NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Creston, 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 Creston, Iowa since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 127 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 14 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 127
- EF3 or stronger
- 14
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
11 deaths in all
What the records show for Creston
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Creston; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 39 mph winds when its centre passed 31 miles away. Creston is tied for the most tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles among the 241 Iowa cities on this site. The highest rating among the 127 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 6 times; the most recent, on May 21, 2024, came within 13 miles. The deadliest, an EF4 on March 5, 2022, killed 6 people. Of the 127, 24 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 69 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 30. The most recent tornado was on April 17, 2025. Creston has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 51% of the 241 Iowa cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 118 times since 1970, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Creston has more hail reports within 10 miles than 68% of the 241 Iowa cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Creston
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Creston: 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 Creston
By decade
- 2020s19(3 EF3+)
- 2010s32
- 2000s18(1 EF3+)
- 1990s13(4 EF3+)
- 1980s16(2 EF3+)
- 1970s11(2 EF3+)
- 1960s13
- 1950s5(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 2022 | EF4 | 15 mi | 70.57 mi | 6 / 5 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF4 | 13 mi | 40.65 mi | 5 / 35 |
| Apr 8, 1999 | F4 | 4 mi | 56 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 8, 1999 | F4 | 17 mi | 49 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 27, 1995 | F4 | 2 mi | 57 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 24, 1989 | F4 | 14 mi | 49 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF3 | 17 mi | 33.86 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 11, 2001 | F3 | 17 mi | 76.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 14, 1994 | F3 | 20 mi | 14 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 7, 1984 | F3 | 19 mi | 25 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Mar 29, 1979 | F3 | 14 mi | 57 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Mar 29, 1979 | F3 | 15 mi | 29.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 127, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Creston
The Storm Prediction Center has 118 hail reports within 10 miles of Creston since 1970, made on 63 separate days. Of these, 87 were 1 inch across or larger, and 9 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on April 29, 1970. The most recent report is from September 16, 2025. June has the most reports, 37.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Creston
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Greenfield, IA, 16 miles north of Creston at 1,316 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 30°F and 11°F. May is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 36.8 inches over 64 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 19 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 138 nights a year. Snowfall averages 25.5 inches a year, most of it in February. That 36.8 inches is more than at 63 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (51%). Lenox, 13 miles southwest, has its own station (Corning, IA): 35.3 inches a year, 1.5 less than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 30 | 11 | 0.9 | 3 | 6.8 |
| Feb | 35 | 15 | 1.3 | 3 | 7.3 |
| Mar | 48 | 27 | 2.0 | 5 | 3.0 |
| Apr | 61 | 38 | 3.8 | 8 | 0.8 |
| May | 71 | 50 | 5.3 | 9 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 80 | 60 | 4.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 84 | 64 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 83 | 62 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 76 | 53 | 3.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 64 | 41 | 2.9 | 5 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 48 | 28 | 2.0 | 4 | 1.7 |
| Dec | 34 | 17 | 1.5 | 3 | 5.4 |
| Year | 59 | 39 | 36.8 | 64 | 25.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Greenfield, IA (1,316 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 Creston
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 169 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Creston: 105 thunderstorm wind reports, 35 heavy rain events, 23 flash floods, 3 floods and 3 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $23.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on June 21, 1997. June has had the most flash floods, 12 of 23. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 180 have had fewer than Creston.
May 21, 1998: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Creston — 1 injured, $11,000 damage.
June 12, 2004: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Creston — 1 injured, $2,000 damage.
NWS: “A tree was blown over and injured one person. He received a punctured lung and head injuries.”
June 12, 2010: flood 9 miles from the centre of Creston — $20.0 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Creston's ZIP code 50801 have filed 14 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1981, and were paid $134,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 21% 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 Creston.
Union County, which includes Creston, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 18 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 severe storms, 6 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 ice storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms and Tornadoes, on May 14, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Union County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes; Very Low for hurricanes, inland flooding and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $12.5 million a year, the 54th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.8 million (22%), 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 Creston
- Lenox, IA13 mi
- Greenfield, IA17 mi
- Corning, IA20 mi
- Winterset, IA26 mi
- Mount Ayr, IA27 mi
- Stuart, IA30 mi
- Earlham, IA31 mi
- Osceola, IA32 mi
- Bedford, IA32 mi
- Saint Charles, IA35 mi
- Van Meter, IA37 mi
- Lamoni, IA38 mi
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