NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Bedford, 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
No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Bedford, Iowa since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 115 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 16 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 115
- EF3 or stronger
- 16
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
8 deaths in all
What the records show for Bedford
The highest rating among the 115 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 5 times; the most recent, on May 21, 2024, came within 19 miles. Of the 115, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 49 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 34. The most recent tornado was on July 11, 2025. Of the 241 Iowa cities on this site, 64% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Bedford. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 111 times since 1959, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Bedford has more hail reports within 10 miles than 64% of the 241 Iowa cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Bedford
By decade
- 2020s14(1 EF3+)
- 2010s18
- 2000s17(1 EF3+)
- 1990s17(1 EF3+)
- 1980s11(2 EF3+)
- 1970s10(4 EF3+)
- 1960s15(2 EF3+)
- 1950s13(5 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 2024 | EF4 | 19 mi | 40.65 mi | 5 / 35 |
| Apr 12, 1964 | F4 | 23 mi | 13.1 mi | 1 / 28 |
| Apr 8, 1999 | F4 | 16 mi | 49 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 24, 1989 | F4 | 19 mi | 49 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 29, 1979 | F4 | 11 mi | 18.8 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Oct 8, 1958 | F3 | 18 mi | 23.1 mi | 2 / 7 |
| Apr 11, 2001 | F3 | 24 mi | 76.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 7, 1984 | F3 | 15 mi | 25 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Mar 29, 1979 | F3 | 19 mi | 57 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Mar 29, 1979 | F3 | 5 mi | 29.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 5, 1971 | F3 | 7 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 12 |
| Jun 19, 1964 | F3 | 14 mi | 10.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 115, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Bedford
The Storm Prediction Center has 111 hail reports within 10 miles of Bedford since 1959, made on 60 separate days. Of these, 80 were 1 inch across or larger, and 6 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently June 28, 2017. The most recent report is from April 4, 2023. June has the most reports, 31.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Bedford
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Bedford, IA, in Bedford at 1,190 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 32°F and 12°F. June is the wettest at 5.5 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.1 inches; the year adds up to 38.4 inches over 67 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 23 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 137 nights a year. That 38.4 inches is more than at 97 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (78%). Clarinda, 18 miles west, has its own station (Clarinda, IA): 36.8 inches a year, 1.6 less than here, and the same July average high, 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 32 | 12 | 1.1 | 3 |
| Feb | 37 | 16 | 1.5 | 4 |
| Mar | 50 | 28 | 2.4 | 5 |
| Apr | 62 | 38 | 3.6 | 8 |
| May | 72 | 51 | 5.3 | 9 |
| Jun | 82 | 61 | 5.5 | 8 |
| Jul | 86 | 65 | 4.6 | 7 |
| Aug | 84 | 63 | 4.3 | 6 |
| Sep | 77 | 54 | 3.4 | 5 |
| Oct | 65 | 41 | 3.0 | 5 |
| Nov | 49 | 29 | 2.1 | 4 |
| Dec | 37 | 18 | 1.6 | 4 |
| Year | 61 | 40 | 38.4 | 67 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Bedford, IA (1,190 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 Bedford
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 110 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Bedford: 59 thunderstorm wind reports, 34 heavy rain events, 11 flash floods and 6 floods. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $1.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on June 22, 2010. June has had the most flash floods, 5 of 11. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 95 have had fewer than Bedford.
May 22, 2004: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Bedford — 2 injured, $50,000 damage.
June 16, 2017: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Bedford — 1 injured, $40,000 damage.
NWS: “Three unsecured camper trailers were blown from their camp site into the lake. One minor injury reported.”
August 18, 2011: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Bedford — $250,000 damage.
NWS: “Tree limbs up to 12 inches in diameter and power lines were down along a line from Bedford to Gravity. Extensive tree damage along Highway 2 around Bedford and a roof was blown off of a business in Bedford.”
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
Taylor County, which includes Bedford, has been named in 14 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1979, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 2 ice storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 23, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Taylor County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Very Low for hurricanes, inland flooding and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $9.9 million a year, the 77th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.1 million (21%), 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 Bedford
- Clarinda, IA18 mi
- Lenox, IA19 mi
- Corning, IA23 mi
- Maryville, MO24 mi
- Mount Ayr, IA26 mi
- Stanberry, MO32 mi
- Creston, IA32 mi
- Shenandoah, IA35 mi
- Albany, MO35 mi
- Red Oak, IA35 mi
- Lamoni, IA40 mi
- Bethany, MO45 mi
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