Cold Wave Risk in Iowa

All Iowa counties ranked by FEMA National Risk Index cold wave score

Cold Wave risk — prolonged spells of dangerously low temperatures — is rated for 99 of 99 Iowa counties in FEMA's National Risk Index. Polk County carries the state's highest cold wave score at 91.3, with $10M in expected annual cold wave losses.

2 Iowa counties are rated High or Very High for cold wave, and expected annual losses from cold wave total roughly $164M statewide. The full ranking below links to each county's complete 18-hazard risk profile.

County Rankings — Cold Wave

#CountyCold Wave ScoreRatingAnn. Freq.Ann. Loss
1 Polk County
91.3
High 6.00 / yr $10M
2 Johnson County
90.3
High 7.16 / yr $10M
3 Adair County
88.1
Medium 5.32 / yr $5M
4 Woodbury County
87.1
Medium 6.47 / yr $6M
5 Cass County
86.9
Medium 5.21 / yr $4M
6 Emmet County
86.2
Medium 11.53 / yr $6M
7 Union County
84.5
Medium 4.74 / yr $4M
8 Linn County
83.9
Medium 7.89 / yr $6M
9 Scott County
80.7
Medium 6.53 / yr $5M
10 Pottawattamie County
78.9
Medium 5.21 / yr $4M
11 Dubuque County
77.8
Medium 7.79 / yr $6M
12 Cerro Gordo County
74.5
Medium 11.11 / yr $3M
13 Kossuth County
70.8
Medium 11.53 / yr $3M
14 Audubon County
68.1
Medium 6.00 / yr $2M
15 Black Hawk County
67.7
Medium 8.68 / yr $2M
16 Page County
67.3
Medium 4.32 / yr $2M
17 Crawford County
66.4
Medium 7.00 / yr $2M
18 Hancock County
66.4
Medium 11.26 / yr $2M
19 Clinton County
66.1
Medium 7.16 / yr $2M
20 Greene County
65.7
Medium 7.95 / yr $2M
21 Winnebago County
65.5
Medium 11.37 / yr $2M
22 Allamakee County
65.2
Low 7.37 / yr $2M
23 Montgomery County
64.2
Low 4.47 / yr $2M
24 Wright County
63.2
Low 10.47 / yr $2M
25 Palo Alto County
62.3
Low 11.37 / yr $2M
26 Buena Vista County
61.7
Low 8.74 / yr $1M
27 Sioux County
60.9
Low 7.53 / yr $3M
28 Taylor County
60.9
Low 4.42 / yr $1M
29 Calhoun County
60.3
Low 9.00 / yr $1M
30 Clarke County
59.6
Low 4.84 / yr $2M
31 Carroll County
59.2
Low 7.47 / yr $2M
32 Dallas County
58.6
Low 6.26 / yr $2M
33 Hamilton County
58.5
Low 9.32 / yr $2M
34 Lucas County
58.0
Low 4.74 / yr $1M
35 Jackson County
57.1
Low 7.26 / yr $2M
36 Fayette County
56.9
Low 8.21 / yr $1M
37 Humboldt County
56.4
Low 10.37 / yr $1M
38 Adams County
56.4
Low 4.63 / yr $1M
39 Pocahontas County
55.4
Low 10.37 / yr $1M
40 Decatur County
55.1
Low 4.42 / yr $1M
41 Hardin County
55.0
Low 9.26 / yr $1M
42 Delaware County
54.9
Low 8.11 / yr $1M
43 Clayton County
54.7
Low 7.32 / yr $1M
44 Winneshiek County
54.7
Low 8.11 / yr $2M
45 Shelby County
54.3
Low 5.89 / yr $2M
46 Franklin County
53.6
Low 10.26 / yr $2M
47 Dickinson County
52.9
Low 10.84 / yr $1M
48 Plymouth County
52.3
Low 6.58 / yr $1M
49 Tama County
51.0
Low 7.95 / yr $877K
50 Floyd County
50.8
Low 9.74 / yr $945K
51 Osceola County
