Galt, IA Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
Hot Rankings
The chance of earthquake damage in Galt is about the same as Iowa average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Galt is higher than Iowa average and is much higher than the national average.
Earthquake Index, #492
| Galt, IA | 0.00 |
| Iowa | 0.00 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #1
| Galt, IA | 0.0000 |
| Iowa | 0.0000 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #330
| Galt, IA | 251.96 |
| Iowa | 236.74 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 3,647 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Galt, IA were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 34 | Cold: | 15 | Dense Fog: | 0 | Drought: | 10 |
| Dust Storm: | 0 | Flood: | 456 | Hail: | 1,289 | Heat: | 3 | Heavy Snow: | 51 |
| High Surf: | 0 | Hurricane: | 0 | Ice Storm: | 31 | Landslide: | 0 | Strong Wind: | 73 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 1,366 | Tropical Storm: | 0 | Wildfire: | 0 | Winter Storm: | 34 | Winter Weather: | 26 |
| Other: | 259 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Galt, IA.
Historical Earthquake Events
No historical earthquake events that had recorded magnitudes of 3.5 or above found in or near Galt, IA.
No historical earthquake events found in or near Galt, IA.
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 108 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Galt, IA.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 6.4 | 1964-04-26 | 2 | 42°36'N / 93°44'W | 42°39'N / 93°39'W | 4.70 Miles | 300 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Wright |
| 7.0 | 1991-05-17 | 2 | 42°35'N / 93°41'W | 42°37'N / 93°38'W | 2.50 Miles | 60 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Wright |
| 11.4 | 1966-10-14 | 5 | 42°48'N / 93°39'W | 42°55'N / 93°32'W | 9.70 Miles | 1000 Yards | 6 | 172 | 25.0M | 0 | Wright |
| 11.9 | 1991-05-17 | 2 | 42°29'N / 93°42'W | 42°35'N / 93°41'W | 6.50 Miles | 60 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Hamilton |
| 13.1 | 1973-09-26 | 2 | 42°49'N / 93°48'W | 1.00 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Wright | |
| 13.8 | 1953-06-07 | 2 | 42°28'N / 94°00'W | 42°52'N / 93°45'W | 30.20 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Webster |
| 17.5 | 1959-05-10 | 2 | 42°45'N / 93°20'W | 42°49'N / 93°14'W | 6.50 Miles | 300 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Franklin |
| 17.7 | 1979-06-28 | 2 | 42°31'N / 93°48'W | 42°25'N / 93°44'W | 7.20 Miles | 350 Yards | 0 | 10 | 250K | 0 | Hamilton |
| 19.9 | 1973-09-26 | 2 | 42°58'N / 93°29'W | 2.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Cerro Gordo | |
| 20.2 | 1979-06-28 | 2 | 42°25'N / 93°44'W | 1.00 Mile | 177 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Hamilton | |
| 20.5 | 1980-09-20 | 2 | 42°56'N / 94°00'W | 42°58'N / 93°37'W | 19.30 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Hancock |
| 20.7 | 1967-04-30 | 2 | 42°36'N / 94°02'W | 42°42'N / 93°59'W | 6.80 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Webster |
| 22.4 | 1973-09-26 | 2 | 43°01'N / 93°35'W | 1.00 Mile | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Hancock | |
| 24.8 | 1984-06-07 | 2 | 42°53'N / 94°03'W | 43°00'N / 93°52'W | 14.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Hancock |
| 25.0 | 1998-06-27 | 2 | 42°59'N / 93°26'W | 43°04'N / 93°23'W | 7.50 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 50K | 2K | Cerro Gordo |
| Brief Description: Iowa was located in the warm sector of a developing storm system to the west. The warm front had moved to the northern Iowa border during the afternoon of the 27th with dew point temperatures in the mid 70s to around 80 blanketing the state in the warm sector. Initially, the airmass was capped, preventing thunderstorms from forming during the afternoon. Slightly cooler air moved in during the evening hours. In addition to the slightly cooler air moving in aloft, a cold front was poised over eastern Nebraska ready to move east into the state. Thunderstorms erupted rapidly by early evening with hail and high winds reported over northern Iowa. There were numerous reports of hail of an inch or larger in diameter, with a few reports of golf ball size hail. High winds were also a problem with many of the storms producing 60 to 70 MPH wind gusts. Reports of tree and power line damage were widespread. There were a few tornadoes as well. One tracked across open country in Cerro Gordo County before damaging a house south of Clear Lake. Another tornado touched down near Swaledale in Cerro Gordo County and passed southeast of Mason City. Much of the track was over open country, however one house was destroyed near Swaledale by this tornado. The longest track tornado moved across Butler and Bremer Counties. It also passed through open country, causing damage to crops and out buildings. In addition to these, there were a few brief touchdowns reported. Iowa soil remained very saturated with numerous rivers at or near flood stage. Heavy rainfall of near 4 inches in a couple hours time caused flash flooding in Cerro Gordo County. A widespread area of north central into northeast Iowa received heavy rainfall. Many areas picked up two to four inches of rain in a few hour period. This resulted in urban and small stream flooding, and ultimately general river flooding in the days that followed. As the storms moved through Worth County, lightning struck an outbuilding west of Kensett. The building was set on fire and destroyed. | |||||||||||
| 26.2 | 1984-06-07 | 2 | 42°52'N / 94°04'W | 42°53'N / 94°03'W | 1.00 Mile | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Kossuth |
| 26.2 | 1990-06-28 | 3 | 42°38'N / 93°10'W | 42°33'N / 93°03'W | 7.00 Miles | 90 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Franklin |
| 26.6 | 1974-06-22 | 2 | 42°18'N / 93°39'W | 42°19'N / 93°36'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Hamilton | ||
| 26.9 | 1984-06-07 | 2 | 42°50'N / 94°07'W | 42°52'N / 94°04'W | 7.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Humboldt |
| 28.0 | 1980-09-20 | 2 | 42°55'N / 94°07'W | 42°56'N / 94°00'W | 5.20 Miles | 80 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Kossuth |
| 28.7 | 1953-05-20 | 3 | 42°18'N / 93°18'W | 42°33'N / 93°03'W | 21.30 Miles | 400 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Hardin |
| 28.9 | 1970-07-14 | 2 | 42°19'N / 93°26'W | 42°17'N / 93°23'W | 1.30 Miles | 250 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Hardin |
| 29.2 | 1965-05-15 | 2 | 42°47'N / 94°10'W | 0.50 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Humboldt | |
| 29.4 | 1990-03-13 | 2 | 42°18'N / 93°53'W | 42°18'N / 93°46'W | 6.00 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Hamilton |
| 29.7 | 1953-05-10 | 4 | 43°04'N / 93°31'W | 43°10'N / 93°30'W | 6.40 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 3 | 250K | 0 | Hancock |
| 29.8 | 1977-05-04 | 4 | 42°32'N / 94°09'W | 2.00 Miles | 70 Yards | 0 | 14 | 250K | 0 | Webster | |
| 30.5 | 1998-06-27 | 2 | 42°59'N / 93°20'W | 43°04'N / 93°05'W | 12.50 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 125K | 10K | Cerro Gordo |
| Brief Description: Iowa was located in the warm sector of a developing storm system to the west. The warm front had moved to the northern Iowa border during the afternoon of the 27th with dew point temperatures in the mid 70s to around 80 blanketing the state in the warm sector. Initially, the airmass was capped, preventing thunderstorms from forming during the afternoon. Slightly cooler air moved in during the evening hours. In addition to the slightly cooler air moving in aloft, a cold front was poised over eastern Nebraska ready to move east into the state. Thunderstorms erupted rapidly by early evening with hail and high winds reported over northern Iowa. There were numerous reports of hail of an inch or larger in diameter, with a few reports of golf ball size hail. High winds were also a problem with many of the storms producing 60 to 70 MPH wind gusts. Reports of tree and power line damage were widespread. There were a few tornadoes as well. One tracked across open country in Cerro Gordo County before damaging a house south of Clear Lake. Another tornado touched down near Swaledale in Cerro Gordo County and passed southeast of Mason City. Much of the track was over open country, however one house was destroyed near Swaledale by this tornado. The longest track tornado moved across Butler and Bremer Counties. It also passed through open country, causing damage to crops and out buildings. In addition to these, there were a few brief touchdowns reported. Iowa soil remained very saturated with numerous rivers at or near flood stage. Heavy rainfall of near 4 inches in a couple hours time caused flash flooding in Cerro Gordo County. A widespread area of north central into northeast Iowa received heavy rainfall. Many areas picked up two to four inches of rain in a few hour period. This resulted in urban and small stream flooding, and ultimately general river flooding in the days that followed. As the storms moved through Worth County, lightning struck an outbuilding west of Kensett. The building was set on fire and destroyed. | |||||||||||
| 30.7 | 2005-11-12 | 3 | 42°16'N / 93°56'W | 42°21'N / 93°53'W | 5.80 Miles | 150 Yards | 1 | 3 | 11.7M | 0 | Hamilton |
