Strong Wind Risk in Iowa

All Iowa counties ranked by FEMA National Risk Index strong wind score

Strong Wind risk — damaging straight-line winds outside of tornadoes and hurricanes — is rated for 99 of 99 Iowa counties in FEMA's National Risk Index. Polk County carries the state's highest strong wind score at 99.2, with $11M in expected annual strong wind losses.

14 Iowa counties are rated High or Very High for strong wind, and expected annual losses from strong wind total roughly $124M statewide. The full ranking below links to each county's complete 18-hazard risk profile.

County Rankings — Strong Wind

#CountyStrong Wind ScoreRatingAnn. Freq.Ann. Loss
1 Polk County
99.2
Very High 6.01 / yr $11M
2 Johnson County
98.9
Very High 6.41 / yr $10M
3 Linn County
98.4
Very High 6.10 / yr $8M
4 Mitchell County
96.7
High 3.80 / yr $5M
5 Scott County
96.4
High 6.26 / yr $4M
6 Pottawattamie County
95.3
High 4.61 / yr $4M
7 Black Hawk County
94.7
High 5.35 / yr $3M
8 Clinton County
93.5
High 6.14 / yr $3M
9 Muscatine County
91.6
High 6.43 / yr $2M
10 Washington County
90.9
High 6.20 / yr $2M
11 Marshall County
86.0
High 6.43 / yr $2M
12 Tama County
85.8
High 6.38 / yr $1M
13 Des Moines County
85.0
High 5.50 / yr $2M
14 Woodbury County
84.1
High 4.20 / yr $2M
15 Carroll County
83.7
Medium 4.80 / yr $2M
16 Iowa County
81.7
Medium 5.79 / yr $2M
17 Lee County
80.2
Medium 4.71 / yr $1M
18 Henry County
80.1
Medium 5.44 / yr $1M
19 Jasper County
79.8
Medium 6.40 / yr $2M
20 Poweshiek County
78.9
Medium 6.47 / yr $1M
21 Dubuque County
77.6
Medium 5.54 / yr $2M
22 Louisa County
77.3
Medium 6.30 / yr $2M
23 Benton County
77.2
Medium 5.55 / yr $2M
24 Fayette County
76.0
Medium 4.52 / yr $1M
25 Wapello County
74.0
Medium 4.91 / yr $1M
26 Jones County
73.7
Medium 6.32 / yr $2M
27 Cedar County
71.9
Medium 6.44 / yr $2M
28 Adair County
71.4
Medium 5.29 / yr $900K
29 Jackson County
70.7
Medium 6.03 / yr $1M
30 Cerro Gordo County
70.1
Medium 3.85 / yr $942K
31 Delaware County
70.0
Medium 5.40 / yr $1M
32 Story County
69.9
Medium 6.05 / yr $1M
33 Mahaska County
69.3
Medium 5.76 / yr $1M
34 Hardin County
69.2
Medium 5.57 / yr $969K
35 Hamilton County
68.8
Medium 5.37 / yr $1M
36 Dallas County
67.1
Medium 5.86 / yr $2M
37 Keokuk County
66.4
Medium 5.56 / yr $1M
38 Crawford County
65.7
Medium 4.34 / yr $918K
39 Calhoun County
65.2
Medium 4.95 / yr $795K
40 Madison County
64.8
Medium 5.58 / yr $758K
41 Davis County
64.0
Medium 4.28 / yr $560K
42 Buena Vista County
62.6
Medium 3.94 / yr $771K
43 Cass County
60.9
Medium 4.87 / yr $584K
44 Webster County
60.6
Medium 5.10 / yr $865K
45 Jefferson County
59.9
Medium 5.18 / yr $613K
46 Appanoose County
57.7
Medium 4.22 / yr $544K
47 Harrison County
55.9
Medium 4.50 / yr $627K
48 Van Buren County
55.6
Medium 4.50 / yr $502K
49 Warren County
