Skip to content
Storms That Hit

NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Carter Lake, 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 Carter Lake, Iowa since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 124 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 13 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
124

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
13

9 deaths in all

What the records show for Carter Lake

The highest rating among the 124 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on April 26, 2024, came within 15 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 6, 1975, killed 3 people. Of the 124, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 70 have come since 2000. May and June have had the most tornadoes, 35 each. The most recent tornado was on April 17, 2025. Of the 241 Iowa cities on this site, 52% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Carter Lake. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 351 times since 1956, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Carter Lake has more hail reports within 10 miles than 95% of the 241 Iowa cities.

Compare Carter Lake's storm record with another city →

ShareXFacebookWhatsAppEmail

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Carter Lake

By decade

  • 2020s24(5 EF3+)
  • 2010s23
  • 2000s23
  • 1990s14(2 EF3+)
  • 1980s13(1 EF3+)
  • 1970s14(2 EF3+)
  • 1960s4(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s9(2 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Carter Lake, Iowa
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
May 6, 1975F46 mi8 mi3 / 133
Apr 25, 1957F410 mi89.8 mi1 / 8
Apr 26, 2024EF415 mi31.89 mi0 / 4
Jun 26, 1976F420 mi5.1 mi0 / 6
May 16, 1999F321 mi7.5 mi2 / 16
Apr 26, 2024EF315 mi40.27 mi1 / 3
Apr 17, 2025EF39 mi8.12 mi0 / 0
Apr 26, 2024EF312 mi13.31 mi0 / 0
Apr 26, 2024EF32 mi19.06 mi0 / 0
May 16, 1999F323 mi6.2 mi0 / 0
Jul 15, 1988F33 mi2.8 mi0 / 34
Aug 18, 1968F33 mi21.3 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 124, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Carter Lake

The Storm Prediction Center has 351 hail reports within 10 miles of Carter Lake since 1956, made on 193 separate days. Of these, 248 were 1 inch across or larger, and 37 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on June 25, 2024. The most recent report is from April 24, 2025. June has the most reports, 107.

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

Weather by month in Carter Lake

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Omaha Eppley Airfield, NE, 1 mile northeast of Carter Lake at 982 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 34°F and 15°F. May is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.8 inches; the year adds up to 32.1 inches over 57 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 33 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 134 nights a year. Snowfall averages 27.1 inches a year, most of it in February. That 32.1 inches is more than at 15 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (12%). La Vista, NE, 10 miles southwest, has its own station (Gretna 4NE, NE): 33.3 inches a year, 1.2 more than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 88°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Omaha Eppley Airfield, NE
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow in
Jan34150.827.2
Feb39191.037.8
Mar52301.843.0
Apr64413.261.0
May75534.780.1
Jun84634.470.0
Jul88683.660.0
Aug86664.660.0
Sep79563.050.0
Oct66432.340.5
Nov50301.531.7
Dec38201.235.8
Year634232.15727.1

Averages for 1991–2020 at Omaha Eppley Airfield, NE (982 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 Carter Lake

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 319 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Carter Lake: 223 thunderstorm wind reports, 48 flash floods, 39 floods, 5 lightning strikes and 4 heavy rain events. They killed 3 people and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $32.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 104 mph, on June 16, 2017. August has had the most flash floods, 25 of 48. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 224 have had fewer than Carter Lake.

  • June 27, 2008: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Carter Lake — 2 killed, 1 injured, $13.2 million damage.

  • April 10, 2001: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Carter Lake — 1 killed, 1 injured, $20,000 damage.

  • May 6, 2012: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Carter Lake — 3 injured.

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 Carter Lake's ZIP code 51510 have filed 14 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1993, and were paid $34,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 43% 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, 8 have fewer than Carter Lake.

Pottawattamie County, which includes Carter Lake, has been named in 26 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 23 of them major disasters (by incident: 12 severe storms, 7 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 snowstorms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes, on June 24, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Pottawattamie County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $49.6 million a year, the 6th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $18.3 million (37%), 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 Carter Lake

All Iowa cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Carter Lake with another place →

ShareXFacebookWhatsAppEmail