| Brief Description: Tornado moved from Webster County in to Hamilton County. One woman was killed when her house collapsed. F82PH A very intense weather system developed over the central U.S. during the day on the 12th. A strong upper level system moved through the area with mid and upper level winds in the 70 to 90 kt range. Low level winds of 35 to 50 kts transported moisture north into the system. High temperatures reached the mid 60s to low 70s, with dew point readings approaching 60 by late afternoon. A surface low developed over northern Kansas during the previous night and lifted northeast into eastern South Dakota during the afternoon of the 12th, then into central Minnesota as a 985 mb low by late evening. The atmosphere became quite unstable with CAPE values reaching 1000 J/kg by late afternoon. The Lifted Index values were in the -5 C. range. Being as it was in November, the freezing level was quite low during the event, in the 10,000 to 11,000 foot range. Though the soundings were quite unidirectional, there was plenty of shear with zero to 6 km shear values around 65 kts. Thunderstorms erupted during the afternoon in west central in to southwest Iowa. The storms became severe quite quickly. Initially the storms produce quarter to golf ball size hail, with 2 1/2 inch diameter hail falling in Dallas County. Hail up to baseball size fell in Greene County as well. The system transitioned into a tornadic system within an hour with several tornadoes touching down in the central sections of the state. At least 9 communities were hit by tornadoes and 65 homes damaged or destroyed. An 82 year old woman was killed in Stratford when the tornado demolished her home. In a 2 or 3 block area of downtown Woodward, at least 12 houses were totally destroyed. There was one minor injury in Ames, two serious injuries in the Woodward area, and three injuries in Stratford. Due to the extensive damage to property caused by the tornadoes, Iowa Governor Vilsack declared Boone, Story, Webster, Dallas and Hamilton Counties disaster areas. A long-lived tornado tracked through several counties across central Iowa during the late afternoon hours of Nov. 12, 2005. The tornado path is estimated at 27.5 miles long and between 100 and 150 yards wide along the damage path. Tornado (1) initially touched down just west of E Avenue (just south of Boxholm in northwest Boone county), one half mile south of Boone County Highway E18 at approximately 4:27 p.m as an F1 tornado. The tornado then tracked northeast across E Avenue, hitting a farm just north of E18, damaging the home and some out buildings. It also flipped over one pickup truck and killed two horses at this location. The tornado continued northeast, spreading debris across F Avenue just north of 125th Street as it maintained F1 intensity. Two additional homes were damaged with outbuildings destroyed as the tornado tracked northeast across G and H Avenues near 105th Avenue. It then intensified to an F2 tornado as it crossed the Boone/Webster county line. Another home was heavily damaged and a large outbuilding destroyed just north of the Boone/Webster county line. The tornado quickly moved northeast, crossing 390th Street and headed toward the Des Moines River, weakening to an F1 tornado. A continuous, but weak damage path was observed crossing the river as the tornado tracked across open farmland and land adjacent the Des Moines River. The tornado has been rated an F1 tornado during this time. After crossing County D64 in Webster county, the tornado struck another farm near 370th Street and Washington Avenue, damaging the residence and destroying a machine shed along with most of its contents. The tornado again intensified to an F2 at this location. The tornado then headed toward Stratford, crossing the Webster and Hamilton county line just west of County Road D54. The tornado entered Stratford at 4:46 p.m. on the west-central end of town, heavily damaging many homes. The tornado crossed the city park and then exited the city near the north-central portion of Stratford. Numerous homes were heavily damaged with one fatality. As the tornado left Stratford, it continued on a northeast track, lifting and dropping to the ground several times as an F0 and F1 tornado. It damaged three additional farms northeast of Stratford with the last damaged farm north of 320th Street and west of County Road R21 in Hamilton County. Tornado (2) touched down one mile west of Minburn in Dallas County according to the aerial survey. The tornado tracked northeast for about eight miles, producing F0-F1 damage before intensifying near Highway 141. The tornado produced F2 damage at a farm one mile southwest of Woodward, and continued to produce F2 damage through the south and east portions of Woodward. The tornado dissipated one mile northeast of Woodward. Severe houses slid off their foundations in Woodward, and a double-wide home was flipped upside down into the street. Total path length was 11 miles. Tornado (3) touched down in open fields one mile northwest of Madrid. It hit a home three miles north of Madrid on Highway 17, producing F1 damage. One other farm site sustained damage as the tornado moved northeast. The tornado dissipated after a six mile track. Tornado (4) started just west of Ames near the Highway 30 and Lincoln Way Split, according to the aerial survey. The tornado produced F1-F2 damage on the northwest fringe of Ames. It weakened as it moved northeast, before intensifying again and produced F2 damage to a farm site just south of Gilbert. F1 damage occurred as the tornado crossed highway 69. The tornado dissipated three miles south of Story City after a 10 mile track. Tornado (5) was a short-lived satellite tornado that was on the ground for 1.6 miles ending at the southwest edge of Story City. The aerial survey showed very minor damage. Tornado (6) developed one mile west of Roland and tracked across the extreme southeast corner of Hamilton county before entering Hardin county. The tornado produced damage up to F1 intensity to rural farm sites in far northern Story county and five miles south of Radcliffe in Hardin county. The KCCI-TV aerial survey indicated the track was nine miles in length. Tornado (7) was a brief touchdown just south of Williams in Hamilton County. No damage was found from this brief tornado and it is not shown here. Tornado (8) was briefly sighted near Blakesburg in Monroe County. The tornado produced minor damage to a farm building but was not surveyed. Tornado (9) touched down briefly north of Steamboat Rock in Hardin County. The tornado caused little damage. Tornado (10) was actually the first tornado of the day. It formed from the same supercell that eventually moved northeast into the Stratford area. The tornado caused little damage as it moved through fields south of the Scranton Area. Tornado (11) was a brief touchdown on the southwest edge of the Ames City limits. This tornado was from the same parent cell as the previous tornado that touched down in Ames, but was distinct. The tornado was weak and lifted lawn chairs and caused some shingle damage. This tornado was ANTICYCLONIC in nature. | |||||||||||
| 30.9 | 1990-06-28 | 3 | 42°33'N / 93°03'W | 42°32'N / 93°01'W | 2.00 Miles | 90 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Hardin |
| 31.4 | 1991-03-22 | 3 | 42°14'N / 93°22'W | 42°24'N / 93°09'W | 16.00 Miles | 70 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Hardin |
| 31.8 | 1964-08-29 | 2 | 42°33'N / 94°12'W | 2.00 Miles | 77 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Webster | |
| 31.8 | 1967-06-08 | 4 | 42°31'N / 94°11'W | 2.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Webster | |
| 32.2 | 1968-05-15 | 5 | 42°46'N / 93°07'W | 42°54'N / 92°53'W | 14.70 Miles | 600 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Franklin |
| 32.2 | 1973-09-21 | 3 | 42°32'N / 94°14'W | 42°34'N / 94°11'W | 2.30 Miles | 143 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Webster |
| 32.2 | 1971-05-31 | 2 | 42°33'N / 93°02'W | 42°36'N / 92°57'W | 4.50 Miles | 300 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Hardin |
| 32.5 | 1981-06-12 | 2 | 42°50'N / 94°13'W | 0 | 1 | 25K | 0 | Humboldt | |||
| 32.6 | 1952-05-23 | 2 | 42°45'N / 92°58'W | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Butler | |||
| 32.8 | 1953-05-20 | 3 | 42°09'N / 93°42'W | 42°18'N / 93°18'W | 22.70 Miles | 400 Yards | 1 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Story |
| 33.0 | 1960-06-16 | 2 | 42°30'N / 94°12'W | 1.00 Mile | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Webster | |
| 33.4 | 1967-04-30 | 3 | 43°06'N / 93°25'W | 43°11'N / 93°18'W | 7.70 Miles | 250 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Cerro Gordo |
| 33.5 | 1989-05-24 | 4 | 42°14'N / 93°49'W | 42°11'N / 93°27'W | 19.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25.0M | 0 | Hamilton |
| 34.1 | 1974-06-09 | 2 | 43°05'N / 94°01'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Kossuth | |||
| 34.8 | 1977-05-04 | 2 | 42°28'N / 94°13'W | 1.00 Mile | 70 Yards | 0 | 4 | 2.5M | 0 | Webster | |
| 35.0 | 1953-06-07 | 2 | 42°18'N / 94°18'W | 42°28'N / 94°00'W | 18.80 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Webster |
| 35.5 | 1964-08-29 | 4 | 42°55'N / 94°14'W | 43°07'N / 94°04'W | 15.80 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 2 | 250K | 0 | Kossuth |
| 36.4 | 2005-11-12 | 2 | 42°13'N / 94°00'W | 42°16'N / 93°57'W | 6.70 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 450K | 0 | Webster |
| Brief Description: Tornado moved in from Boone County, then tracked into Hamilton County. A very intense weather system developed over the central U.S. during the day on the 12th. A strong upper level system moved through the area with mid and upper level winds in the 70 to 90 kt range. Low level winds of 35 to 50 kts transported moisture north into the system. High temperatures reached the mid 60s to low 70s, with dew point readings approaching 60 by late afternoon. A surface low developed over northern Kansas during the previous night and lifted northeast into eastern South Dakota during the afternoon of the 12th, then into central Minnesota as a 985 mb low by late evening. The atmosphere became quite unstable with CAPE values reaching 1000 J/kg by late afternoon. The Lifted Index values were in the -5 C. range. Being as it was in November, the freezing level was quite low during the event, in the 10,000 to 11,000 foot range. Though the soundings were quite unidirectional, there was plenty of shear with zero to 6 km shear values around 65 kts. Thunderstorms erupted during the afternoon in west central in to southwest Iowa. The storms became severe quite quickly. Initially the storms produce quarter to golf ball size hail, with 2 1/2 inch diameter hail falling in Dallas County. Hail up to baseball size fell in Greene County as well. The system transitioned into a tornadic system within an hour with several tornadoes touching down in the central sections of the state. At least 9 communities were hit by tornadoes and 65 homes damaged or destroyed. An 82 year old woman was killed in Stratford when the tornado demolished her home. In a 2 or 3 block area of downtown Woodward, at least 12 houses were totally destroyed. There was one minor injury in Ames, two serious injuries in the Woodward area, and three injuries in Stratford. Due to the extensive damage to property caused by the tornadoes, Iowa Governor Vilsack declared Boone, Story, Webster, Dallas and Hamilton Counties disaster areas. A long-lived tornado tracked through several counties across central Iowa