NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Clear 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 Clear Lake, Iowa since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 124 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 124
- EF3 or stronger
- 10
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
6 deaths in all
What the records show for Clear Lake
The strongest of the 124 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on October 14, 1966; its path came within 17 miles, and it killed 6 people. Of the 124, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 53 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 41. The most recent tornado was on August 17, 2025. Of the 241 Iowa cities on this site, 52% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Clear Lake. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 126 times since 1959, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Clear Lake has more hail reports within 10 miles than 73% of the 241 Iowa cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Clear Lake
By decade
- 2020s21
- 2010s14(1 EF3+)
- 2000s18
- 1990s27(1 EF3+)
- 1980s15
- 1970s10(2 EF3+)
- 1960s14(5 EF3+)
- 1950s5(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 14, 1966 | F5 | 17 mi | 9.7 mi | 6 / 172 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F4 | 24 mi | 7.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F4 | 16 mi | 13.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 10, 1953 | F4 | 5 mi | 26.6 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 12, 2013 | EF3 | 23 mi | 6.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 18, 1994 | F3 | 12 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 28, 1974 | F3 | 16 mi | 3.8 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jul 12, 1971 | F3 | 22 mi | 15.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F3 | 16 mi | 17.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F3 | in town | 7.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF2 | 11 mi | 16.69 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 12, 2013 | EF2 | 22 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 124, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Clear Lake
The Storm Prediction Center has 126 hail reports within 10 miles of Clear Lake since 1959, made on 74 separate days. Of these, 77 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on June 18, 1974. The most recent report is from June 20, 2025. May has the most reports, 33.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Clear Lake
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Mason City Municipal Airport, IA, 3 miles east of Clear Lake at 1,225 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 24°F and 7°F. June is the wettest at 5.4 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 36.4 inches over 66 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 11 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 161 nights a year. Snowfall averages 44.4 inches a year, most of it in January. That 36.4 inches is more than at 54 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (44%). Mason City, 9 miles east, has its own station (Mason City, IA): 36.4 inches a year, the same as here, and a July average high of 82°F against 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 24 | 7 | 0.9 | 3 | 11.3 |
| Feb | 29 | 11 | 1.2 | 3 | 10.0 |
| Mar | 42 | 24 | 2.3 | 5 | 7.0 |
| Apr | 58 | 35 | 4.2 | 8 | 3.0 |
| May | 70 | 47 | 5.2 | 9 | 0.3 |
| Jun | 80 | 57 | 5.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 83 | 61 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 58 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 74 | 49 | 3.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 37 | 2.5 | 5 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 44 | 24 | 1.7 | 4 | 3.0 |
| Dec | 30 | 14 | 1.3 | 3 | 9.4 |
| Year | 56 | 35 | 36.4 | 66 | 44.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Mason City Municipal Airport, IA (1,225 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 Clear Lake
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 216 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Clear Lake: 126 thunderstorm wind reports, 57 heavy rain events, 17 flash floods, 12 floods and 4 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 9, and the NWS estimated $25.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 83 mph, on December 15, 2021. June has had the most flash floods, 7 of 17. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 155 have had fewer than Clear Lake.
June 15, 1997: thunderstorm wind in Clear Lake — 4 injured, $40,000 damage.
August 15, 2007: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Clear Lake — 2 injured, $60,000 damage.
NWS: “Two semis were blown over between mile markers 185 and 186 on interstate 35.”
August 4, 1996: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Clear Lake — 1 injured, $25,000 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Clear Lake's ZIP code 50428 have filed 10 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $161,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 30% 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, 0 have fewer than Clear Lake.
Cerro Gordo County, which includes Clear Lake, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 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 Cerro Gordo County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail 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 $27.4 million a year, the 12th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $12.1 million (44%), 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 Clear Lake
- Mason City, IA9 mi
- Garner, IA12 mi
- Forest City, IA16 mi
- Nora Springs, IA19 mi
- Lake Mills, IA21 mi
- Britt, IA21 mi
- Northwood, IA22 mi
- Belmond, IA24 mi
- Hampton, IA29 mi
- Saint Ansgar, IA29 mi
- Osage, IA30 mi
- Clarion, IA33 mi
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