NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Le Mars, 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 Le Mars, Iowa since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 126 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 126
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Le Mars
The strongest of the 126 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on June 23, 1952; its path came within 17 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on June 18, 1973, killed 2 people. Of the 126, 12 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 49 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 38. The most recent tornado was on May 31, 2024. Le Mars has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 50% of the 241 Iowa cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 129 times since 1959, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Le Mars has more hail reports within 10 miles than 74% of the 241 Iowa cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Le Mars
By decade
- 2020s12
- 2010s19
- 2000s18
- 1990s19
- 1980s13
- 1970s18(1 EF3+)
- 1960s20(5 EF3+)
- 1950s7(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 23, 1952 | F4 | 17 mi | 24.1 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 8, 1979 | F3 | 24 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Sep 22, 1968 | F3 | 16 mi | 4.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 14, 1967 | F3 | 16 mi | 6.2 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 7, 1965 | F3 | 2 mi | 11.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 8, 1964 | F3 | 1 mi | 9.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 1964 | F3 | 6 mi | 67 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Jun 18, 1973 | F2 | 23 mi | 2 mi | 2 / 10 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF2 | 17 mi | 8.44 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 1, 2008 | EF2 | 25 mi | 12.95 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 12, 1994 | F2 | in town | 17.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 7, 1991 | F2 | 14 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 126, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Le Mars
The Storm Prediction Center has 129 hail reports within 10 miles of Le Mars since 1959, made on 84 separate days. Of these, 79 were 1 inch across or larger, and 10 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently April 9, 2011. The most recent report is from September 21, 2025. June has the most reports, 32.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Le Mars
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Le Mars, IA, 2 miles southeast of Le Mars at 1,195 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 4.6 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 30.0 inches over 55 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 17 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 160 nights a year. Snowfall averages 30.9 inches a year, most of it in January. That 30.0 inches is more than at 7 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (6%). Orange City, 16 miles north, 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 | 7.8 |
| Feb | 32 | 11 | 0.9 | 2 | 7.5 |
| Mar | 46 | 23 | 1.9 | 4 | 4.6 |
| Apr | 60 | 34 | 3.1 | 6 | 1.9 |
| May | 72 | 47 | 3.9 | 8 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 81 | 58 | 4.6 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 85 | 62 | 3.1 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 82 | 59 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 76 | 50 | 3.1 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 63 | 37 | 2.4 | 4 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 46 | 24 | 1.3 | 3 | 2.6 |
| Dec | 32 | 13 | 1.0 | 2 | 6.0 |
| Year | 58 | 35 | 30.0 | 55 | 30.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Le Mars, IA (1,195 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 Le Mars
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 101 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Le Mars: 63 thunderstorm wind reports, 24 floods, 13 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $357,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 79 mph, on August 1, 2006. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 114 have had fewer than Le Mars.
July 21, 2008: lightning strike 1 mile from the centre of Le Mars — 2 injured, $5,000 damage.
NWS: “Lightning struck and destroyed a large tree and an electrical panel on the side of a house, blowing several breakers and fuse boxes, melting a telephone wire, and damaging other parts of the house's electrical system. The strike also shattered a bedroom window, causing minor cuts from flying glass to two occupants.”
June 23, 2003: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Le Mars — $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds caused widespread tree damage, including several trees and numerous large limbs and branches blown down. Tree debris damaged the roofs of at least three homes.”
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
Plymouth County, which includes Le Mars, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 floods, 4 severe storms, 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 Plymouth County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and hail; 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 $17.6 million a year, the 24th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.4 million (37%), 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 Le Mars
- Remsen, IA11 mi
- Hinton, IA13 mi
- Orange City, IA16 mi
- Akron, IA16 mi
- Kingsley, IA17 mi
- Sioux Center, IA19 mi
- Hawarden, IA21 mi
- Moville, IA23 mi
- Sioux City, IA23 mi
- Dakota Dunes, SD25 mi
- South Sioux City, NE26 mi
- Elk Point, SD27 mi
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