Iowa recorded its 38th tornado of the year on Sunday

A brief tornado spun up in Clinton County near Grand Mound early Sunday morning. A National Weather Service crew rated it an EF-0, the lowest ranking on the tornado damage scale. This was the 38th tornado of the year in Iowa, which is a little under the average through mid-August. The average for a whole year is 46, although the actual number is quite changeable. Recently, 2018 had 69, 2017 had 55, and 2016 had 43. The fewest since 1980 was 16 in 2012 and the most was 120 in 2004.

The map shows the location of each recorded tornado this in 2019. Blue tornadoes were ones rated EF-0, green are EF-1, yellow are EF-2, and orange is EF-3. The two gray ones in Scott County are EF-U, for “unknown,” because meteorologists could not find any damage to give them a rating.

So far this year, 25 of the tornadoes have been EF-0. Seven were rated EF-1, three were EF-2, and one was EF-3. Two were rated EF-U.

The second Iowa tornado of the year, a nighttime EF-2 near Adair in western Iowa on May 22, killed one person and injured another. The other tornado death was on May 29 near Montezuma from an EF-1 tornado. None of the other 36 tornadoes caused any injuries or deaths.

While most of Iowa’s tornadoes happen in April through July, an average of about 10% of them occur between mid-August and the end of the year. Fall can still offer up severe weather.