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Storms That Hit

NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Fort Dodge, 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 Fort Dodge, Iowa since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 163 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
163

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
8

5 deaths in all

What the records show for Fort Dodge

The highest rating among the 163 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 5 times; the most recent, on June 28, 1979, came within 13 miles. Of the 163, 13 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 89 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 52. The most recent tornado was on June 4, 2024. Fort Dodge has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 82% of the 241 Iowa cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 143 times since 1961, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Fort Dodge has more hail reports within 10 miles than 78% of the 241 Iowa cities.

Compare Fort Dodge's storm record with another city →

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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Fort Dodge

By decade

  • 2020s34
  • 2010s24
  • 2000s31(1 EF3+)
  • 1990s26
  • 1980s16
  • 1970s13(3 EF3+)
  • 1960s13(2 EF3+)
  • 1950s6(2 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Fort Dodge, Iowa
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Jun 28, 1979F413 mi14.9 mi3 / 26
Jun 9, 1954F421 mi9.9 mi1 / 0
May 4, 1977F43 mi2 mi0 / 14
Jun 8, 1967F41 mi2 mi0 / 0
May 5, 1965F410 mi9.9 mi0 / 0
Nov 12, 2005F318 mi17.6 mi1 / 3
Sep 21, 1973F33 mi2.3 mi0 / 0
Jun 7, 1953F320 mi30.7 mi0 / 0
Apr 12, 2022EF222 mi4.85 mi0 / 0
Apr 12, 2022EF221 mi7.17 mi0 / 1
Dec 15, 2021EF28 mi5.55 mi0 / 0
Dec 15, 2021EF220 mi12.1 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 163, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Fort Dodge

The Storm Prediction Center has 143 hail reports within 10 miles of Fort Dodge since 1961, made on 70 separate days. Of these, 101 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on July 26, 1969. The most recent report is from September 22, 2025. June has the most reports, 57.

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

Radar-estimated hail days in Fort Dodge since 2019 →

Weather by month in Fort Dodge

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Fort Dodge 5NNW, IA, 6 miles north of Fort Dodge at 1,115 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 26°F and 7°F. June is the wettest at 5.5 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 35.3 inches over 68 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 157 nights a year. Snowfall averages 39.0 inches a year, most of it in February. That 35.3 inches is more than at 36 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (29%). Eagle Grove, 18 miles northeast, has its own station (Clarion, IA): 34.2 inches a year, 1.1 less than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 83°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Fort Dodge 5NNW, IA
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow in
Jan2671.038.6
Feb31121.2411.8
Mar44242.045.6
Apr59353.771.5
May70484.6100.4
Jun80585.590.0
Jul83624.260.0
Aug80604.370.0
Sep74512.860.0
Oct61382.650.4
Nov45251.932.8
Dec31141.537.9
Year573635.36839.0

Averages for 1991–2020 at Fort Dodge 5NNW, IA (1,115 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 Fort Dodge

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 261 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Fort Dodge: 101 thunderstorm wind reports, 76 heavy rain events, 42 flash floods, 40 floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $12.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on June 20, 1997. June has had the most flash floods, 14 of 42. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 214 have had fewer than Fort Dodge.

  • June 20, 1997: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Fort Dodge — 2 injured, $110,000 damage.

  • June 26, 2010: flood 3 miles from the centre of Fort Dodge — $2.3 million damage.

  • June 8, 2008: flood 3 miles from the centre of Fort Dodge — $1.0 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 Fort Dodge's ZIP code 50501 have filed 81 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $2.5 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2010, with 18. 7% 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, 62 have fewer than Fort Dodge.

Webster County, which includes Fort Dodge, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 7 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes, on February 23, 2022. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Webster County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes; Relatively Moderate for hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for inland flooding and lightning; Very Low for hurricanes and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $24.7 million a year, the 14th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $9.9 million (40%), is from tornadoes.

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 Fort Dodge

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