during the late afternoon hours of Nov. 12, 2005. The tornado path is estimated at 27.5 miles long and between 100 and 150 yards wide along the damage path. Tornado (1) initially touched down just west of E Avenue (just south of Boxholm in northwest Boone county), one half mile south of Boone County Highway E18 at approximately 4:27 p.m as an F1 tornado. The tornado then tracked northeast across E Avenue, hitting a farm just north of E18, damaging the home and some out buildings. It also flipped over one pickup truck and killed two horses at this location. The tornado continued northeast, spreading debris across F Avenue just north of 125th Street as it maintained F1 intensity. Two additional homes were damaged with outbuildings destroyed as the tornado tracked northeast across G and H Avenues near 105th Avenue. It then intensified to an F2 tornado as it crossed the Boone/Webster county line. Another home was heavily damaged and a large outbuilding destroyed just north of the Boone/Webster county line. The tornado quickly moved northeast, crossing 390th Street and headed toward the Des Moines River, weakening to an F1 tornado. A continuous, but weak damage path was observed crossing the river as the tornado tracked across open farmland and land adjacent the Des Moines River. The tornado has been rated an F1 tornado during this time. After crossing County D64 in Webster county, the tornado struck another farm near 370th Street and Washington Avenue, damaging the residence and destroying a machine shed along with most of its contents. The tornado again intensified to an F2 at this location. The tornado then headed toward Stratford, crossing the Webster and Hamilton county line just west of County Road D54. The tornado entered Stratford at 4:46 p.m. on the west-central end of town, heavily damaging many homes. The tornado crossed the city park and then exited the city near the north-central portion of Stratford. Numerous homes were heavily damaged with one fatality. As the tornado left Stratford, it continued on a northeast track, lifting and dropping to the ground several times as an F0 and F1 tornado. It damaged three additional farms northeast of Stratford with the last damaged farm north of 320th Street and west of County Road R21 in Hamilton County. Tornado (2) touched down one mile west of Minburn in Dallas County according to the aerial survey. The tornado tracked northeast for about eight miles, producing F0-F1 damage before intensifying near Highway 141. The tornado produced F2 damage at a farm one mile southwest of Woodward, and continued to produce F2 damage through the south and east portions of Woodward. The tornado dissipated one mile northeast of Woodward. Severe houses slid off their foundations in Woodward, and a double-wide home was flipped upside down into the street. Total path length was 11 miles. Tornado (3) touched down in open fields one mile northwest of Madrid. It hit a home three miles north of Madrid on Highway 17, producing F1 damage. One other farm site sustained damage as the tornado moved northeast. The tornado dissipated after a six mile track. Tornado (4) started just west of Ames near the Highway 30 and Lincoln Way Split, according to the aerial survey. The tornado produced F1-F2 damage on the northwest fringe of Ames. It weakened as it moved northeast, before intensifying again and produced F2 damage to a farm site just south of Gilbert. F1 damage occurred as the tornado crossed highway 69. The tornado dissipated three miles south of Story City after a 10 mile track. Tornado (5) was a short-lived satellite tornado that was on the ground for 1.6 miles ending at the southwest edge of Story City. The aerial survey showed very minor damage. Tornado (6) developed one mile west of Roland and tracked across the extreme southeast corner of Hamilton county before entering Hardin county. The tornado produced damage up to F1 intensity to rural farm sites in far northern Story county and five miles south of Radcliffe in Hardin county. The KCCI-TV aerial survey indicated the track was nine miles in length. Tornado (7) was a brief touchdown just south of Williams in Hamilton County. No damage was found from this brief tornado and it is not shown here. Tornado (8) was briefly sighted near Blakesburg in Monroe County. The tornado produced minor damage to a farm building but was not surveyed. Tornado (9) touched down briefly north of Steamboat Rock in Hardin County. The tornado caused little damage. Tornado (10) was actually the first tornado of the day. It formed from the same supercell that eventually moved northeast into the Stratford area. The tornado caused little damage as it moved through fields south of the Scranton Area. Tornado (11) was a brief touchdown on the southwest edge of the Ames City limits. This tornado was from the same parent cell as the previous tornado that touched down in Ames, but was distinct. The tornado was weak and lifted lawn chairs and caused some shingle damage. This tornado was ANTICYCLONIC in nature. | |||||||||||
| 36.7 | 1989-05-24 | 4 | 42°11'N / 93°27'W | 42°13'N / 93°13'W | 13.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25.0M | 0 | Story |
| 37.1 | 1964-07-07 | 2 | 42°10'N / 93°45'W | 2.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Boone | |
| 37.5 | 1967-04-30 | 2 | 43°13'N / 93°48'W | 43°14'N / 93°42'W | 4.30 Miles | 300 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Hancock |
| 37.5 | 1951-06-25 | 2 | 43°13'N / 93°48'W | 0.80 Mile | 500 Yards | 0 | 8 | 0K | 0 | Hancock | |
| 38.1 | 1976-06-13 | 5 | 42°06'N / 93°42'W | 42°11'N / 93°36'W | 7.30 Miles | 880 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Story |
| 38.5 | 1967-06-08 | 2 | 42°22'N / 94°23'W | 42°30'N / 94°10'W | 14.20 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 5 | 250K | 0 | Webster |
| 38.7 | 1966-10-14 | 2 | 42°23'N / 92°56'W | 42°26'N / 92°58'W | 2.70 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Grundy |
| 38.7 | 1982-05-17 | 2 | 43°13'N / 93°49'W | 43°15'N / 93°48'W | 2.00 Miles | 80 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Hancock |
| 39.2 | 2008-05-25 | 2 | 42°33'N / 92°52'W | 42°33'N / 92°51'W | 1.00 Mile | 75 Yards | 0 | 0 | 300K | 2K | Grundy |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This was the initial tornado touchdown point. The tornado continued on into Butler County. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A very intense upper low was located over the southwest U.S. and lifted northeast during the weekend of the 24th into the morning of the 26th. The seasons first strong push of deep moisture moved into Iowa on the 25th with surface temperatures warming into the mid 80s and dew points surging into the upper 60s to low 70s. Precipitable water values were near 1.5 inches. The dry slot pushed north across the area the previous night as the warm front lifted north. The primary surface low was located over northern Minnesota. A cold front extended south from the low into northwest Iowa. The airmass became very unstable by the mid afternoon hours. MUCAPE rose to between 4000 and 5000 J/kg. Lifted indices fell to -8 to -11 C. There was a considerable amount of both DCAPE at 1000-1500 J/kg and cape in the -10 to-30 C. layer of the atmoshpere, between 400 and 600 J/kg. The freezing level was around 13,200 feet. The environment was quite sheared with effective shear in the 40 to 50 kt range. LCL values were between 1000 and 1500 meters. The airmass was initially capped. During the late afternoon hours, a small cluster of thunderstorms formed over north central into northeast Iowa. The storms became severe very quickly. Initially, the storms dropped hail up to golf ball in size. One became a strong super cell and produced a major tornado. This cell, in addition to being tornadic, also produced hail of baseball to softball in size and winds in excess of 90 MPH. The tornado track was from approximately 2 miles south of Aplington to Parkersburg, then continued to New Hartford and across northern Black Hawk County. The average path width ranged from 0.6 to 0.7 miles near Parkersburg to just north of New Hartford. The path constricted to near one quarter mile wide east of New Hartford to north of Waterloo. The width then increased to near 1.2 miles wide north of Dunkerton before dissipating near the Black Hawk and Buchanan County line. The tornado was on the ground for approximately 43 miles. In addition to the main tornado, a satellite tornado was observed by storm chasers and one off duty NWS employee. It was located south of the main tornado and was on the ground for a little over a mile in Grundy County. Initial reports indicated 9 fatalities with 7 in Parkersburg (pop 1889) and 2 in New Hartford (pop 637). There were at least 50 injuries, with 4 of those in critical condition. Two of the fatalities occurred a few days after the tornado from injuries sustained in the tornado. The last fatality occurred on 7 Nov. A 61 year old female sustained injuries in the stairwell of her home when a 2 x 4 was thrown through her right side lung. She was hospitalized and died several months later of complications. Significant structural damage occurred across the southern end of Parkersburg and along a path to just north of New Hartford. Numerous structures completely destroyed from Parkersburg to near New Hartford. The tornado continued eastward to just north of the Waterloo and Cedar Falls area. Significant damage also occurred north of Dunkerton where the tornado increased to its greatest path width. This storm also produced substantial straight line wind damage along the southern periphery of the storm just south of the tornado track. News accounts indicated that a receipt from Parkersburg was found around 1915 CST 3 miles north of Prairie du Chien, WI, 109 miles to the northeast. Receipits were also found in Clayton County at Elkader, and full scrapbook pages and photos were found in far northeast Bremer County at Sumner. Preliminary estimates that straight line winds of 90 to 100 MPH occurred with this storm. At 1637 CST, the Waterloo Airport recorded a 93 MPH wind gust. Survey results suggest that straight line wind damage was the cause of the severe damage at the recreational vehicle dealership north of Cedar Falls. At least 627 homes were damaged, including 288 homes destroyed in Parkersburg, 88 in New Hartford, 15 in Hazelton and another 50 in Black Hawk County. In addition, 58 had major damage, 33 had moderate damage, 2 were inaccessible, and 