55.0
Medium 5.70 / yr $1M
50 Audubon County
54.2
Medium 4.95 / yr $590K
51 Union County
54.1
Medium 4.87 / yr $484K
52 Butler County
53.9
Medium 5.01 / yr $1M
53 Cherokee County
52.7
Medium 4.21 / yr $588K
54 Chickasaw County
52.4
Medium 4.17 / yr $630K
55 Lucas County
51.5
Low 5.21 / yr $469K
56 Bremer County
50.2
Low 4.78 / yr $1M
57 Page County
50.1
Low 4.11 / yr $532K
58 Sioux County
49.1
Low 4.39 / yr $934K
59 Buchanan County
48.2
Low 5.30 / yr $838K
60 Howard County
47.6
Low 3.76 / yr $766K
61 Marion County
47.3
Low 5.76 / yr $655K
62 Wright County
47.0
Low 4.64 / yr $504K
63 Ringgold County
43.5
Low 4.41 / yr $633K
64 Allamakee County
43.4
Low 3.70 / yr $397K
65 Plymouth County
42.9
Low 4.24 / yr $499K
66 Guthrie County
42.8
Low 5.49 / yr $704K
67 Shelby County
42.2
Low 4.70 / yr $698K
68 Taylor County
42.0
Low 4.23 / yr $356K
69 Winnebago County
42.0
Low 3.66 / yr $418K
70 Clayton County
41.7
Low 4.60 / yr $472K
71 Grundy County
41.6
Low 5.85 / yr $739K
72 Decatur County
41.3
Low 4.61 / yr $413K
73 Montgomery County
40.9
Low 4.32 / yr $442K
74 Wayne County
40.1
Low 4.67 / yr $318K
75 Greene County
39.2
Low 5.56 / yr $481K
76 Monona County
39.0
Low 4.27 / yr $412K
77 Boone County
37.4
Low 5.76 / yr $670K
78 Hancock County
37.3
Low 3.82 / yr $448K
79 Kossuth County
36.9
Low 3.70 / yr $560K
80 Pocahontas County
35.8
Low 4.27 / yr $381K
81 Ida County
35.1
Low 4.20 / yr $371K
82 Clarke County
35.0
Low 5.11 / yr $502K
83 Floyd County
34.8
Low 4.13 / yr $334K
84 Mills County
34.7
Low 4.37 / yr $535K
85 Dickinson County
34.2
Low 3.47 / yr $427K
86 Humboldt County
33.8
Low 4.42 / yr $396K
87 Clay County
32.7
Low 3.64 / yr $486K
88 Franklin County
32.3
Low 4.74 / yr $446K
89 O'Brien County
29.6
Low 4.34 / yr $511K
90 Osceola County
29.2
Low 4.00 / yr $262K
91 Sac County
29.1
Low 4.10 / yr $463K
92 Monroe County
29.1
Low 4.90 / yr $405K
93 Emmet County
28.9
Low 3.57 / yr $294K
94 Adams County
27.9
Low 4.58 / yr $292K
95 Worth County
26.4
Low 3.67 / yr $371K
96 Winneshiek County
26.2
Low 3.82 / yr $333K
97 Fremont County
26.1
Low 4.29 / yr $277K
98 Palo Alto County
22.6
Low 3.68 / yr $334K
99 Lyon County
18.6
Low 4.23 / yr $248K

99 Iowa counties with measurable strong wind risk. See the national strong wind ranking or all Iowa counties by overall risk.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Iowa county has the highest strong wind risk?

Polk County has the highest FEMA strong wind risk score in Iowa at 99.2 (Very High), with $11M in expected annual losses and about 6.01 events per year.

How many Iowa counties face significant strong wind risk?

99 Iowa counties record measurable strong wind risk in FEMA's National Risk Index; 14 of them are rated High or Very High.

Other Hazards in Iowa

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