Tornado Warning Issued for Polk and Jasper Counties in Iowa
This alert is no longer in effect.
NOAA issued it on May 1, 2026, 3 months ago. Warnings of this kind stay in effect for hours to a few days, so this page is a historical record of what was issued, not a current warning. For conditions where you are right now, check weather.gov (US), weather.gc.ca (Canada), the Met Office (UK), or the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia).
Areazine synthesizes this NWS weather alert directly from NOAA's official public data feed. See our methodology for full source attribution and refresh cadence.
A Tornado Warning is in effect for East central Polk County and Western Jasper County in Iowa until 9:15 PM CDT, with a confirmed tornado near Mitchellville moving east at 25 mph.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Tornado Warning
- Affected area
- Central Iowa
- Issued
- May 1, 2026
- Issuing authority
- NWS Des Moines IA
Tornado warnings are short-window notices for the named area. The issuing office is the authority on whether the warning remains active or has been replaced.
Record status: historical. It was issued 3 months ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in Central Iowa.
Tornado Warning in Central Iowa
Alert Details
The National Weather Service in Des Moines, IA, has issued a Tornado Warning. This alert is effective from 8:25 PM CDT on April 23, 2026, until 9:15 PM CDT on the same day.
Affected Areas
The warning affects East central Polk County and Western Jasper County in central Iowa. Specific locations include Mitchellville, Altoona, Colfax, Prairie City, and Prairie City Krohn Airport.
What You Should Do
Take cover now. Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows. If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris.
Expected Conditions
A confirmed tornado is moving east at 25 mph, with hazards including flying debris, damage to mobile homes, roofs, windows, vehicles, and trees.
Timeline
The alert is effective from 8:25 PM CDT on April 23, 2026, and ends at 9:15 PM CDT on April 23, 2026.
Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗
Related Weather Alerts
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Two Areazine-derived peer sets for this NWS weather alert: nearest notices by body length and by same severity near the same agency date. Peers come from other categories so they are not the same-feed Related list above.
Similar body length
Nearest notices by article body length (992 characters here).
Similar severity timing
Same severity (high) notices issued closest in time to May 1, 2026.
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