93 damaged but able to be occupied. There were also 21 businesses destroyed. Governor Chet Culver declared both Butler and Black Hawk disaster areas with both given the State Declaration. A Federal Disaster Declaration occurred two days later for both Butler and Black Hawk Counties. The tornado was rated a low end EF5 by a Quick Response Team (QRT) in portions of Parkersburg and north of New Hartford with peak winds estimated at 205 MPH. For historical reference, the last F5 tornado to hit Iowa was on 13 June 1976 in Boone and Story Counties in the town of Jordan, with a 21 mile path length. The last F4 tornado to hit Iowa was in Union, Madison, and Dallas Counties with a 56 mile path length on 8 April 1999. There was one other smaller tornado during the evening. A tornado touched down in Clarke County and was on the ground for a short time southeast of Osceola. After the initial thunderstorm area developed over north central and northeast Iowa, a large complex developed over southeast Nebraska. The two areas of storms filled in to form a squall line by the mid evening hours. The complex over Nebraska then pushed east and northeast along the squall line. A considerable amount of severe weather was generated during the evening as this occurred. Along the squall line, high winds and hail were common with the dominant mode of severe weather being hail of up to golf ball in size. As the MCS out of Nebraska advanced east, a tail extending south from the centroid took on a bow echo configuration and raced east across Iowa at 65 MPH. Very high winds occurred with this feature with numerous locations reporting winds of 65 to 85 MPH. Some of the higher winds included an 85 MPH wind gust in the Winterset area and numerous reports of 75 to 85 MPH winds from Madison, Dallas, Warren and Polk Counties. Lightning struck a house in Ankeny. The house was set on fire by the strike. | |||||||||||
| 39.2 | 1976-06-13 | 2 | 42°07'N / 93°39'W | 42°08'N / 93°36'W | 1.30 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Story |
| 39.3 | 1984-06-07 | 2 | 43°12'N / 93°49'W | 43°17'N / 93°48'W | 5.00 Miles | 127 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Hancock |
| 39.6 | 1980-05-29 | 2 | 43°11'N / 93°12'W | 0.50 Mile | 30 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Cerro Gordo | |
| 39.6 | 1963-05-09 | 2 | 43°13'N / 93°55'W | 43°17'N / 93°40'W | 13.10 Miles | 400 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Hancock |
| 39.7 | 2004-05-21 | 2 | 42°48'N / 94°26'W | 42°48'N / 94°19'W | 7.50 Miles | 880 Yards | 0 | 15 | 2.5M | 10K | Humboldt |
| Brief Description: Tornado intensified as it approached Bradgate. Seventy five percent of the town was damaged or destroyed by the tornado which was one half mile wide as it moved through. A very unstable airmass was over Iowa and helped kick off the seasons first severe weather outbreak. At the surface a warm frontal boundary extended nearly east to west across the state and provided the focus for thunderstorm development. By the late afternoon, lifted indices were approaching -10 C. with CAPE values around 5000 J/kg over western Iowa. Surface temperatures warmed into the upper 80s with dew points in the low to mid 70s. A southwest surface wind of 15 to 25 kts pushed over the front. Northeast of the frontal boundary winds were easterly around 10 to 15 kts. Actually, the surface boundary was further enhanced by outflow from convective complexes during the day, further sharpening the contrast. Thunderstorms continued to fire along and north of the boundary through the afternoon and into the evening. This resulted in widespread flash flooding as very heavy rains fell on areas that had had significant rainfall the previous night. There were reports in north central into northeast Iowa of 2 to 4 inches of rainfall in a little more than an hours time. Major flooding took place in the Mason City area where evacuations were taking place. The thunderstorms became most intense during the afternoon into the early evening. There were several tornadoes across northeast into north central Iowa. Most were relatively brief touchdowns and were in open areas. Reports of multi-vortex tornadoes were received from Grundy County. The days most significant tornado touched down in Pocahontas County east of Rolfe and tracked into Humboldt County through the Bradgate area. The tornado damaged or destroyed over 75% of the town of Bradgate (pop 120). Tornado damage in Bradgate was very extensive impacting most of the town. Hardly a building was not impacted. Outbuildings, light structures and garages were heavily damaged or destroyed. Two homes were destroyed. Several homes were damaged ranging from minor to extensive. The Survey Team found that the majority of the damage was F1, with a few cases of F2 damage. The F2 damage was to the snapping of very large trees just west of town and the structural damage to two buildings. Nearly all of the 53 homes there reported damage with several totally destroyed. Significant widespread property damage was reported in the tornadoes path. There were several injuries in the town, the most significant being a broken leg. A police officer was reportedly hit by debris from the tornado and suffered a broken leg. According to law officials, the damage path of the tornado was 2 miles wide and about 8 miles long. Storm chasers on the scene reported the tornado itself to be one half mile wide at one point. Reports of hail were numerous through the afternoon and evening. Most of the hail was in the three quarter inch to one inch diameter range. There were a few reports of golf ball size hail from the stronger storms. Winds were not a major problem with the activity. There were spotty reports of winds to around 60 MPH, but most reports were in the 40 to 50 MPH range. One of the stronger wind reports was a 64 MPH wind gust in Tripoli in Bremer County. This gust was measured by a mesonet station there. During the mid evening hours, thunderstorms rumbled across Grundy County. Lightning struck the Sheriff's office there and destroyed a significant amount of office equipment. Damage was reported around $100,000. | |||||||||||
| 39.8 | 1965-09-16 | 2 | 42°07'N / 93°36'W | 0.50 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Story | |
| 40.1 | 1990-08-02 | 2 | 43°16'N / 93°49'W | 43°16'N / 93°39'W | 7.00 Miles | 63 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Winnebago |
| 40.3 | 1999-07-02 | 2 | 42°34'N / 92°53'W | 42°33'N / 92°47'W | 4.50 Miles | 35 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 1K | Butler |
| Brief Description: A very active weather pattern was in place over the central U.S. A strong west-northwest wind flow was in place over the state. Meanwhile a warm front was lifting north from the southern Plains. The warm front separated the cooler and dry air to the north from very humid air to the south. Dew point temperatures in the air to the south of the front were in the mid 70s to low 80s. Precipitable water values were near 2 inches as well. A meso scale convective system formed over north central Nebraska and south central South Dakota during the previous night. The remains of this system drifted into west central Iowa during the predawn hours. One cell became severe during the morning. This was to be the pattern for much of the rest of the day as the cells that formed became super cellular, with each supercell lasting about 2 hours. By the early afternoon hours, surface based CAPE values were approaching 6000 J/kg just to the south of the thunderstorm genesis region. Once the storms formed they became supercells quickly. Very strong sheer was in place with strong southeast surface winds veering to westerly winds in the mid levels. Even though freezing levels were in excess of 15,000 feet, the storms were prolific hail producers. WSR-88D VIL values with many of the supercells exceeded 90 kg/m/m. There was also some high winds with the storms at times as many of the cells were rotating as was seen with WSR-88D imagery. The first high winds occurred early in the severe event as 64 MPH winds blasted into the Dow City area of Crawford County. Winds of 66 MPH were recorded at the Denison Municipal Airport as the storm moved through. Damage was reported in many areas of the county. During the day there were also other spotty reports of wind damage, however most of the were were in the 40 to 50 MPH range. A few other cells did produce severe criteria winds as they moved into the central and northeast counties of the state with wind damage reported in Hardin, Hamilton, and Boone Counties. These storms developed during the period of time the weather system was changing from a supercell type system into more of a multi-cell system. The main severe weather event of the day was the hail. Hail reports of one inch up to golf ball size were too numerous to mention. Some of the hail was larger than tennis balls. Baseball size hail fell in Guthrie County, into Adair and Dallas Counties as one of the cells advanced east-southeast. The largest hail actually fell east of Casey in Guthrie County. Softball size hail fell there, smashing windshields on numerous cars. Needless to say, crop damage was widespread from west central into central Iowa along the paths of the two to three supercells that moved through the area. Scattered crop damage occurred with the multi-cellular storms over central into northeast Iowa as well. An example of the damage caused by the hail came by way of a report from Crawford County. Reports indicated hail damaged 80,000 to 100,000 acres of crops with widespread damage. Roads and ditches sustained between $150,000 and $200,000 in damage. Tree removal in the county was #30,000, with $100,000 damage to homes and businesses in the county. By the early evening, the weather system had made a transition from severe weather to heavy rain. Intense rainfall occurred over northeast Iowa. Flash flooding was widespread over northern Grundy, southern Butler, southern Bremer, and most of Black Hawk Counties. A large swath of 6 to 8 inch rainfall occurred over the Beaver Creek basin, causing flash flooding in the area and an eventual flood of near record proportions. County officials reported the flooding as very serious with countless roads and highways under water. Cars were stranded and thousands of basements were flooded by the onslaught of heavy rain. One report indicated several head of cattle lost as they were drown by the flood waters in Grundy County. No doubt, this