NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Burlington, 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 Burlington, Iowa since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 93 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 93
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Burlington
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Burlington; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 48 mph winds when its centre passed 68 miles away. Burlington is tied for the most tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles among the 241 Iowa cities on this site. The strongest of the 93 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on May 13, 1995; its path came within 13 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on January 24, 1967, killed 1 person. Of the 93, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 30 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 26. The most recent tornado was on June 3, 2025. Of the 241 Iowa cities, 90% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Burlington. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 123 times since 1956, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Burlington has more hail reports within 10 miles than 72% of the 241 Iowa cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Burlington
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Burlington: 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 Burlington
By decade
- 2020s8
- 2010s15
- 2000s7
- 1990s21(1 EF3+)
- 1980s13
- 1970s13
- 1960s12(2 EF3+)
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 13, 1995 | F4 | 13 mi | 50 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Jan 24, 1967 | F3 | 10 mi | 4.3 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Aug 25, 1965 | F3 | 10 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 16, 2024 | EF2 | 15 mi | 41.66 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 31, 2023 | EF2 | 13 mi | 0.95 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 15, 2019 | EF2 | 17 mi | 1.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 15, 2019 | EF2 | 17 mi | 1.82 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 16, 2015 | EF2 | 22 mi | 1.72 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 10, 2003 | F2 | 23 mi | 69.2 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 10, 2003 | F2 | 20 mi | 11.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 4, 1977 | F2 | 25 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 4, 1977 | F2 | 10 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 93, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Burlington
The Storm Prediction Center has 123 hail reports within 10 miles of Burlington since 1956, made on 70 separate days. Of these, 77 were 1 inch across or larger, and 7 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on May 8, 2003. The most recent report is from August 15, 2024. May has the most reports, 35.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Burlington
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Burlington Municipal Airport, IA, 2 miles south of Burlington at 692 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 32°F and 16°F. May and June are the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.5 inches; the year adds up to 37.9 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 118 nights a year. That 37.9 inches is more than at 84 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (68%). Mediapolis, 13 miles north, has its own station (Gladstone Dam 18, IL): 37.3 inches a year, 0.6 less than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 32 | 16 | 1.5 | 4 |
| Feb | 37 | 21 | 1.7 | 4 |
| Mar | 50 | 31 | 2.4 | 5 |
| Apr | 63 | 42 | 3.9 | 7 |
| May | 73 | 53 | 4.9 | 8 |
| Jun | 82 | 63 | 4.9 | 7 |
| Jul | 85 | 66 | 4.0 | 6 |
| Aug | 84 | 64 | 3.8 | 6 |
| Sep | 78 | 56 | 3.5 | 5 |
| Oct | 65 | 44 | 3.1 | 5 |
| Nov | 50 | 32 | 2.3 | 5 |
| Dec | 37 | 22 | 1.9 | 4 |
| Year | 61 | 42 | 37.9 | 67 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Burlington Municipal Airport, IA (692 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 Burlington
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 254 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Burlington: 174 thunderstorm wind reports, 50 floods, 24 flash floods, 5 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $8.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on April 20, 2025. June has had the most flash floods, 7 of 24. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 182 have had fewer than Burlington.
June 18, 2010: lightning strike 2 miles from the centre of Burlington — 2 injured, $25,000 damage.
NWS: “Lightning struck a light pole near the main stage of Burlington Steamboat Days, blowing a chunk of concrete from the base of the pole and damaging sound equipment. A nearby man was injured by the lightning and another witness was treated for hyperventilation.”
July 8, 2003: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Burlington — 1 injured, $220,000 damage.
NWS: “Trees down & semi overturned”
June 17, 2010: lightning strike in Burlington — 1 injured.
NWS: “Lightning struck a man in Burlington, IA around 1200 am June 18. The victim sustained minor injuries.”
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 Burlington's ZIP code 52601 have filed 324 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $7.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2008, with 72. 7% 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, 80 have fewer than Burlington.
Des Moines County, which includes Burlington, has been named in 27 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 25 of them major disasters (by incident: 13 floods, 10 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes, on June 24, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Des Moines County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for inland flooding; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $19.5 million a year, the 22nd highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $8.3 million (43%), 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 Burlington
- West Burlington, IA3 mi
- Mediapolis, IA13 mi
- New London, IA16 mi
- Fort Madison, IA17 mi
- West Point, IA20 mi
- Wapello, IA25 mi
- Donnellson, IA26 mi
- Monmouth, IL26 mi
- Mt Pleasant, IA26 mi
- Carthage, IL28 mi
- Hamilton, IL31 mi
- Keokuk, IA32 mi
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