroyed machine shed, while other buildings and vehicles sustained damage from falling trees and tree debris. The winds also caused an unknown amount of damage to corn crops.

6. Apr 9, 2011Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado severely damaged a farmstead; taking the roof off of a house and destroying numerous outbuildings. The tornado also damaged outbuildings at another farmstead, snapped at least 5 power poles, and damaged an outbuilding at an ethanol plant. The tornado also caused tree damage.

7. Apr 7, 2001High Wind, Ida$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds caused widespread tree, sign, and roof damage. Other damage to structures, such as siding and windows, also occurred. The Spencer Livestock Sales facility was heavily damaged with fences blown down and the wall of one building blown down, although there were no reports of livestock lost.

8. Dec 15, 2021Tornado$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado developed 2 miles north-northwest of Galva, one-half mile southwest of the intersection of 120th Street and Landmark Avenue. The tornado tracked northeast to a farmstead on the northeast corner of the intersection, where a hoop barn was destroyed and the roof partially removed from a residence. The tornado exited Ida County 4 miles north of Galva just east of Marshal Avenue at 1700CST. The tornado clipped the far southeast corner of Cherokee County, then entered Buena Vista County at 1701CST, where the tornado lifted one mile southwest of Alta at 1706CST. The tornado was rated EF0 in Ida County, EFU in Cherokee County, and EF1 in Buena Vista County. The average path…

9. Apr 9, 2011Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado destroyed or heavily damaged two grain bins and two outbuildings on a farmstead. The tornado also caused mainly shingle damage to a house and garage on the same farmstead. Trees, power poles, and power lines were also damaged.

10. Jun 16, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorm winds destroyed a garage, caused minor roof damage to homes, and toppled two empty grain bins. The winds also caused tree damage, including numerous branches down and the tops of several trees broken off.

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

106°FJul 29, 1947

All-time low

−35°FFeb 16, 2021

Warmest night

80°F2 times, most recently Jul 14, 1980

Coldest day

−15°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

9.77 inJul 17, 1996

Snowiest day

12.0 inMar 5, 1963

Hottest year

1987mean 52.1°F

Coldest year

1951mean 45.2°F

Wettest year

201443.37 in

Driest year

195515.35 in

Snowiest season

63.4 in1961-62

Station Mapleton NO.2 (USC00135123), 1,180 ft elevation, 19.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1937 to October 27, 2026; 93.6% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00135123.
• 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.