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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Carroll, 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 Carroll, Iowa since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 108 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
108

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
5

1 deaths in all

What the records show for Carroll

The highest rating among the 108 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on May 27, 1995, came within 2 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on June 9, 1954, killed 1 person. Of the 108, 9 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 51 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 29. The most recent tornado was on April 26, 2024. Of the 241 Iowa cities on this site, 76% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Carroll. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 77 times since 1960, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Of the 241 Iowa cities, 61% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Carroll.

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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Carroll

By decade

  • 2020s19(1 EF3+)
  • 2010s17
  • 2000s15
  • 1990s25(3 EF3+)
  • 1980s6
  • 1970s11
  • 1960s9
  • 1950s6(1 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Carroll, Iowa
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Jun 9, 1954F417 mi9.9 mi1 / 0
May 27, 1995F416 mi30 mi0 / 1
May 27, 1995F42 mi36 mi0 / 0
Jul 14, 2021EF314 mi10.81 mi0 / 0
Apr 26, 1991F318 mi7.7 mi0 / 0
Apr 26, 2024EF220 mi9.26 mi0 / 0
Dec 15, 2021EF220 mi2.74 mi0 / 0
Dec 15, 2021EF221 mi5.83 mi0 / 0
Dec 15, 2021EF220 mi5.49 mi0 / 0
Dec 15, 2021EF222 mi19.67 mi0 / 0
Dec 15, 2021EF213 mi17.6 mi0 / 0
May 16, 1999F224 mi22.5 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 108, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Carroll

The Storm Prediction Center has 77 hail reports within 10 miles of Carroll since 1960, made on 50 separate days. Of these, 38 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on May 7, 2023. The most recent report is from July 15, 2024. May has the most reports, 19.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Radar-estimated hail days in Carroll since 2019 →

Weather by month in Carroll

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Carroll, IA, in Carroll at 1,240 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 28°F and 10°F. June is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 33.9 inches over 63 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 18 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 153 nights a year. That 33.9 inches is more than at 23 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (19%). Audubon, 23 miles south, has its own station (Audubon, IA): 35.0 inches a year, 1.1 more than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 84°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Carroll, IA
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"
Jan28100.92
Feb33141.13
Mar46251.95
Apr60363.47
May71494.59
Jun81605.18
Jul84644.46
Aug82614.17
Sep76523.05
Oct63402.75
Nov46271.43
Dec33161.43
Year593833.963

Averages for 1991–2020 at Carroll, IA (1,240 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.

Iowa weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Carroll

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 155 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Carroll: 114 thunderstorm wind reports, 23 heavy rain events, 10 flash floods, 6 floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $25.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on July 10, 2002. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 81 have had fewer than Carroll.

  • May 29, 2008: lightning strike in Carroll — 1 injured.

  • July 10, 2002: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Carroll — $20.1 million damage.

  • July 10, 2002: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Carroll — $2.5 million 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

Carroll County, which includes Carroll, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 23, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Carroll County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for hail; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and strong wind; Relatively Low for inland flooding; Very Low for hurricanes, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $22.7 million a year, the 18th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.2 million (27%), is from tornadoes.

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 Carroll

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