50.7
Low 10.68 / yr $896K
52 Appanoose County
50.0
Low 4.47 / yr $757K
53 Cherokee County
49.5
Low 7.68 / yr $912K
54 Warren County
47.6
Low 5.16 / yr $1M
55 O'Brien County
47.3
Low 9.42 / yr $2M
56 Sac County
45.9
Low 8.58 / yr $1M
57 Washington County
45.8
Low 6.05 / yr $800K
58 Butler County
45.7
Low 9.63 / yr $1M
59 Madison County
45.2
Low 5.26 / yr $717K
60 Wayne County
44.5
Low 4.47 / yr $594K
61 Clay County
42.8
Low 10.16 / yr $1M
62 Chickasaw County
42.8
Low 9.68 / yr $775K
63 Ringgold County
42.5
Low 4.47 / yr $1M
64 Boone County
42.1
Low 7.84 / yr $1M
65 Lyon County
41.8
Low 8.58 / yr $1M
66 Muscatine County
41.4
Low 6.47 / yr $715K
67 Marshall County
41.2
Low 7.89 / yr $685K
68 Poweshiek County
39.5
Low 6.58 / yr $755K
69 Worth County
38.2
Low 11.11 / yr $910K
70 Ida County
37.0
Low 7.16 / yr $613K
71 Des Moines County
36.6
Low 4.79 / yr $598K
72 Davis County
36.4
Low 4.58 / yr $387K
73 Bremer County
36.0
Low 9.32 / yr $1M
74 Lee County
35.8
Low 4.47 / yr $538K
75 Story County
35.3
Low 7.79 / yr $692K
76 Jones County
35.1
Low 7.79 / yr $811K
77 Mahaska County
34.7
Low 5.63 / yr $597K
78 Webster County
33.9
Low 9.26 / yr $587K
79 Monona County
33.6
Low 6.11 / yr $509K
80 Jasper County
32.2
Low 6.16 / yr $540K
81 Mitchell County
32.1
Low 9.74 / yr $566K
82 Guthrie County
31.7
Low 6.42 / yr $721K
83 Wapello County
31.5
Low 5.00 / yr $442K
84 Fremont County
31.1
Low 4.16 / yr $496K
85 Henry County
30.7
Low 4.95 / yr $419K
86 Grundy County
30.3
Low 8.95 / yr $736K
87 Harrison County
29.1
Low 5.63 / yr $379K
88 Buchanan County
29.1
Low 8.05 / yr $628K
89 Mills County
28.6
Low 4.42 / yr $592K
90 Howard County
27.2
Low 9.68 / yr $547K
91 Monroe County
26.8
Low 4.79 / yr $514K
92 Marion County
25.4
Low 5.21 / yr $433K
93 Cedar County
25.2
Low 7.00 / yr $539K
94 Iowa County
24.7
Low 7.00 / yr $381K
95 Jefferson County
24.4
Low 5.32 / yr $261K
96 Keokuk County
24.1
Low 6.05 / yr $356K
97 Benton County
21.4
Very Low 7.89 / yr $423K
98 Louisa County
20.3
Very Low 5.26 / yr $293K
99 Van Buren County
19.5
Very Low 4.58 / yr $167K

99 Iowa counties with measurable cold wave risk. See the national cold wave ranking or all Iowa counties by overall risk.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Iowa county has the highest cold wave risk?

Polk County has the highest FEMA cold wave risk score in Iowa at 91.3 (High), with $10M in expected annual losses and about 6.00 events per year.

How many Iowa counties face significant cold wave risk?

99 Iowa counties record measurable cold wave risk in FEMA's National Risk Index; 2 of them are rated High or Very High.

Other Hazards in Iowa

Drought Earthquake Hail Heat Wave Hurricane Ice Storm Riverine Flood Landslide Lightning Strong Wind Tornado Wildfire Winter Weather