was not the only case of livestock loss due to the flooding. Another report from the Dewar area, east of Waterloo, indicated about a block of railroad was washed out. Damage there was reported to 33 houses, a car repair shop, and a tavern. Rainfall was in excess of three inches per hour in many areas. The heaviest rainfall officially was around 9 inches. Some unofficial reports in the Cedar Falls area included up to 9 inches of rainfall in a 90 minute period. The observer at Parkersburg picked up 6.55 inches of rain in under 3 hours. A bucket survey in the area showed rainfall of 11 to 14 inches at a few locations in Butler County. The heavy rain occurred as a series of storms formed and trained over the same areas. The complex of thunderstorms that developed was a back developing complex. Late in the life of the system, one of the storms became severe. This storm displayed a meso circulation on the WSR-88D in Johnston, IA, though it was not all that well formed. The storm was the last in the series of storms and layed down a path of damage. The swath was about 13 miles long, extending across southern Butler and northern Grundy Counties. The damage path looked to be more downburst in nature, though there were reports of a tornado imbedded in the flow pattern. The situation was not all that different from the meso cyclone/tornado system that moved through Boone, Dallas, and Polk Counties about a year earlier on 29 June 1998. The tornado caused damage to several farmsteads along the road. The worst hit was on farmstead where all of the farm buildings were destroyed and only the superstructure of the farmhouse remained. Debris was wrapped up in trees for many miles along the path. One other tornado did occur earlier in the day. The tornado came from one of the supercells over western Iowa. A relatively small tornado touched down in Audubon County west of Hamlin. There was little damage reported with this tornado. | |||||||||||
| 40.4 | 1989-05-30 | 4 | 42°17'N / 93°10'W | 42°14'N / 92°59'W | 9.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 3 | 2.5M | 0 | Hardin |
| 40.6 | 1990-03-13 | 2 | 42°02'N / 94°02'W | 42°18'N / 93°53'W | 16.00 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Boone |
| 41.5 | 1959-05-31 | 2 | 42°03'N / 93°26'W | 42°13'N / 93°11'W | 17.00 Miles | 440 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Story |
| 41.5 | 2005-11-12 | 2 | 42°03'N / 93°38'W | 42°08'N / 93°36'W | 9.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Story |
| Brief Description: Tornado moved from Boone County into Story County. One minor injury occurred on the west side of Ames. A very intense weather system developed over the central U.S. during the day on the 12th. A strong upper level system moved through the area with mid and upper level winds in the 70 to 90 kt range. Low level winds of 35 to 50 kts transported moisture north into the system. High temperatures reached the mid 60s to low 70s, with dew point readings approaching 60 by late afternoon. A surface low developed over northern Kansas during the previous night and lifted northeast into eastern South Dakota during the afternoon of the 12th, then into central Minnesota as a 985 mb low by late evening. The atmosphere became quite unstable with CAPE values reaching 1000 J/kg by late afternoon. The Lifted Index values were in the -5 C. range. Being as it was in November, the freezing level was quite low during the event, in the 10,000 to 11,000 foot range. Though the soundings were quite unidirectional, there was plenty of shear with zero to 6 km shear values around 65 kts. Thunderstorms erupted during the afternoon in west central in to southwest Iowa. The storms became severe quite quickly. Initially the storms produce quarter to golf ball size hail, with 2 1/2 inch diameter hail falling in Dallas County. Hail up to baseball size fell in Greene County as well. The system transitioned into a tornadic system within an hour with several tornadoes touching down in the central sections of the state. At least 9 communities were hit by tornadoes and 65 homes damaged or destroyed. An 82 year old woman was killed in Stratford when the tornado demolished her home. In a 2 or 3 block area of downtown Woodward, at least 12 houses were totally destroyed. There was one minor injury in Ames, two serious injuries in the Woodward area, and three injuries in Stratford. Due to the extensive damage to property caused by the tornadoes, Iowa Governor Vilsack declared Boone, Story, Webster, Dallas and Hamilton Counties disaster areas. A long-lived tornado tracked through several counties across central Iowa during the late afternoon hours of Nov. 12, 2005. The tornado path is estimated at 27.5 miles long and between 100 and 150 yards wide along the damage path. Tornado (1) initially touched down just west of E Avenue (just south of Boxholm in northwest Boone county), one half mile south of Boone County Highway E18 at approximately 4:27 p.m as an F1 tornado. The tornado then tracked northeast across E Avenue, hitting a farm just north of E18, damaging the home and some out buildings. It also flipped over one pickup truck and killed two horses at this location. The tornado continued northeast, spreading debris across F Avenue just north of 125th Street as it maintained F1 intensity. Two additional homes were damaged with outbuildings destroyed as the tornado tracked northeast across G and H Avenues near 105th Avenue. It then intensified to an F2 tornado as it crossed the Boone/Webster county line. Another home was heavily damaged and a large outbuilding destroyed just north of the Boone/Webster county line. The tornado quickly moved northeast, crossing 390th Street and headed toward the Des Moines River, weakening to an F1 tornado. A continuous, but weak damage path was observed crossing the river as the tornado tracked across open farmland and land adjacent the Des Moines River. The tornado has been rated an F1 tornado during this time. After crossing County D64 in Webster county, the tornado struck another farm near 370th Street and Washington Avenue, damaging the residence and destroying a machine shed along with most of its contents. The tornado again intensified to an F2 at this location. The tornado then headed toward Stratford, crossing the Webster and Hamilton county line just west of County Road D54. The tornado entered Stratford at 4:46 p.m. on the west-central end of town, heavily damaging many homes. The tornado crossed the city park and then exited the city near the north-central portion of Stratford. Numerous homes were heavily damaged with one fatality. As the tornado left Stratford, it continued on a northeast track, lifting and dropping to the ground several times as an F0 and F1 tornado. It damaged three additional farms northeast of Stratford with the last damaged farm north of 320th Street and west of County Road R21 in Hamilton County. Tornado (2) touched down one mile west of Minburn in Dallas County according to the aerial survey. The tornado tracked northeast for about eight miles, producing F0-F1 damage before intensifying near Highway 141. The tornado produced F2 damage at a farm one mile southwest of Woodward, and continued to produce F2 damage through the south and east portions of Woodward. The tornado dissipated one mile northeast of Woodward. Severe houses slid off their foundations in Woodward, and a double-wide home was flipped upside down into the street. Total path length was 11 miles. Tornado (3) touched down in open fields one mile northwest of Madrid. It hit a home three miles north of Madrid on Highway 17, producing F1 damage. One other farm site sustained damage as the tornado moved northeast. The tornado dissipated after a six mile track. Tornado (4) started just west of Ames near the Highway 30 and Lincoln Way Split, according to the aerial survey. The tornado produced F1-F2 damage on the northwest fringe of Ames. It weakened as it moved northeast, before intensifying again and produced F2 damage to a farm site just south of Gilbert. F1 damage occurred as the tornado crossed highway 69. The tornado dissipated three miles south of Story City after a 10 mile track. Tornado (5) was a short-lived satellite tornado that was on the ground for 1.6 miles ending at the southwest edge of Story City. The aerial survey showed very minor damage. Tornado (6) developed one mile west of Roland and tracked across the extreme southeast corner of Hamilton county before entering Hardin county. The tornado produced damage up to F1 intensity to rural farm sites in far northern Story county and five miles south of Radcliffe in Hardin county. The KCCI-TV aerial survey indicated the track was nine miles in length. Tornado (7) was a brief touchdown just south of Williams in Hamilton County. No damage was found from this brief tornado and it is not shown here. Tornado (8) was briefly sighted near Blakesburg in Monroe County. The tornado produced minor damage to a farm building but was not surveyed. Tornado (9) touched down briefly north of Steamboat Rock in Hardin County. The tornado caused little damage. Tornado (10) was actually the first tornado of the day. It formed from the same supercell that eventually moved northeast into the Stratford area. The tornado caused little damage as it moved through fields south of the Scranton Area. Tornado (11) was a brief touchdown on the southwest edge of the Ames City limits. This tornado was from the same parent cell as the previous tornado that touched down in Ames, but was distinct. The tornado was weak and lifted lawn chairs and caused some shingle damage. This tornado was ANTICYCLONIC in nature. | |||||||||||
| 42.0 | 1989-05-24 | 4 | 42°13'N / 93°13'W | 42°12'N / 93°00'W | 12.50 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25.0M | 0 | Hardin |
| 42.5 | 1976-06-13 | 3 | 42°05'N / 93°44'W | 42°05'N / 93°42'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Boone | ||
| 42.8 | 1991-03-22 | 2 | 42°16'N / 92°59'W | 42°29'N / 92°47'W | 19.00 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Grundy |
| 42.8 | 1964-08-29 | 2 | 43°18'N / 93°26'W | 2.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Worth | |
| 42.9 | 1991-03-22 | 2 | 42°16'N / 93°00'W | 42°16'N / 92°59'W | 1.00 Mile | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Hardin |
| 43.1 | 1961-09-01 | 4 | 42°47'N / 93°00'W | 42°52'N / 92°33'W | 23.30 Miles | 27 Yards | 0 | 7 | 2.5M | 0 | Butler |
| 43.3 | 1953-05-10 | 4 | 43°10'N / 93°30'W | 43°27'N / 93°23'W | 20.20 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Cerro Gordo |
