Tornado Warning Issued for Six Iowa Counties Until 10:30 PM CDT

Source: NOAA · Central Iowa

This alert is no longer in effect.

NOAA issued it on May 27, 2026, 2 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.

NWS Des Moines has issued a Tornado Warning for parts of central and north central Iowa effective until 10:30 PM CDT on May 17, 2026.

Read this weather record in 30 seconds

Record type
Tornado Warning
Affected area
Central Iowa
Issued
May 27, 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 2 months ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in Central Iowa.

Alert Details

A Tornado Warning has been issued by the National Weather Service in Des Moines IA. The alert is effective from May 17, 2026 at 9:45 PM CDT until May 17, 2026 at 10:30 PM CDT.

Affected Areas

The warning covers Franklin, Hamilton, Hardin, Humboldt, Webster, and Wright counties in Iowa. Specific areas include Northwestern Hardin County, Northeastern Webster County, Southern Wright County, Southwestern Franklin County, Southeastern Humboldt County, and Northern Hamilton County.

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

At 9:45 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located near Sportsman Park, or 10 miles northwest of Webster City, moving east at 55 mph. Radar indicated rotation. Hazard includes tornado. Max hail size up to 0.75 inches.

Timeline

The warning is in effect until 10:30 PM CDT on May 17, 2026. The storm will be near Woolstock around 9:50 PM CDT, Big Wall Lake around 10:00 PM CDT, and Dows and Popejoy around 10:10 PM CDT.

Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗

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Nationwide notices with similar length or severity timing 8

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about this NWS weather alert.

What is this NWS weather alert about?
NWS Des Moines has issued a Tornado Warning for parts of central and north central Iowa effective until 10:30 PM CDT on May 17, 2026.
Which agency issued this alert?
This alert was issued by NOAA. The original notice is available at the source link at the bottom of this article.
How severe is this alert?
This alert is classified as "high" severity. Take precautions and monitor for updates.
What area is affected?
This alert affects Central Iowa. Check with NOAA for the most current geographic scope.
Where can I find more Weather Alerts updates?
Browse the full Weather Alerts feed on Areazine at areazine.com/weather/ for the latest updates from NOAA and other agencies.