NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Hudson, 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 October 26, 2026

1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of Hudson, Iowa since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 130 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes: 0
Tropical storms: 1
Tornadoes: 130
EF3 or stronger: 10

What the records show for Hudson

None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Hudson; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 47 mph winds when its centre passed 58 miles away. Hudson is tied for the most tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles among the 241 Iowa cities on this site. The strongest of the 130 tornadoes within 25 miles was an EF5 on May 25, 2008; its path came within 15 miles, and it killed 9 people. Of the 130, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 68 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 37. The most recent tornado was on August 18, 2025. Hudson has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 54% of the 241 Iowa cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 130 times since 1960, with stones up to 4.25 inches. Hudson has more hail reports within 10 miles than 75% of the 241 Iowa cities.

Compare Hudson's storm record with another city →

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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Hudson

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Hudson, Iowa, newest first
Year	Storm	Closest	Strength when closest	Peak
1900	Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11	58 mi	Tropical storm (47 mph)	Category 4

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Hudson: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Hudson

By decade

2020s14
2010s14
2000s40(2 EF3+)
1990s13
1980s11(1 EF3+)
1970s22(3 EF3+)
1960s13(4 EF3+)
1950s3

Strongest tornadoes near Hudson, Iowa
Date	Rating	Distance	Path	Killed / injured
May 25, 2008	EF5	15 mi	40.97 mi	9 / 70
Aug 26, 1965	F4	15 mi	4.7 mi	1 / 17
May 24, 1989	F4	15 mi	66 mi	0 / 0
May 11, 2000	F3	10 mi	18.6 mi	1 / 25
Apr 23, 1961	F3	20 mi	87.7 mi	1 / 12
Apr 16, 1960	F3	in town	29.8 mi	1 / 5
May 4, 1977	F3	12 mi	17.8 mi	0 / 0
Nov 9, 1975	F3	6 mi	39.4 mi	0 / 0
May 31, 1971	F3	19 mi	9.4 mi	0 / 0
Apr 19, 1966	F3	24 mi	27.1 mi	0 / 4
Mar 31, 2023	EF2	24 mi	1.7 mi	0 / 0
Jul 14, 2021	EF2	22 mi	12.88 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 Hudson

The Storm Prediction Center has 130 hail reports within 10 miles of Hudson since 1960, made on 58 separate days. Of these, 91 were 1 inch across or larger, and 16 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.25 inches, fell on July 16, 2007. The most recent report is from September 22, 2025. April has the most reports, 35.

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

Weather by month in Hudson

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Waterloo Municipal Airport, IA, 13 miles north of Hudson at 868 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 28°F and 11°F. June is the wettest at 5.7 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 1.1 inches; the year adds up to 36.2 inches over 65 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 15 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 150 nights a year. Snowfall averages 39.1 inches a year, most of it in January. That 36.2 inches is more than at 47 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (38%). Reinbeck, 8 miles southwest, has its own station (Grundy Ctr, IA): 36.9 inches a year, 0.7 more than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 85°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Waterloo Municipal Airport, IA
Month	High °F	Low °F	Precip. in	Days ≥ 0.1"	Snow in
Jan	28	11	1.1	3	10.1
Feb	33	15	1.1	4	9.3
Mar	47	27	2.0	5	4.6
Apr	61	38	4.0	7	1.7
May	73	50	4.6	8	0.1
Jun	82	61	5.7	8	0.0
Jul	85	64	4.3	6	0.0
Aug	83	61	4.2	6	0.0
Sep	77	52	3.1	6	0.0
Oct	63	40	2.8	5	0.3
Nov	47	28	1.9	4	3.1
Dec	34	17	1.4	4	9.9
Year	59	39	36.2	65	39.1

Averages for 1991–2020 at Waterloo Municipal Airport, IA (868 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 Hudson

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 181 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Hudson: 94 thunderstorm wind reports, 49 heavy rain events, 20 flash floods, 12 floods and 6 lightning strikes. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $4.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 105 mph, on July 10, 2009. June has had the most flash floods, 10 of 20. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 170 have had fewer than Hudson.

July 10, 2009: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Hudson — $750,000 damage.
June 20, 1997: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Hudson — $550,000 damage.
July 7, 2010: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Hudson — $500,000 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

Black Hawk County, which includes Hudson, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 18 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 floods, 8 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 23, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Black Hawk County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes and strong wind; Relatively Moderate for hail and inland flooding; Relatively Low for lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $41.8 million a year, the 7th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $19.7 million (47%), 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 Hudson

All Iowa cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Hudson with another place →

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