| 43.5 | 1962-05-07 | 2 | 42°04'N / 93°54'W | 42°07'N / 93°49'W | 4.90 Miles | 880 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Boone |
| 43.6 | 1991-03-22 | 3 | 41°54'N / 93°38'W | 42°14'N / 93°22'W | 27.00 Miles | 70 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Story |
| 43.6 | 1964-05-07 | 2 | 42°06'N / 93°54'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Boone | |||
| 44.0 | 1979-06-28 | 3 | 43°15'N / 94°15'W | 43°01'N / 94°13'W | 15.90 Miles | 300 Yards | 2 | 34 | 25.0M | 0 | Kossuth |
| 44.1 | 1976-06-13 | 2 | 42°02'N / 93°48'W | 42°06'N / 93°45'W | 4.50 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Boone |
| 44.1 | 1953-06-07 | 3 | 42°33'N / 94°42'W | 42°51'N / 94°15'W | 30.70 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Calhoun |
| 44.2 | 1966-06-11 | 2 | 42°05'N / 93°52'W | 2.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Boone | |
| 44.3 | 1989-05-30 | 4 | 42°14'N / 92°59'W | 42°16'N / 92°58'W | 2.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Grundy |
| 44.4 | 1967-06-07 | 2 | 42°03'N / 93°37'W | 1.00 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Story | |
| 44.5 | 1998-06-27 | 2 | 42°35'N / 92°56'W | 42°41'N / 92°32'W | 20.50 Miles | 75 Yards | 0 | 0 | 10K | 2K | Butler |
| Brief Description: Iowa was located in the warm sector of a developing storm system to the west. The warm front had moved to the northern Iowa border during the afternoon of the 27th with dew point temperatures in the mid 70s to around 80 blanketing the state in the warm sector. Initially, the airmass was capped, preventing thunderstorms from forming during the afternoon. Slightly cooler air moved in during the evening hours. In addition to the slightly cooler air moving in aloft, a cold front was poised over eastern Nebraska ready to move east into the state. Thunderstorms erupted rapidly by early evening with hail and high winds reported over northern Iowa. There were numerous reports of hail of an inch or larger in diameter, with a few reports of golf ball size hail. High winds were also a problem with many of the storms producing 60 to 70 MPH wind gusts. Reports of tree and power line damage were widespread. There were a few tornadoes as well. One tracked across open country in Cerro Gordo County before damaging a house south of Clear Lake. Another tornado touched down near Swaledale in Cerro Gordo County and passed southeast of Mason City. Much of the track was over open country, however one house was destroyed near Swaledale by this tornado. The longest track tornado moved across Butler and Bremer Counties. It also passed through open country, causing damage to crops and out buildings. In addition to these, there were a few brief touchdowns reported. Iowa soil remained very saturated with numerous rivers at or near flood stage. Heavy rainfall of near 4 inches in a couple hours time caused flash flooding in Cerro Gordo County. A widespread area of north central into northeast Iowa received heavy rainfall. Many areas picked up two to four inches of rain in a few hour period. This resulted in urban and small stream flooding, and ultimately general river flooding in the days that followed. As the storms moved through Worth County, lightning struck an outbuilding west of Kensett. The building was set on fire and destroyed. | |||||||||||
| 44.5 | 2004-05-21 | 2 | 42°49'N / 94°31'W | 42°49'N / 94°25'W | 5.00 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 5K | Pocahontas |
| Brief Description: Tornado touched down in open areas east of Rolfe. It did some damage but didn't do significant damage before crossing into Humboldt County. A very unstable airmass was over Iowa and helped kick off the seasons first severe weather outbreak. At the surface a warm frontal boundary extended nearly east to west across the state and provided the focus for thunderstorm development. By the late afternoon, lifted indices were approaching -10 C. with CAPE values around 5000 J/kg over western Iowa. Surface temperatures warmed into the upper 80s with dew points in the low to mid 70s. A southwest surface wind of 15 to 25 kts pushed over the front. Northeast of the frontal boundary winds were easterly around 10 to 15 kts. Actually, the surface boundary was further enhanced by outflow from convective complexes during the day, further sharpening the contrast. Thunderstorms continued to fire along and north of the boundary through the afternoon and into the evening. This resulted in widespread flash flooding as very heavy rains fell on areas that had had significant rainfall the previous night. There were reports in north central into northeast Iowa of 2 to 4 inches of rainfall in a little more than an hours time. Major flooding took place in the Mason City area where evacuations were taking place. The thunderstorms became most intense during the afternoon into the early evening. There were several tornadoes across northeast into north central Iowa. Most were relatively brief touchdowns and were in open areas. Reports of multi-vortex tornadoes were received from Grundy County. The days most significant tornado touched down in Pocahontas County east of Rolfe and tracked into Humboldt County through the Bradgate area. The tornado damaged or destroyed over 75% of the town of Bradgate (pop 120). Tornado damage in Bradgate was very extensive impacting most of the town. Hardly a building was not impacted. Outbuildings, light structures and garages were heavily damaged or destroyed. Two homes were destroyed. Several homes were damaged ranging from minor to extensive. The Survey Team found that the majority of the damage was F1, with a few cases of F2 damage. The F2 damage was to the snapping of very large trees just west of town and the structural damage to two buildings. Nearly all of the 53 homes there reported damage with several totally destroyed. Significant widespread property damage was reported in the tornadoes path. There were several injuries in the town, the most significant being a broken leg. A police officer was reportedly hit by debris from the tornado and suffered a broken leg. According to law officials, the damage path of the tornado was 2 miles wide and about 8 miles long. Storm chasers on the scene reported the tornado itself to be one half mile wide at one point. Reports of hail were numerous through the afternoon and evening. Most of the hail was in the three quarter inch to one inch diameter range. There were a few reports of golf ball size hail from the stronger storms. Winds were not a major problem with the activity. There were spotty reports of winds to around 60 MPH, but most reports were in the 40 to 50 MPH range. One of the stronger wind reports was a 64 MPH wind gust in Tripoli in Bremer County. This gust was measured by a mesonet station there. During the mid evening hours, thunderstorms rumbled across Grundy County. Lightning struck the Sheriff's office there and destroyed a significant amount of office equipment. Damage was reported around $100,000. | |||||||||||
| 44.7 | 1984-06-07 | 2 | 43°13'N / 94°04'W | 43°19'N / 93°58'W | 8.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 1 | 2.5M | 0 | Kossuth |
| 44.7 | 1990-03-13 | 3 | 42°01'N / 93°23'W | 42°08'N / 93°18'W | 9.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Story |
| 44.8 | 1970-09-09 | 2 | 42°54'N / 92°48'W | 42°56'N / 92°45'W | 1.90 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Butler |
| 44.9 | 1971-06-06 | 2 | 42°52'N / 92°47'W | 42°54'N / 92°44'W | 1.30 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Greene |
| 45.4 | 1999-07-02 | 2 | 42°34'N / 92°49'W | 42°32'N / 92°39'W | 8.50 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 75K | 3K | Grundy |
| Brief Description: A very active weather pattern was in place over the central U.S. A strong west-northwest wind flow was in place over the state. Meanwhile a warm front was lifting north from the southern Plains. The warm front separated the cooler and dry air to the north from very humid air to the south. Dew point temperatures in the air to the south of the front were in the mid 70s to low 80s. Precipitable water values were near 2 inches as well. A meso scale convective system formed over north central Nebraska and south central South Dakota during the previous night. The remains of this system drifted into west central Iowa during the predawn hours. One cell became severe during the morning. This was to be the pattern for much of the rest of the day as the cells that formed became super cellular, with each supercell lasting about 2 hours. By the early afternoon hours, surface based CAPE values were approaching 6000 J/kg just to the south of the thunderstorm genesis region. Once the storms formed they became supercells quickly. Very strong sheer was in place with strong southeast surface winds veering to westerly winds in the mid levels. Even though freezing levels were in excess of 15,000 feet, the storms were prolific hail producers. WSR-88D VIL values with many of the supercells exceeded 90 kg/m/m. There was also some high winds with the storms at times as many of the cells were rotating as was seen with WSR-88D imagery. The first high winds occurred early in the severe event as 64 MPH winds blasted into the Dow City area of Crawford County. Winds of 66 MPH were recorded at the Denison Municipal Airport as the storm moved through. Damage was reported in many areas of the county. During the day there were also other spotty reports of wind damage, however most of the were were in the 40 to 50 MPH range. A few other cells did produce severe criteria winds as they moved into the central and northeast counties of the state with wind damage reported in Hardin, Hamilton, and Boone Counties. These storms developed during the period of time the weather system was changing from a supercell type system into more of a multi-cell system. The main severe weather event of the day was the hail. Hail reports of one inch up to golf ball size were too numerous to mention. Some of the hail was larger than tennis balls. Baseball size hail fell in Guthrie County, into Adair and Dallas Counties as one of the cells advanced east-southeast. The largest hail actually fell east of Casey in Guthrie County. Softball size hail fell there, smashing windshields on numerous cars. Needless to say, crop damage was widespread from west central into central Iowa along the paths of the two to three supercells that moved through