NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Charles City, 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 Charles City, Iowa since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 112 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 6 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 112
- EF3 or stronger
- 6
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
14 deaths in all
What the records show for Charles City
The strongest of the 112 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on May 15, 1968; its path came within 4 miles, and it killed 13 people. Of the 112, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 56 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 31. The most recent tornado was on May 9, 2024. Of the 241 Iowa cities on this site, 70% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Charles City. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 101 times since 1959, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Charles City has more hail reports within 10 miles than 58% of the 241 Iowa cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Charles City
By decade
- 2020s22
- 2010s15
- 2000s19(1 EF3+)
- 1990s19
- 1980s12
- 1970s11(1 EF3+)
- 1960s10(3 EF3+)
- 1950s4(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 1968 | F5 | 4 mi | 62.1 mi | 13 / 462 |
| Jul 12, 1971 | F4 | 15 mi | 10.9 mi | 0 / 8 |
| May 5, 1965 | F4 | 16 mi | 41.6 mi | 0 / 11 |
| Sep 1, 1961 | F4 | 15 mi | 26.6 mi | 0 / 7 |
| May 20, 1953 | F3 | 2 mi | 116.1 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Jun 11, 2004 | F3 | 23 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 2011 | EF2 | 25 mi | 28.68 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Sep 6, 2001 | F2 | 24 mi | 11.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 27, 1998 | F2 | 21 mi | 12.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 19, 1994 | F2 | 17 mi | 8.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 7, 1994 | F2 | 12 mi | 9.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 1993 | F2 | 11 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 2 |
The strongest 12 of 112, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Charles City
The Storm Prediction Center has 101 hail reports within 10 miles of Charles City since 1959, made on 65 separate days. Of these, 69 were 1 inch across or larger, and 9 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on May 17, 1996. The most recent report is from September 16, 2025. May has the most reports, 30.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Charles City
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Charles City, IA, in Charles City at 993 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 25°F and 9°F. June is the wettest at 6.1 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 37.6 inches over 67 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 9 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 154 nights a year. Snowfall averages 37.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 37.6 inches is more than at 78 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (63%). Greene, 14 miles southwest, has its own station (Allison, IA): 35.4 inches a year, 2.2 less than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 25 | 9 | 1.0 | 3 | 9.5 |
| Feb | 30 | 13 | 1.1 | 3 | 9.3 |
| Mar | 43 | 25 | 1.9 | 5 | 5.4 |
| Apr | 58 | 37 | 3.7 | 7 | 2.1 |
| May | 70 | 49 | 5.1 | 9 | 0.3 |
| Jun | 79 | 59 | 6.1 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 62 | 4.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 60 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 51 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 39 | 2.6 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 44 | 26 | 1.7 | 4 | 2.8 |
| Dec | 30 | 15 | 1.4 | 4 | 8.0 |
| Year | 56 | 37 | 37.6 | 67 | 37.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Charles City, IA (993 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 Charles City
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 138 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Charles City: 73 thunderstorm wind reports, 36 floods, 15 heavy rain events, 11 flash floods and 3 lightning strikes. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $12.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 110 mph, on June 18, 1998. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 95 have had fewer than Charles City.
July 22, 2017: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Charles City — $6.0 million damage.
NWS: “Heavy rains of 4 to 8 inches caused flash flooding to occur across the southern sections of Chickasaw County. S.”
June 7, 2008: flood 10 miles from the centre of Charles City — $1.6 million damage.
June 8, 2008: flood 5 miles from the centre of Charles City — $1.6 million damage.
NWS: “m. CDT on June 9.”
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 Charles City's ZIP code 50616 have filed 242 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $3.8 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Storm in 2008: 105 claims (43% of all) and $3.1 million. 49% 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, 76 have fewer than Charles City.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Storm2008 | 105 | $3.1 million |
Floyd County, which includes Charles City, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 18 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 floods, 8 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 Floyd County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and hail; Relatively Low for inland flooding and strong wind; Very Low for hurricanes, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $14.6 million a year, the 38th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $7.7 million (53%), 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 Charles City
- Nashua, IA11 mi
- Greene, IA14 mi
- Osage, IA17 mi
- New Hampton, IA17 mi
- Nora Springs, IA18 mi
- Clarksville, IA20 mi
- Riceville, IA22 mi
- Waverly, IA25 mi
- Shell Rock, IA25 mi
- Saint Ansgar, IA27 mi
- Tripoli, IA27 mi
- Mason City, IA27 mi
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