NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Knoxville, 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 Knoxville, Iowa since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 108 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 9 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes: 0
Tropical storms: 1
Tornadoes: 108
EF3 or stronger: 9

What the records show for Knoxville

None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Knoxville; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 44 mph winds when its centre passed 9 miles away. Knoxville is tied for the most tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles among the 241 Iowa cities on this site. The highest rating among the 108 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on March 5, 2022, came within 23 miles. Of the 108, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 61 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 33. The most recent tornado was on June 25, 2024. Of the 241 Iowa cities, 76% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Knoxville. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 115 times since 1957, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Knoxville has more hail reports within 10 miles than 67% of the 241 Iowa cities.

Compare Knoxville's storm record with another city →

ShareX Facebook WhatsApp Email

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Knoxville

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Knoxville, Iowa, newest first
Year	Storm	Closest	Strength when closest	Peak
1900	Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11	9 mi	Tropical storm (44 mph)	Category 4

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Knoxville: 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 Knoxville

By decade

2020s18(2 EF3+)
2010s22(3 EF3+)
2000s21
1990s11(1 EF3+)
1980s13(1 EF3+)
1970s11
1960s9(1 EF3+)
1950s3(1 EF3+)

Strongest tornadoes near Knoxville, Iowa
Date	Rating	Distance	Path	Killed / injured
Mar 5, 2022	EF4	23 mi	70.57 mi	6 / 5
Jun 7, 1984	F4	22 mi	134 mi	3 / 64
Mar 5, 2022	EF3	20 mi	11.28 mi	1 / 1
Aug 20, 2019	EF3	18 mi	5.4 mi	0 / 0
Jul 19, 2018	EF3	14 mi	9.17 mi	0 / 13
Jun 22, 2015	EF3	10 mi	11.12 mi	0 / 0
Apr 8, 1999	F3	15 mi	39 mi	0 / 5
Oct 14, 1966	F3	3 mi	29.5 mi	0 / 0
Aug 12, 1956	F3	24 mi	5.1 mi	0 / 8
Nov 11, 2015	EF2	24 mi	13.03 mi	0 / 0
Jun 22, 2015	EF2	24 mi	1.71 mi	0 / 0
May 30, 2008	EF2	5 mi	19.18 mi	0 / 10

The strongest 12 of 108, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Knoxville

The Storm Prediction Center has 115 hail reports within 10 miles of Knoxville since 1957, made on 64 separate days. Of these, 81 were 1 inch across or larger, and 12 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on June 20, 2015. The most recent report is from May 19, 2025. April has the most reports, 38.

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

Weather by month in Knoxville

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Knoxville, IA, 1 mile north of Knoxville at 895 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 30°F and 13°F. June is the wettest at 5.6 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.2 inches; the year adds up to 37.7 inches over 62 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 20 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 133 nights a year. That 37.7 inches is more than at 79 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (64%). Monroe, 15 miles north, has its own station (Des Moines 17 E, IA): 36.6 inches a year, 1.1 less than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 85°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Knoxville, IA
Month	High °F	Low °F	Precip. in	Days ≥ 0.1"
Jan	30	13	1.2	3
Feb	35	17	1.7	3
Mar	48	28	1.9	5
Apr	61	39	3.9	7
May	71	51	5.0	8
Jun	81	61	5.6	8
Jul	85	66	4.3	5
Aug	83	63	3.9	6
Sep	76	54	3.7	6
Oct	63	42	3.1	5
Nov	48	30	1.8	4
Dec	36	19	1.6	2
Year	60	40	37.7	62

Averages for 1991–2020 at Knoxville, IA (895 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 Knoxville

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 222 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Knoxville: 128 thunderstorm wind reports, 66 heavy rain events, 12 flash floods, 10 floods and 6 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $24.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on June 21, 1997. July has had the most flash floods, 7 of 12. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 107 have had fewer than Knoxville.

August 20, 2019: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Knoxville — 1 injured, $20,000 damage.
June 12, 2010: flood 9 miles from the centre of Knoxville — $20.0 million damage.
June 21, 1997: thunderstorm wind in Knoxville — $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

Marion County, which includes Knoxville, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 floods, 5 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 Marion County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes; Relatively Low for hail, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $14.2 million a year, the 43rd highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.5 million (46%), 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 Knoxville

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

ShareX Facebook WhatsApp Email