NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Hawarden, 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 Hawarden, Iowa since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 130 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 6 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 130
- EF3 or stronger
- 6
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Hawarden
The highest rating among the 130 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 6 times; the most recent, on July 5, 1978, came within 12 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on July 14, 1970, killed 1 person. Of the 130, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 52 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 39. The most recent tornado was on July 28, 2025. Hawarden has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 54% of the 241 Iowa cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 108 times since 1959, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Hawarden has more hail reports within 10 miles than 63% of the 241 Iowa cities.
Compare Hawarden's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Hawarden
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s10
- 2000s33
- 1990s27
- 1980s16
- 1970s12(1 EF3+)
- 1960s18(5 EF3+)
- 1950s5
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 1978 | F3 | 12 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 22, 1968 | F3 | 20 mi | 4.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 14, 1967 | F3 | 9 mi | 6.2 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 7, 1965 | F3 | 13 mi | 11.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 7, 1965 | F3 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 8, 1964 | F3 | 22 mi | 9.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 14, 1970 | F2 | 15 mi | 3.8 mi | 1 / 1 |
| May 1, 2008 | EF2 | 13 mi | 12.95 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 12, 1994 | F2 | 19 mi | 17.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 7, 1993 | F2 | 19 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 7, 1993 | F2 | 19 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Aug 7, 1991 | F2 | 22 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 130, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Hawarden
The Storm Prediction Center has 108 hail reports within 10 miles of Hawarden since 1959, made on 73 separate days. Of these, 67 were 1 inch across or larger, and 6 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 3 days, most recently September 5, 1983. The most recent report is from September 21, 2025. June has the most reports, 37.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Hawarden
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Hawarden, IA, in Hawarden at 1,190 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 27°F and 7°F. June is the wettest at 4.4 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 30.0 inches over 57 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 166 nights a year. Snowfall averages 30.6 inches a year, most of it in December. That 30.0 inches is more than at 9 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (7%). Rock Valley, 15 miles northeast, has its own station (Sioux Ctr 2 SE, IA): 30.0 inches a year, the same as here, and the same July average high, 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27 | 7 | 0.7 | 2 | 6.8 |
| Feb | 32 | 11 | 0.8 | 3 | 6.4 |
| Mar | 45 | 23 | 1.7 | 4 | 4.4 |
| Apr | 59 | 34 | 3.2 | 6 | 2.3 |
| May | 71 | 47 | 4.0 | 8 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 81 | 58 | 4.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 85 | 62 | 3.2 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 83 | 59 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 76 | 50 | 3.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 62 | 36 | 2.5 | 5 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 45 | 23 | 1.3 | 3 | 3.1 |
| Dec | 31 | 13 | 1.3 | 3 | 7.3 |
| Year | 58 | 35 | 30.0 | 57 | 30.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Hawarden, IA (1,190 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 Hawarden
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 225 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Hawarden: 156 floods, 63 thunderstorm wind reports and 6 flash floods. They killed 1 person and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $13.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on July 28, 2025. June has had the most flash floods, 4 of 6. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 32 have had fewer than Hawarden.
June 20, 2024: flood 7 miles from the centre of Hawarden — 1 killed, $6.5 million damage.
NWS: “Rainfall amounts across Sioux County from June 20-22 ranged from 2 to 7 inches, with the highest amounts across the northern half of the county. Farther north and upstream, up to 12 inches of rain fell across portions of southeast South Dakota and northwest Iowa.”
June 3, 2010: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Hawarden — 2 injured, $25,000 damage.
June 1, 2019: flood 7 miles from the centre of Hawarden — $2.3 million damage.
NWS: “During crop planting season, prolonged flooding led to the loss of or inability to plant crops across the area. Crop loss estimates provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.”
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
Sioux County, which includes Hawarden, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 severe storms, 5 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes, on June 24, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Sioux County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for hail; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes; Relatively Low for inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $29.8 million a year, the 11th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $11.4 million (38%), 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 Hawarden
- Akron, IA13 mi
- Rock Valley, IA15 mi
- Sioux Center, IA15 mi
- Beresford, SD17 mi
- Hull, IA21 mi
- Orange City, IA21 mi
- Le Mars, IA21 mi
- Canton, SD21 mi
- Elk Point, SD22 mi
- Vermillion, SD28 mi
- Hinton, IA30 mi
- Remsen, IA31 mi
All Iowa cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Hawarden with another place →