NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Decorah, 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 Decorah, Iowa since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 64 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 64
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Decorah
The highest rating among the 64 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on July 12, 1971, came within 24 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on June 24, 1971, killed 1 person. Of the 64, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 22 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 14. The most recent tornado was on June 25, 2025. Of the 241 Iowa cities on this site, 98% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Decorah. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 57 times since 1965, with stones up to 3.5 inches. Of the 241 Iowa cities, 83% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Decorah.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Decorah
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s6
- 2000s7
- 1990s13(1 EF3+)
- 1980s6
- 1970s8(2 EF3+)
- 1960s14(2 EF3+)
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 12, 1971 | F4 | 24 mi | 10.9 mi | 0 / 8 |
| May 5, 1965 | F4 | 15 mi | 41.6 mi | 0 / 11 |
| Jun 24, 1971 | F3 | 19 mi | 0.1 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Jul 19, 1994 | F3 | 5 mi | 23 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 1965 | F3 | 16 mi | 65.2 mi | 0 / 7 |
| May 22, 2011 | EF2 | 19 mi | 28.68 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jul 19, 1994 | F2 | 25 mi | 8.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 24, 1988 | F2 | 14 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 29, 1987 | F2 | 6 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 4, 1973 | F2 | 14 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 15, 1968 | F2 | 17 mi | 4.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 30, 1967 | F2 | 15 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 64, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Decorah
The Storm Prediction Center has 57 hail reports within 10 miles of Decorah since 1965, made on 36 separate days. Of these, 31 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.5 inches, fell on August 25, 1965. The most recent report is from July 2, 2025. May has the most reports, 19.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Decorah
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Decorah, IA, 3 miles south of Decorah at 860 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 28°F and 10°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 37.7 inches over 71 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 12 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 153 nights a year. Snowfall averages 37.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 37.7 inches is more than at 80 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (65%). Waukon, 16 miles east, has its own station (Postville, IA): 39.0 inches a year, 1.3 more than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 28 | 10 | 1.0 | 4 | 10.3 |
| Feb | 33 | 14 | 1.1 | 3 | 8.3 |
| Mar | 46 | 26 | 2.1 | 5 | 5.7 |
| Apr | 61 | 37 | 4.0 | 8 | 1.7 |
| May | 73 | 48 | 4.9 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 81 | 59 | 6.1 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 84 | 63 | 4.4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 83 | 61 | 4.4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 76 | 52 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 63 | 40 | 2.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 47 | 28 | 2.1 | 5 | 2.4 |
| Dec | 33 | 17 | 1.3 | 4 | 9.1 |
| Year | 59 | 38 | 37.7 | 71 | 37.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Decorah, IA (860 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 Decorah
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 94 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Decorah: 67 thunderstorm wind reports, 10 flash floods, 9 heavy rain events, 6 floods and 2 lightning strikes. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $4.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on August 5, 2024. August has had the most flash floods, 4 of 10. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 81 have had fewer than Decorah.
August 23, 2016: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Decorah — $3.0 million damage.
NWS: “Flood waters caused homes along Cedar Valley Road, southwest of Freeport, to be evacuated. Widespread flooding occurred in Freeport prompting the need for water rescues to be performed and for local law enforcement to not allow any travel in the area.”
August 19, 2007: flood 9 miles from the centre of Decorah — $152,000 damage.
July 13, 1997: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Decorah — $100,000 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 Decorah's ZIP code 52101 have filed 17 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1993, and were paid $169,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2016, with 14. 6% 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, 16 have fewer than Decorah.
Winneshiek County, which includes Decorah, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 19 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 floods, 9 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 Winneshiek County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail; Relatively Low for tornadoes, 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 $15.2 million a year, the 35th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $8.1 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 Decorah
- Waukon, IA16 mi
- Cresco, IA17 mi
- Postville, IA20 mi
- Caledonia, MN24 mi
- West Union, IA25 mi
- Preston, MN27 mi
- Monona, IA28 mi
- Houston, MN31 mi
- Rushford, MN32 mi
- New Hampton, IA34 mi
- Stoddard, WI37 mi
- Spring Valley, MN38 mi
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