the area. Scattered crop damage occurred with the multi-cellular storms over central into northeast Iowa as well. An example of the damage caused by the hail came by way of a report from Crawford County. Reports indicated hail damaged 80,000 to 100,000 acres of crops with widespread damage. Roads and ditches sustained between $150,000 and $200,000 in damage. Tree removal in the county was #30,000, with $100,000 damage to homes and businesses in the county. By the early evening, the weather system had made a transition from severe weather to heavy rain. Intense rainfall occurred over northeast Iowa. Flash flooding was widespread over northern Grundy, southern Butler, southern Bremer, and most of Black Hawk Counties. A large swath of 6 to 8 inch rainfall occurred over the Beaver Creek basin, causing flash flooding in the area and an eventual flood of near record proportions. County officials reported the flooding as very serious with countless roads and highways under water. Cars were stranded and thousands of basements were flooded by the onslaught of heavy rain. One report indicated several head of cattle lost as they were drown by the flood waters in Grundy County. No doubt, this was not the only case of livestock loss due to the flooding. Another report from the Dewar area, east of Waterloo, indicated about a block of railroad was washed out. Damage there was reported to 33 houses, a car repair shop, and a tavern. Rainfall was in excess of three inches per hour in many areas. The heaviest rainfall officially was around 9 inches. Some unofficial reports in the Cedar Falls area included up to 9 inches of rainfall in a 90 minute period. The observer at Parkersburg picked up 6.55 inches of rain in under 3 hours. A bucket survey in the area showed rainfall of 11 to 14 inches at a few locations in Butler County. The heavy rain occurred as a series of storms formed and trained over the same areas. The complex of thunderstorms that developed was a back developing complex. Late in the life of the system, one of the storms became severe. This storm displayed a meso circulation on the WSR-88D in Johnston, IA, though it was not all that well formed. The storm was the last in the series of storms and layed down a path of damage. The swath was about 13 miles long, extending across southern Butler and northern Grundy Counties. The damage path looked to be more downburst in nature, though there were reports of a tornado imbedded in the flow pattern. The situation was not all that different from the meso cyclone/tornado system that moved through Boone, Dallas, and Polk Counties about a year earlier on 29 June 1998. The tornado caused damage to several farmsteads along the road. The worst hit was on farmstead where all of the farm buildings were destroyed and only the superstructure of the farmhouse remained. Debris was wrapped up in trees for many miles along the path. One other tornado did occur earlier in the day. The tornado came from one of the supercells over western Iowa. A relatively small tornado touched down in Audubon County west of Hamlin. There was little damage reported with this tornado. | |||||||||||
| 45.5 | 1969-06-29 | 2 | 42°04'N / 93°53'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Boone | |||
| 46.2 | 1982-05-17 | 2 | 43°15'N / 93°48'W | 43°27'N / 93°45'W | 11.00 Miles | 80 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Winnebago |
| 46.3 | 1980-07-19 | 2 | 43°01'N / 94°25'W | 43°02'N / 94°23'W | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Kossuth | ||
| 46.3 | 1975-06-04 | 2 | 42°51'N / 92°43'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Butler | |||
| 46.3 | 1953-05-20 | 3 | 42°33'N / 93°03'W | 43°12'N / 92°24'W | 55.60 Miles | 400 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Hardin |
| 46.4 | 1965-05-05 | 4 | 42°18'N / 94°28'W | 42°22'N / 94°17'W | 9.90 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Calhoun |
| 46.9 | 2008-05-25 | 5 | 42°33'N / 92°51'W | 42°34'N / 92°33'W | 16.00 Miles | 1235 Yards | 9 | 50 | 75.0M | 75K | Butler |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: First EF5 tornado in Iowa since 13 June 1976. Nine deaths and 50 injuries occurred in Butler County. Tornado moved out of Butler County and continued in Black Hawk County. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A very intense upper low was located over the southwest U.S. and lifted northeast during the weekend of the 24th into the morning of the 26th. The seasons first strong push of deep moisture moved into Iowa on the 25th with surface temperatures warming into the mid 80s and dew points surging into the upper 60s to low 70s. Precipitable water values were near 1.5 inches. The dry slot pushed north across the area the previous night as the warm front lifted north. The primary surface low was located over northern Minnesota. A cold front extended south from the low into northwest Iowa. The airmass became very unstable by the mid afternoon hours. MUCAPE rose to between 4000 and 5000 J/kg. Lifted indices fell to -8 to -11 C. There was a considerable amount of both DCAPE at 1000-1500 J/kg and cape in the -10 to-30 C. layer of the atmoshpere, between 400 and 600 J/kg. The freezing level was around 13,200 feet. The environment was quite sheared with effective shear in the 40 to 50 kt range. LCL values were between 1000 and 1500 meters. The airmass was initially capped. During the late afternoon hours, a small cluster of thunderstorms formed over north central into northeast Iowa. The storms became severe very quickly. Initially, the storms dropped hail up to golf ball in size. One became a strong super cell and produced a major tornado. This cell, in addition to being tornadic, also produced hail of baseball to softball in size and winds in excess of 90 MPH. The tornado track was from approximately 2 miles south of Aplington to Parkersburg, then continued to New Hartford and across northern Black Hawk County. The average path width ranged from 0.6 to 0.7 miles near Parkersburg to just north of New Hartford. The path constricted to near one quarter mile wide east of New Hartford to north of Waterloo. The width then increased to near 1.2 miles wide north of Dunkerton before dissipating near the Black Hawk and Buchanan County line. The tornado was on the ground for approximately 43 miles. In addition to the main tornado, a satellite tornado was observed by storm chasers and one off duty NWS employee. It was located south of the main tornado and was on the ground for a little over a mile in Grundy County. Initial reports indicated 9 fatalities with 7 in Parkersburg (pop 1889) and 2 in New Hartford (pop 637). There were at least 50 injuries, with 4 of those in critical condition. Two of the fatalities occurred a few days after the tornado from injuries sustained in the tornado. The last fatality occurred on 7 Nov. A 61 year old female sustained injuries in the stairwell of her home when a 2 x 4 was thrown through her right side lung. She was hospitalized and died several months later of complications. Significant structural damage occurred across the southern end of Parkersburg and along a path to just north of New Hartford. Numerous structures completely destroyed from Parkersburg to near New Hartford. The tornado continued eastward to just north of the Waterloo and Cedar Falls area. Significant damage also occurred north of Dunkerton where the tornado increased to its greatest path width. This storm also produced substantial straight line wind damage along the southern periphery of the storm just south of the tornado track. News accounts indicated that a receipt from Parkersburg was found around 1915 CST 3 miles north of Prairie du Chien, WI, 109 miles to the northeast. Receipits were also found in Clayton County at Elkader, and full scrapbook pages and photos were found in far northeast Bremer County at Sumner. Preliminary estimates that straight line winds of 90 to 100 MPH occurred with this storm. At 1637 CST, the Waterloo Airport recorded a 93 MPH wind gust. Survey results suggest that straight line wind damage was the cause of the severe damage at the recreational vehicle dealership north of Cedar Falls. At least 627 homes were damaged, including 288 homes destroyed in Parkersburg, 88 in New Hartford, 15 in Hazelton and another 50 in Black Hawk County. In addition, 58 had major damage, 33 had moderate damage, 2 were inaccessible, and 93 damaged but able to be occupied. There were also 21 businesses destroyed. Governor Chet Culver declared both Butler and Black Hawk disaster areas with both given the State Declaration. A Federal Disaster Declaration occurred two days later for both Butler and Black Hawk Counties. The tornado was rated a low end EF5 by a Quick Response Team (QRT) in portions of Parkersburg and north of New Hartford with peak winds estimated at 205 MPH. For historical reference, the last F5 tornado to hit Iowa was on 13 June 1976 in Boone and Story Counties in the town of Jordan, with a 21 mile path length. The last F4 tornado to hit Iowa was in Union, Madison, and Dallas Counties with a 56 mile path length on 8 April 1999. There was one other smaller tornado during the evening. A tornado touched down in Clarke County and was on the ground for a short time southeast of Osceola. After the initial thunderstorm area developed over north central and northeast Iowa, a large complex developed over southeast Nebraska. The two areas of storms filled in to form a squall line by the mid evening hours. The complex over Nebraska then pushed east and northeast along the squall line. A considerable amount of severe weather was generated during the evening as this occurred. Along the squall line, high winds and hail were common with the dominant mode of severe weather being hail of up to golf ball in size. As the MCS out of Nebraska advanced east, a tail extending south from the centroid took on a bow echo configuration and raced east across Iowa at 65 MPH. Very high winds occurred with this feature with numerous locations reporting winds of 65 to 85 MPH. Some of the higher winds included an 85 MPH wind gust in the Winterset area and numerous reports of 75 to 85 MPH winds from Madison, Dallas, Warren and Polk Counties. Lightning struck a house in Ankeny. The house was set on fire by the strike. | |||||||||||
| 47.1 | 1980-09-20 | 2 | 43°19'N / 93°38'W | 43°26'N / 93°30'W | 10.20 Miles | 60 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Winnebago |
