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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Denison, 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 Denison, Iowa since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 96 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
96

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
7

1 deaths in all

What the records show for Denison

The strongest of the 96 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on May 27, 1995; its path came within 24 miles. The deadliest, an EF3 on April 26, 2024, killed 1 person. Of the 96, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 42 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 23. The most recent tornado was on May 24, 2024. Of the 241 Iowa cities on this site, 89% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Denison. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 75 times since 1956, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 241 Iowa cities, 63% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Denison.

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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Denison

By decade

  • 2020s13(1 EF3+)
  • 2010s17(2 EF3+)
  • 2000s12
  • 1990s22(3 EF3+)
  • 1980s11
  • 1970s8
  • 1960s6(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s7
Strongest tornadoes near Denison, Iowa
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
May 27, 1995F424 mi36 mi0 / 0
Apr 26, 2024EF311 mi40.27 mi1 / 3
Apr 9, 2011EF323 mi10.14 mi0 / 0
Apr 9, 2011EF325 mi3.38 mi0 / 14
Jun 16, 1992F38 mi26 mi0 / 3
Apr 26, 1991F3in town7.7 mi0 / 0
Jul 26, 1969F34 mi22.5 mi0 / 0
Apr 26, 2024EF26 mi9.26 mi0 / 0
Dec 15, 2021EF219 mi17.6 mi0 / 0
Apr 9, 2011EF221 mi4.13 mi0 / 0
May 16, 1999F27 mi22.5 mi0 / 0
Jun 29, 1998F26 mi11 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 96, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Denison

The Storm Prediction Center has 75 hail reports within 10 miles of Denison since 1956, made on 48 separate days. Of these, 46 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on July 8, 1993. The most recent report is from July 15, 2024. May has the most reports, 25.

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

Weather by month in Denison

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Denison, IA, 2 miles northeast of Denison at 1,401 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 27°F and 10°F. June is the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 33.6 inches over 61 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 14 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 149 nights a year. Snowfall averages 34.5 inches a year, most of it in February. That 33.6 inches is more than at 20 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (16%). Manning, 16 miles southeast, has its own station (Carroll, IA): 33.9 inches a year, 0.3 more than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 83°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Denison, IA
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow in
Jan27100.738.1
Feb32141.039.2
Mar45251.944.7
Apr58363.461.6
May70494.680.1
Jun80594.980.0
Jul83634.160.0
Aug81614.460.0
Sep75523.350.0
Oct62392.650.5
Nov46261.532.4
Dec32161.237.9
Year583733.66134.5

Averages for 1991–2020 at Denison, IA (1,401 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 Denison

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 132 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Denison: 88 thunderstorm wind reports, 29 heavy rain events, 9 flash floods, 4 floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $4.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 87 mph, on May 26, 2016. July has had the most flash floods, 4 of 9. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 66 have had fewer than Denison.

  • August 31, 2014: lightning strike 3 miles from the centre of Denison — 1 injured.

    NWS: “One person was injured at the airport by lightning.”

  • July 10, 2002: thunderstorm wind in Denison — $2.5 million damage.

  • May 16, 2013: flash flood in Denison — $300,000 damage.

    NWS: “Crawford County law enforcement reported water running four feet deep over Highway 30 in Denison with cars stalled and debris being swept into the river. Highway 30 also was partly under water near Dow City and there was a possible mudslide on Kenwood Road south of Charter Oak.”

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 Denison's ZIP code 51442 have filed 82 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1990, and were paid $1.7 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 10 claims (12% of all) and $257,000. The year with the most claims was 1996, with 48. 23% 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, 63 have fewer than Denison.

Flood insurance claims in Denison by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Midwest Flooding199310$257,000

Crawford County, which includes Denison, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 20 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 severe storms, 8 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on May 21, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Crawford 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 and lightning; Very Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $23.6 million a year, the 16th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $8.6 million (36%), 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 Denison

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