Iowa County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Iowa County: 9.
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.

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. Apr 13, 2006Hail$4.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wild weather occurred over parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on April 13, 2005. Wisconsin's most-costly hailstorm pummeled a large swath from around Mineral Point (Iowa Co.) to north of Milwaukee (Milwaukee Co.), while hurricane-force thunderstorm winds raked parts of Fond du Lac and Sheboygan Counties. Here's what happened: scattered supercells developed in eastern Iowa during the late afternoon hours of April 13th and pushed east-northeastward through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois during the evening. Three main hailstorms affected southern Wisconsin. The first hailstorm left a swath of hail and hail damage from southern Iowa County (around 1945CST),…

2. Apr 13, 2006Hail$4.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wild weather occurred over parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on April 13, 2005. Wisconsin's most-costly hailstorm pummeled a large swath from around Mineral Point (Iowa Co.) to north of Milwaukee (Milwaukee Co.), while hurricane-force thunderstorm winds raked parts of Fond du Lac and Sheboygan Counties. Here's what happened: scattered supercells developed in eastern Iowa during the late afternoon hours of April 13th and pushed east-northeastward through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois during the evening. Three main hailstorms affected southern Wisconsin. The first hailstorm left a swath of hail and hail damage from southern Iowa County (around 1945CST),…

3. Apr 13, 2006Hail$4.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wild weather occurred over parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on April 13, 2005. Wisconsin's most-costly hailstorm pummeled a large swath from around Mineral Point (Iowa Co.) to north of Milwaukee (Milwaukee Co.), while hurricane-force thunderstorm winds raked parts of Fond du Lac and Sheboygan Counties. Here's what happened: scattered supercells developed in eastern Iowa during the late afternoon hours of April 13th and pushed east-northeastward through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois during the evening. Three main hailstorms affected southern Wisconsin. The first hailstorm left a swath of hail and hail damage from southern Iowa County (around 1945CST),…

4. Apr 13, 2006Hail$4.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wild weather occurred over parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on April 13, 2005. Wisconsin's most-costly hailstorm pummeled a large swath from around Mineral Point (Iowa Co.) to north of Milwaukee (Milwaukee Co.), while hurricane-force thunderstorm winds raked parts of Fond du Lac and Sheboygan Counties. Here's what happened: scattered supercells developed in eastern Iowa during the late afternoon hours of April 13th and pushed east-northeastward through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois during the evening. Three main hailstorms affected southern Wisconsin. The first hailstorm left a swath of hail and hail damage from southern Iowa County (around 1945CST),…

5. Apr 13, 2006Hail$4.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wild weather occurred over parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on April 13, 2005. Wisconsin's most-costly hailstorm pummeled a large swath from around Mineral Point (Iowa Co.) to north of Milwaukee (Milwaukee Co.), while hurricane-force thunderstorm winds raked parts of Fond du Lac and Sheboygan Counties. Here's what happened: scattered supercells developed in eastern Iowa during the late afternoon hours of April 13th and pushed east-northeastward through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois during the evening. Three main hailstorms affected southern Wisconsin. The first hailstorm left a swath of hail and hail damage from southern Iowa County (around 1945CST),…

6. Jun 29, 2014Tornado$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A long track swath of sporadic to continuous tornado damage. Hundreds of trees uprooted, snapped, and damaged. Dozens of farm buildings damaged or destroyed, including many silos down. 59 homes damaged with 4 destroyed. Intermittent damaging downburst winds were likely adjacent to the tornado path. An area of corn leveled.

7. Jun 18, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$950,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Scattered thunderstorms developing around the noon hour became more numerous and intensified to severe levels over southern Wisconsin by evening. Hardest hit was Rock County where two gustnadoes roared through the Clinton area producing winds estimated at 70 to 80 mph, toppling trees and power lines, and causing damage to 15 homes. Residents of Beloit and Janesville, also in Rock County, were left without electricity overnight due to widespread tree and power line damage from thunderstorm winds. Elsewhere, scattered tree and power line damage was reported with numerous wind gusts between 60 and 70 mph raking southcentral and southeast Wisconsin. A great financial and historical…

8. Jun 1, 2000Flash Flood$583,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One would be hard pressed to find another day like June 1, 2000 in terms of depth and range of severe, convective weather events across south-central and southeast Wisconsin. Tornadoes, widespread and localized flash flooding, funnel clouds, damaging hurricane-force, straight-line winds associated with a wicked squall-line, large hail stones, urban/small flooding, lightning strikes, and significant mainstem river flooding were reported. As in the preceding weeks, a quasi-stationary front over northern Illinois served as a boundary for warm, moist, unstable air to be pulled north over the cooler air over Wisconsin. Leftover flooding (from the evening of May 31, 2000) and isolated…

9. May 18, 2000Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Leftover thunderstorms from the evening of May 17th eventually moved through Kenosha County during the pre-dawn hours on the 18th, and left in their wake flash flooding conditions around Somers. WSR-88D Doppler radar estimated that 2 to 3 inches fell in about 1.5 hours on top of saturated soils. Flood waters quickly reached 2 to 4 feet over roads resulting in gravel shoulder washouts. Eight families had to be evacuated by boat from their mobile homes as a nearby river quickly spilled out of its banks. Many vehicles were stranded in the high water levels, and many homes sustained significant flood damage to landscaping and interior home contents. In the western part of Kenosha…

10. Jun 17, 2026Tornado$446,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    This tornado developed out of the same storm that produced a long track tornado west of Boscobel. This tornado developed about 4 miles southeast of Boscobel, continuing east-southeast through Grant County and into northwest Iowa County before dissipating about 6 miles east of Highland. Damage was up to EF-1 magnitude along it's path, consisting of significant tree damage and some heavily damaged farm outbuildings. The tornado intensified slightly as it crossed into Iowa County and impacted the Highland area, with strong rear flank downdraft winds noted along its southern periphery. No injuries were reported.

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°FJul 24, 1901

All-time low

−33°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

77°F4 times, most recently Aug 24, 2023

Coldest day

−18°FFeb 9, 1899

Wettest day

6.36 inJun 22, 2013

Snowiest day

14.0 in2 times, most recently Dec 3, 1990

Hottest year

1981mean 49.4°F

Coldest year

1996mean 42.6°F

Wettest year

201854.94 in

Driest year

195820.16 in

Snowiest season

73.1 in2007-08

Station Dodgeville Wwtp (USC00472173), 1,118 ft elevation, 1.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1896 to October 22, 2026; 94.6% 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 USC00472173.
• 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.