NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Humboldt, 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 Humboldt, Iowa since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 129 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 129
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
5 deaths in all
What the records show for Humboldt
The highest rating among the 129 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 5 times; the most recent, on June 28, 1979, came within 19 miles. Of the 129, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 68 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 46. The most recent tornado was on June 26, 2025. Humboldt has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 53% of the 241 Iowa cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 94 times since 1968, with stones up to 3.5 inches. Humboldt has more hail reports within 10 miles than 53% of the 241 Iowa cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Humboldt
By decade
- 2020s29
- 2010s18
- 2000s21
- 1990s19
- 1980s17
- 1970s13(4 EF3+)
- 1960s8(3 EF3+)
- 1950s4(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 28, 1979 | F4 | 19 mi | 14.9 mi | 3 / 26 |
| May 4, 1977 | F4 | 14 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 14 |
| Jun 8, 1967 | F4 | 14 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 1965 | F4 | 24 mi | 9.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 29, 1964 | F4 | 14 mi | 15.8 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 28, 1979 | F3 | 21 mi | 15.9 mi | 2 / 34 |
| Sep 21, 1973 | F3 | 11 mi | 2.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 7, 1953 | F3 | 8 mi | 30.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 12, 2022 | EF2 | 7 mi | 4.85 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 12, 2022 | EF2 | 14 mi | 7.17 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF2 | 19 mi | 5.55 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF2 | 23 mi | 18.83 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 129, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Humboldt
The Storm Prediction Center has 94 hail reports within 10 miles of Humboldt since 1968, made on 52 separate days. Of these, 65 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.5 inches, fell on June 16, 2014. The most recent report is from September 22, 2025. May and June have the most reports, 26 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Humboldt
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Fort Dodge 5NNW, IA, 10 miles south of Humboldt 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, 17 miles east, 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.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 26 | 7 | 1.0 | 3 | 8.6 |
| Feb | 31 | 12 | 1.2 | 4 | 11.8 |
| Mar | 44 | 24 | 2.0 | 4 | 5.6 |
| Apr | 59 | 35 | 3.7 | 7 | 1.5 |
| May | 70 | 48 | 4.6 | 10 | 0.4 |
| Jun | 80 | 58 | 5.5 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 83 | 62 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 60 | 4.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 74 | 51 | 2.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 61 | 38 | 2.6 | 5 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 45 | 25 | 1.9 | 3 | 2.8 |
| Dec | 31 | 14 | 1.5 | 3 | 7.9 |
| Year | 57 | 36 | 35.3 | 68 | 39.0 |
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.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Humboldt
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 130 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Humboldt: 60 thunderstorm wind reports, 42 floods, 21 heavy rain events, 6 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 23, and the NWS estimated $5.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on August 21, 2007. August has had the most flash floods, 6 of 6. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 32 have had fewer than Humboldt.
September 28, 2010: flood 1 mile from the centre of Humboldt — 20 injured, $5,000 damage.
June 20, 1997: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Humboldt — 2 injured, $110,000 damage.
June 16, 2007: lightning strike in Humboldt — 1 injured.
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 Humboldt's ZIP code 50548 have filed 39 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $231,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Tropical Storm Erin in 2007: 10 claims (26% of all) and $56,000. 41% 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, 46 have fewer than Humboldt.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm Erin2007 | 10 | $56,000 |
Humboldt County, which includes Humboldt, has been named in 22 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 19 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 severe storms, 6 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes, on June 24, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Humboldt County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Very Low for hurricanes, inland flooding, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $9.7 million a year, the 79th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.7 million (28%), 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 Humboldt
- Fort Dodge, IA15 mi
- Eagle Grove, IA17 mi
- Manson, IA21 mi
- Pocahontas, IA23 mi
- Algona, IA24 mi
- Clarion, IA25 mi
- Webster City, IA27 mi
- Rockwell City, IA31 mi
- Belmond, IA32 mi
- Britt, IA34 mi
- Emmetsburg, IA36 mi
- Garner, IA41 mi
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