NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Harlan, 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 Harlan, Iowa since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 104 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 104
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
3 deaths in all
What the records show for Harlan
The strongest of the 104 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on June 26, 1976; its path came within 15 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on May 16, 1999, killed 2 people. Of the 104, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 48 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 32. The most recent tornado was on June 28, 2024. Of the 241 Iowa cities on this site, 79% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Harlan. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 66 times since 1970, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Of the 241 Iowa cities, 74% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Harlan.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Harlan
By decade
- 2020s23(1 EF3+)
- 2010s8
- 2000s17
- 1990s19(2 EF3+)
- 1980s14
- 1970s12(1 EF3+)
- 1960s7(1 EF3+)
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 26, 1976 | F4 | 15 mi | 5.1 mi | 0 / 6 |
| May 16, 1999 | F3 | 24 mi | 7.5 mi | 2 / 16 |
| Apr 26, 2024 | EF3 | 7 mi | 40.27 mi | 1 / 3 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | F3 | 22 mi | 26 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Apr 20, 1964 | F3 | 21 mi | 6.1 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 26, 2024 | EF2 | 15 mi | 9.26 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 12, 2023 | EF2 | 16 mi | 9.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF2 | 19 mi | 27.11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF2 | 25 mi | 6.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 29, 1998 | F2 | 20 mi | 11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | F2 | 17 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 1983 | F2 | 25 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 104, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Harlan
The Storm Prediction Center has 66 hail reports within 10 miles of Harlan since 1970, made on 47 separate days. Of these, 40 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on June 26, 1993. The most recent report is from June 25, 2024. June has the most reports, 20.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Harlan
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Harlan, IA, 2 miles west of Harlan at 1,270 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 31°F and 10°F. June is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 34.3 inches over 61 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 19 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 148 nights a year. Snowfall averages 30.5 inches a year, most of it in January and February. That 34.3 inches is more than at 26 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (21%). Audubon, 20 miles east, has its own station (Audubon, IA): 35.0 inches a year, 0.7 more than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31 | 10 | 0.9 | 3 | 7.6 |
| Feb | 36 | 14 | 1.0 | 3 | 7.6 |
| Mar | 50 | 25 | 2.1 | 4 | 4.0 |
| Apr | 63 | 36 | 3.3 | 7 | 1.5 |
| May | 74 | 49 | 4.7 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 84 | 60 | 5.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 86 | 64 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 84 | 61 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 79 | 52 | 4.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 65 | 39 | 2.4 | 5 | 0.9 |
| Nov | 49 | 26 | 1.4 | 3 | 2.2 |
| Dec | 36 | 16 | 1.3 | 3 | 6.7 |
| Year | 61 | 38 | 34.3 | 61 | 30.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Harlan, IA (1,270 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 Harlan
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 72 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Harlan: 70 thunderstorm wind reports and 2 flash floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $480,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on May 1, 2018.
May 15, 1998: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Harlan — $120,000 damage.
NWS: “Two sheds destroyed.”
May 15, 1998: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Harlan — $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Large confinement building destroyed.”
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 Harlan's ZIP code 51537 have filed 15 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $258,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 10 claims (67% of all) and $225,000. 73% 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, 12 have fewer than Harlan.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 10 | $225,000 |
Shelby County, which includes Harlan, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 6 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on May 24, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Shelby County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail; Relatively Low for tornadoes and strong wind; Very Low for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $12.6 million a year, the 52nd highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $3.8 million (30%), 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 Harlan
- Audubon, IA20 mi
- Atlantic, IA22 mi
- Manning, IA22 mi
- Dunlap, IA22 mi
- Woodbine, IA23 mi
- Logan, IA25 mi
- Denison, IA26 mi
- Missouri Valley, IA32 mi
- Carroll, IA37 mi
- Council Bluffs, IA38 mi
- Fort Calhoun, NE40 mi
- Carter Lake, IA40 mi
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