NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Ames, IA
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of Ames, Iowa since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 186 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 14 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 186
- EF3 or stronger
- 14
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
10 deaths in all
What the records show for Ames
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Ames; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 44 mph winds when its centre passed 65 miles away. Ames is tied for the most tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles among the 241 Iowa cities on this site. The strongest of the 186 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on June 13, 1976; its path came within 5 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on September 16, 1978, killed 6 people. Of the 186, 17 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 92 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 46. The most recent tornado was on July 19, 2025. Ames has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 92% of the 241 Iowa cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 224 times since 1960, with stones up to 5.5 inches. Ames has more hail reports within 10 miles than 90% of the 241 Iowa cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Ames
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Ames: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Ames
By decade
- 2020s21
- 2010s31
- 2000s40(1 EF3+)
- 1990s32(3 EF3+)
- 1980s15(2 EF3+)
- 1970s21(5 EF3+)
- 1960s18
- 1950s8(3 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 13, 1976 | F5 | 5 mi | 21.3 mi | 0 / 9 |
| Jun 18, 1974 | F4 | 21 mi | 15.3 mi | 2 / 50 |
| Apr 8, 1999 | F4 | 22 mi | 56 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 24, 1989 | F4 | 13 mi | 66 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 28, 1986 | F4 | 20 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 10, 1959 | F4 | 24 mi | 41.1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 16, 1978 | F3 | 24 mi | 31.8 mi | 6 / 45 |
| Nov 12, 2005 | F3 | 24 mi | 17.6 mi | 1 / 3 |
| May 20, 1953 | F3 | 9 mi | 116.1 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Mar 22, 1991 | F3 | 6 mi | 43 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 13, 1990 | F3 | 13 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 13, 1976 | F3 | 5 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 186, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Ames
The Storm Prediction Center has 224 hail reports within 10 miles of Ames since 1960, made on 88 separate days. Of these, 144 were 1 inch across or larger, and 25 reached 2 inches. The largest, 5.5 inches, fell on May 22, 2004. The most recent report is from June 20, 2025. May has the most reports, 77.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Ames
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Ames Municipal Airport, IA, 3 miles south of Ames at 930 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 29°F and 11°F. May and June are the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.6 inches; the year adds up to 36.1 inches over 62 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 17 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 147 nights a year. That 36.1 inches is more than at 43 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (35%). Nevada, 10 miles east, has its own station (Colo, IA): 36.4 inches a year, 0.3 more than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29 | 11 | 0.6 | 2 |
| Feb | 33 | 15 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Mar | 47 | 27 | 2.0 | 4 |
| Apr | 61 | 38 | 3.9 | 7 |
| May | 72 | 50 | 5.2 | 8 |
| Jun | 81 | 60 | 5.2 | 8 |
| Jul | 84 | 63 | 4.4 | 7 |
| Aug | 82 | 60 | 4.9 | 7 |
| Sep | 76 | 51 | 3.3 | 5 |
| Oct | 63 | 39 | 2.8 | 6 |
| Nov | 47 | 27 | 1.9 | 4 |
| Dec | 34 | 17 | 1.1 | 3 |
| Year | 59 | 38 | 36.1 | 62 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Ames Municipal Airport, IA (930 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Ames
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 421 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Ames: 224 thunderstorm wind reports, 122 heavy rain events, 42 floods, 28 flash floods and 5 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $61.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on July 30, 1999. June has had the most flash floods, 9 of 28. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 192 have had fewer than Ames.
May 22, 2004: lightning strike 10 miles from the centre of Ames — 2 injured.
September 7, 2001: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Ames — 1 injured, $13,000 damage.
June 20, 2005: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Ames — 1 injured, $10,000 damage.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Ames's 2 ZIP codes have filed 199 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $9.2 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 55 claims (28% of all) and $1.8 million, then Flooding in 1990 with 19. The year with the most claims was 2010, with 56. 38% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 91 Iowa cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 74 have fewer than Ames.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 55 | $1.8 million |
| Flooding1990 | 19 | $420,000 |
Story County, which includes Ames, has been named in 22 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 20 of them major disasters (by incident: 13 severe storms, 6 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms and Flooding, on September 1, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Story County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes; Relatively Moderate for hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for inland flooding and lightning; Very Low for hurricanes and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $36.1 million a year, the 10th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $16.4 million (45%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Ames
- Nevada, IA10 mi
- Huxley, IA10 mi
- Story City, IA11 mi
- Boone, IA13 mi
- Madrid, IA13 mi
- Maxwell, IA17 mi
- Polk City, IA18 mi
- Woodward, IA19 mi
- Granger, IA21 mi
- Ogden, IA21 mi
- Ankeny, IA22 mi
- State Center, IA24 mi
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