Marshalltown, IA Tornado History — 131 Tornadoes Since 1950
How many tornadoes has Marshalltown, IA had?
Marshalltown has had 131 tornadoes on record within 25 miles since 1950, including 13 violent (EF3+) tornadoes.
When was the most recent tornado near Marshalltown?
The most recent tornado within 25 miles of Marshalltown was an Unrated on August 18, 2025.
When is tornado season in Marshalltown?
June is historically the peak month for tornadoes near Marshalltown, with 36 on record. Spring through early summer (April–June) generally sees the highest activity across most of the central and southern United States.
At a Glance
Recent Tornado Activity Near Marshalltown
The last 20 years of confirmed tornadoes within 25 miles — 39 total, averaging 1.9 per year over this window.
Preliminary tornado reports near Marshalltown since December 29, 2025
These is a preliminary report, not confirmed tornadoes. It has not yet been through an NWS damage survey, and is not counted in the confirmed totals above.
Preliminary reports are revised, merged, and sometimes withdrawn — historically about 23% are consolidated downward once surveys complete. Ratings are omitted until a survey assigns one.
Confirmed records above are complete through December 29, 2025. NOAA publishes the confirmed archive annually, so tornadoes after that date appear here first and move into the totals above once finalized.
Within 25 miles of Marshalltown. Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center preliminary storm reports, updated daily.
Tornadoes by Decade
Tornadoes by Enhanced Fujita Rating
F0–F5 ratings (pre-2007) are grouped with their EF equivalents. The Enhanced Fujita scale replaced the original Fujita scale in February 2007.
Tornadoes by Month
Casualties on Record Near Marshalltown
13 fatalities have been recorded within 25 miles of Marshalltown since 1950, across 3 events. 121 injuries have been reported across all events. 2022 was the deadliest year on record.
The deadliest single event was an EF4 on March 5, 2022, which caused 6 fatalities along a 70.6-mile track.
Notable Tornadoes Near Marshalltown
About Tornadoes in Marshalltown
This overview was written July 24, 2026. The tornado counts and notable-event figures elsewhere on this page reflect the latest data and may differ from this summary.
Marshalltown is located in central Iowa, north of the Des Moines area, amid the open agricultural country that characterizes much of the state. Like the rest of central Iowa, it sits within the large region of the central United States where tornadoes are a familiar feature of the warm-season weather pattern.
The area's tornado risk grows out of the way air masses interact across the Midwest. Humid air flowing north from the Gulf of Mexico repeatedly encounters cooler, drier air from the north, and when a strong jet stream overhead supplies enough wind shear, thunderstorms can organize into rotating supercells capable of producing tornadoes. This tends to be most common from late spring through summer, as rising temperatures and increasing moisture destabilize the atmosphere, though favorable setups can occur outside those months.
The Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale is used to rate tornado intensity, running from EF0 to EF5 based on a survey of the damage rather than a measured wind speed. Weaker tornadoes are by far the most frequent, but the region's climate can support strong tornadoes when the atmosphere is primed. The complete tornado history for the Marshalltown area — counts, the decade and rating breakdowns, and the most significant events on record — comes from the NOAA Storm Prediction Center and is displayed in the data elsewhere on this page.