| 47.2 | 2001-05-10 | 2 | 42°15'N / 92°55'W | 42°14'N / 92°54'W | 1.70 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 150K | 0 | Grundy |
| Brief Description: Most in open country. One barn hit and destroyed. A cold front frontal system located to the northwest of Iowa began to sink southeast into the state during the late afternoon of the 10th. This was in fact the same cold front that set off the thunderstorm activity the previous night. The atmosphere had become quite unstable by the late afternoon with temperatures in the 80s and dew point temperature in the low to mid 60s. CAPE values were in the 2000 to 3500 J/kg range. Thunderstorms erupted during the mid afternoon hours over the north central counties of the state. These storms produced hail of one to one and one half inches in diameter. The instability of the atmosphere, combined with a favorable sheer profile, contributed to the rather quick development of tornadic supercells. The first tornado touched down in Greene County. This tornado touched down briefly and did little damage. As the afternoon progressed, the hail became larger with several reports of hail up to golf ball size from central Iowa east into the east central counties. Some of the largest hail occurred southwest of State Center in Marshall County. Baseball size hail pelted the area, causing considerable damage. One supercell produced a family of at least four tornadoes in the Grundy County area. It is very fortunate that the tornadoes from this storm did not hit within a populated area. Two of the tornadoes were fairly large. At one point, the strongest tornado was about one half mile wide based on reports from a respectable storm chaser. This tornado tracked south through eastern Grundy County and crossed into Tama County. One barn was destroyed by the larger tornado, with a house damaged by the second strong tornado. Miraculously, though the first tornado totally destroyed the barn on a farm near Conrad, none of the animals inside were injured. In fact, it was reported that the livestock appeared to be enjoying their newfound freedom as they wandered the fields at the farm. There were reports of several small tornadoes touching down in central Iowa, however they were little more than brief touchdowns. As the event progressed into the early evening hours, the thunderstorms too on a more multi-cellular structure. The large cluster of storms lost their tornadic characteristic and returned to large hail producers. Hail from three quarter inch to one and three quarter inch was common for the next several hours as the entire area moved southeast slowly. By the mid evening hours the storms began to weaken. As they did, a few reports of winds of 60 to 70 MPH were received. In addition to the wind and hail, the storms produced locally heavy rainfall. Flash flooding was also a problem with this event. The cluster of storms that dropped the tornadoes in Grundy County during the late afternoon hours caused flash flooding in the south part of the county. Rainfall near Conrad was between 2.5 and 5 inches in under two hours time. This flooded roads with some of the state roads in the south part of the county under water. The water receded fairly quickly. A merger of cells took place over Monroe County during the mid evening hours. This resulted in very heavy rainfall in the area with reports of up to 4 inches received. Flash flooding resulted with numerous roads being closed by overflowing creeks by the mid to late evening hours. | |||||||||||
| 47.3 | 1967-06-08 | 2 | 42°00'N / 93°36'W | 42°02'N / 93°19'W | 14.40 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Story |
| 47.3 | 1998-05-15 | 2 | 43°01'N / 94°14'W | 43°28'N / 94°06'W | 31.30 Miles | 175 Yards | 0 | 0 | 1.0M | 75K | Kossuth |
| Brief Description: Intermittent track As the system mentioned above continued to evolve, a widespread outbreak of severe weather took place over Iowa. Strong upper level dynamics moved over the state over the top of an unstable air mass. Surface dew point temperatures were in the low 70s with actual temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s. CAPE values rose to between 2500 and 3500 J/kg. The situation became complex during the afternoon as several bands of severe thunderstorms developed. Some areas of the state were affected three times during the day as the storms raced northeast around 60 MPH. The main severe feature with the storms was high wind. There were numerous reports of wind gusts of 60 to 75 MPH. Some were even higher. One of the highest reports came from Atlantic in Cass County. Ninety one MPH winds there threw several cars and a few semi-tractortrailer trucks off of Interstate 80. High winds in Kossuth County at Algona resulted in roof damage at a nursing home there. Part of the roof was removed by the winds with the damage estimates to the building places at around $200,000. Another cluster of storms moved into north central Iowa and caused widespread damage in Cerro Gordo and Worth Counties. Both were hit with winds around 70 MPH. There were numerous other reports of damage to farm buildings around the state ranging from corn cribs damaged to barns being destroyed. Damage to trees and power lines was extensive. North of Algona, along U.S. Highway 169, seventy eight power poles were downed by the high winds resulting in a four day closure of the highway. Utility damage around the county was estimated at between $600,000 and $800,000, while insurance adjusters estimated damage around the county at $1.2 million. There were some reports of hail, especially during the first few hours of the event. The largest hail was around golf ball in size. In addition to the wind and hail, there were several tornado touch downs in the state. A tornado touched down in Kossuth County and did over $1 million in damage. The tornado destroyed 2 houses with another 10 sustaining major damage. Fifteen farmsteads were destroyed as well. Kossuth County was later declared a disaster area. There was also considerable damage to barns and other farm buildings across the county. The outflow from the tornadic storm in Kossuth County pushed an 85 MPH wind gust south into Humboldt County. The high winds blew over 41 railroad cars of the Union Pacific Railroad south of Ottosen. A band of 80 to 90 MPH winds swept across Franklin and Butler Counties. Damage was widespread. There was one report of the wind carrying the family dog over one half mile from home. The dog was later found safe and healthy. Another of the stronger tornadoes included one in Wright County that was on the ground for over 10 miles. It damaged several farm buildings along its path. Several 2 x 4's were driven into the ground north of Clarion by the tornado. Another fairly strong tornado touched down in Crawford County. The rope tornado touched down southeast of Denison. It hit a train about 3 miles east of Denison and derailed nine cars of the Union Pacific freight train. The engineer saw it coming and thought it was so small that nothing would happen. There was also minor damage to 1 house and several out buildings. There were a few other brief touch downs around the state, however no damage was reported with them. The rapid movement of the storms prevented a lot of the flooding that would have otherwise occurred. Repeat thunderstorms passing over Kossuth County did cause some urban flooding. Damage was relatively minor, however several homes reported minor flooding. As the storms moved across Hancock County, lightning struck a house in the town of Britt. The kitchen sink was blown away from the wall and all of the appliances and the electrical equipment in the house was damaged. Lightning struck very close to another house in Wright County in Belmond. A 75-year old woman received minor injuries as she was struck by lightning as she unplugged her TV near a large window. | |||||||||||
| 47.6 | 1976-06-13 | 5 | 41°56'N / 93°52'W | 42°06'N / 93°42'W | 14.00 Miles | 880 Yards | 0 | 9 | 25.0M | 0 | Boone |
| 47.6 | 1979-06-28 | 4 | 42°34'N / 94°35'W | 42°27'N / 94°26'W | 10.80 Miles | 333 Yards | 3 | 26 | 25.0M | 0 | Calhoun |
| 47.8 | 1984-06-07 | 3 | 43°12'N / 94°13'W | 43°19'N / 94°05'W | 9.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 5 | 25.0M | 0 | Kossuth |
| 47.9 | 1984-06-07 | 2 | 43°17'N / 93°48'W | 43°28'N / 93°46'W | 13.00 Miles | 127 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Winnebago |
| 49.0 | 1999-08-09 | 2 | 43°24'N / 93°31'W | 43°24'N / 93°31'W | 3.50 Miles | 40 Yards | 0 | 0 | 50K | 5K | Worth |
| Brief Description: An unstable airmass was in place over Iowa during the afternoon and evening hours of the 9th. Satellite and sounding data suggested the atmosphere was capped at about 775 mb by a warm layer of air with temperatures as high as 18 C. or more. Thunderstorms had a hard time firing off. A cold front moved southeast into the state as rich low level air with dew point temperatures in the mid 70s preceded the front. While the front moved southeast, a speed max near 100 kts in strength moved into the north central U.S. This combined with an upper level short wave helped a few of the storms break the cap. The wind profile was favourable with a strong shearing environment. Thunderstorms moved into north central Iowa and became tornadic quickly. There was basically one cell that produced at least two tornadoes as it slipped southeast into Iowa. The first tornado touched down in Winnebago County near Scarville. The tornado moved southeast across the county and advanced into Worth County by a few miles. The tornado caused crop damage and some building damage along its path. The corner of a bank building was torn off in the town of Joice in Worth County for example. The same cell produced another brief tornado touchdown near Burchinal in Cerro Gordo County near the intersection of I-35 and County Highway B-43. No significant damage was reported with this tornado. As the large cell that produced the tornado moved on, the rear flank downdraft produced high winds once again in the Scarville area. Power lines were downed and a few buildings were damaged by the high winds in the town of Scarville. High winds also struck the airport in Mason City with a wind gust of 58 MPH. | |||||||||||
| 49.3 | 1984-06-07 | 2 | 43°19'N / 93°58'W | 43°27'N / 93°45'W | 13.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Winnebago |
| 49.7 | 1950-06-15 | 3 | 41°59'N / 93°36'W | 41°58'N / 93°29'W | 5.60 Miles | 300 Yards | 0 | 5 | 0K | 0 | Story |
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.