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EF0 tornado in Howard County, Iowa

Tornado April 17, 2026 · Howard County, Iowa

EF0

Rating

4.2 mi

Path length

60 yd

Path width

Injury

$55K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 60 yards (0.03 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This tornado developed northwest of Saratoga and was witnessed by multiple individuals as it tracked northeast, damaging one outbuilding. The tornado also rolled a truck with the driver sustaining minor injuries. The tornado then dissipated southeast of the intersection of 70th street and Kent Avenue.

The wider storm

As a part of a larger tornado outbreak in the Upper Midwest, two tornadoes occurred in portions of northeast Iowa during the afternoon hours on April 17th. One of these tornadoes near Saratoga directly hit a truck and injured the occupant of the vehicle. Additionally, a couple of instances of severe hail occurred with these storms.

Began near Saratoga (43.3800, -92.4200).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EFU Clayton County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1329039. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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