Des Moines has had 96 tornadoes since 2000 within 25 miles, so check tornado and wind warnings now and know your basement route
Des Moines has a long tornado record: 181 within 25 miles, 96 since 2000, and an F5 in June 1976. River floods and derecho wind add risk.
No National Weather Service watches, warnings or advisories are in effect for the center of Des Moines right now. Des Moines is in Polk County.
Severe weather and weather alerts in Des Moines right now, with tornado warning, flood warning and heat advisory status
Each row is checked against the National Weather Service alerts for the center of the city, which is in Polk County.
| Alert type | Right now |
|---|---|
| Tornado warning or watch | None in effect |
| Severe thunderstorm warning or watch | None in effect |
| Flood warning, flood watch or flash flood warning | None in effect |
| Winter storm warning, blizzard or ice storm | None in effect |
| Heat advisory or excessive heat warning | None in effect |
| Hurricane or tropical storm warning or watch | None in effect |
A watch means conditions are possible, so be ready. A warning means the hazard is happening or expected soon, so act now. What watches, warnings and advisories mean → · Tornado watch vs warning, and what to do in each → · All tornado watches and warnings →
Tornado history near Des Moines
Every tornado in the official record that started within 25 miles of the city center, 1950 to 2025.
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 0 |
| Date | Rating | Deaths | Injuries |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 13, 1976 | EF5 | 0 | 9 |
| June 18, 1974 | EF4 | 2 | 50 |
| September 28, 1986 | EF4 | 0 | 0 |
| June 15, 1950 | EF3 | 0 | 5 |
| March 22, 1991 | EF3 | 0 | 0 |
Most have come from April through June. The single busiest month is May (36% of the total).
Counts use each tornado's starting point and are limited to the official record, so they cover where tornadoes began, not every place they passed. A tornado that crosses a state line is listed once for each state. Ratings are the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale, assigned after National Weather Service damage surveys. Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database. Past counts do not predict the next tornado.
Hurricanes and tropical storms near Des Moines
Storms whose center passed within 60 nautical miles (about 69 miles) with at least 39 mph winds, 1851 to 2025.
| Storm | Date | Winds at closest pass | Strength | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed (1900) | September 11, 1900 | 45 mph | Tropical storm | 62 mi |
Winds are the storm's maximum sustained winds when its center was closest to the city center in the six-hourly record, not the winds felt in the city, which depend on the storm's size and which side of it you were on. Source: NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2.
Flood zone map for Des Moines
Flood zones are mapped by FEMA, and they are set street by street, so the city center cannot tell you whether your address is in one. FEMA's Flood Map Service Center lets you search an address and see its flood zone.
Be ready in Des Moines
Steps from official sources, with each point linked to the page it comes from.
- In a tornado warning, move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building, or to your basement or safe room. Avoid windows. (NWS: Tornado watches and warnings)
- A mobile home or tent is not safe. Move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris. (NWS: During a tornado)
- Being in a vehicle during a tornado is not safe. The best option is to drive to the closest shelter. (NWS: During a tornado)
- Identify and practice going to a safe shelter: a safe room built to FEMA criteria or a storm shelter built to ICC 500 standards. (Ready.gov: Tornadoes)
- The next best protection is a small, interior, windowless room or basement on the lowest level of a sturdy building. (Ready.gov: Tornadoes)
- During a tornado, cover your head and neck with your arms and put furniture or blankets around or on top of you. (Ready.gov: Tornadoes)
- It is never safe to drive or walk into flood waters. Turn around, don't drown. (NWS: Turn Around Don't Drown)
- Never drive around the barriers blocking a flooded road. The road may have collapsed under the water. (NWS: Turn Around Don't Drown)
- Evacuate immediately when water starts to rise, and get to higher ground if you are in a flood-prone or low-lying area. (NWS: During a flood)
- When thunder roars, go indoors. Move from outdoors into a building or a car with a roof. (Ready.gov: Thunderstorms & Lightning)
- Avoid using electronic devices connected to an electrical outlet, and avoid running water. (Ready.gov: Thunderstorms & Lightning)
- Do not drive through flooded roadways. Six inches of fast-moving water can knock you down, and one foot can sweep a vehicle away. (Ready.gov: Thunderstorms & Lightning)
- Do not rely on a fan as your primary cooling device. Fans do not reduce body temperature or prevent heat-related illness. (Ready.gov: Extreme Heat)
- If your home has no air conditioning, find a cooling center, take cool showers or baths, and drink plenty of fluids. (Ready.gov: Extreme Heat)
- Never leave people or pets in a closed car on a warm day. Check on family members, older adults and neighbors. (Ready.gov: Extreme Heat)
- A winter storm watch means conditions are favorable for a significant winter storm: heavy sleet, heavy snow, an ice storm, or a combination. (NWS: Winter watches, warnings and advisories)
- In a winter storm warning, travel can become difficult or impossible. Delay travel until conditions improve. (NWS: Winter watches, warnings and advisories)
- In a blizzard warning, do not travel. If you must, carry a winter survival kit. If you get stranded, stay with your vehicle and wait for help. (NWS: Winter watches, warnings and advisories)
- Heavy ice can bring down trees, utility poles and communication towers, and power and communication outages can last days. (NWS: Ice and Frost)
- Even a thin layer of ice is dangerous to drivers and pedestrians, and bridges and overpasses freeze before other surfaces. (NWS: Ice and Frost)
- Black ice is a thin, patchy layer on roads that is hard to see, most common in early morning, especially when melted snow refreezes overnight. (NWS: Ice and Frost)
Nearby cities
Common questions about weather in Des Moines
What county is Des Moines in?
Des Moines is in Polk County, Iowa.
Is there a tornado watch, tornado warning, winter storm, ice storm, snow or other weather warning in Des Moines and the rest of Polk County right now?
The National Weather Service has no active alerts for the center of Des Moines right now. An alert can cover only part of Polk County, so the Iowa alerts page lists every county with an active National Weather Service alert.
What happened in the EF5 tornado near Des Moines on June 13, 1976?
It is the strongest tornado in the NOAA Storm Prediction Center record that started within 25 miles of the center of Des Moines. It was rated EF5, caused no deaths and 9 injuries, and began in Iowa. Of the 181 tornadoes that started that close since 1950, 29 were rated EF2 or stronger. Ratings before 2007 use the original Fujita scale.
How many tornadoes have started within 25 miles of Des Moines?
181 tornadoes from 1950 through 2025, 96 of them since 2000. In the last 10 years (2016 to 2025) there were 42, and 2024 was the busiest year with 17. Most came from April through June, and May is the busiest single month (36% of the total). One tornado that crosses a county or state line can appear as two records.
When did a tornado last start near Des Moines?
The most recent tornado in the database that started within 25 miles of the center of Des Moines began on July 15, 2024 and was rated EF1. The database runs through 2025, so it does not include anything after that.
How does Des Moines compare with other Iowa cities for tornadoes?
Des Moines has 181 tornadoes within 25 miles of its center, which ranks 1st of the 3 Iowa cities that have a page here. That is the most of any Iowa city on this site; Davenport is next with 158. The counts depend on how big an area each city's circle covers, so use them as a rough comparison.
Has a tropical storm ever passed near Des Moines?
An unnamed storm in 1900 is the strongest on record: winds of 45 mph (tropical storm) at its closest recorded position on September 11, 1900, about 62 miles away. In all, 1 tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 60 nautical miles (about 69 miles) of Des Moines since 1851. Wind and damage in the city itself depend on a storm's size and path.
Alerts come from the National Weather Service, the NOAA Storm Prediction Center and the National Hurricane Center.