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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Forest City, IA

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Forest City, Iowa since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 116 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 12 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
116

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
12

12 deaths in all

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Forest City

By decade

  • 2020s11
  • 2010s20(1 EF3+)
  • 2000s10
  • 1990s23(1 EF3+)
  • 1980s22(1 EF3+)
  • 1970s9(1 EF3+)
  • 1960s16(6 EF3+)
  • 1950s5(2 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Forest City, Iowa
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Oct 14, 1966F524 mi9.7 mi6 / 172
Apr 30, 1967F424 mi38.7 mi5 / 35
Jun 17, 2010EF422 mi16.91 mi1 / 14
Apr 30, 1967F425 mi13.3 mi0 / 0
Aug 29, 1964F423 mi15.8 mi0 / 2
May 10, 1953F410 mi26.6 mi0 / 3
Jun 18, 1994F311 mi6 mi0 / 0
Jun 7, 1984F322 mi9 mi0 / 5
May 28, 1974F323 mi3.8 mi0 / 3
Apr 30, 1967F316 mi7.7 mi0 / 0
Apr 30, 1967F323 mi17.2 mi0 / 0
Mar 21, 1953F318 mi31.8 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 116, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

How to read this page

A storm is listed when the centre of its track passed within 75 miles of Forest City while it was at least a tropical storm, which is the reach of damaging wind and rain for a typical hurricane. Being on the list does not mean the city took a direct hit; the "closest" column says how near the centre came. Tornadoes are counted when any part of the path came within 25 miles.

Tornado records before the 1990s are thinner, because weak tornadoes in open country often went unreported before Doppler radar and mobile phones. A rise in the decade counts is mostly better reporting, not a change in the weather.

Tracks come from the National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database, tornadoes from the Storm Prediction Center's database. Both are the official federal records and both are revised as old storms are re-analysed.

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