NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Marion, 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
1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of Marion, Iowa since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 148 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 9 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 148
- EF3 or stronger
- 9
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Marion
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Marion; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 49 mph winds when its centre passed 20 miles away. Marion 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 148 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on March 13, 1990, came within 15 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on May 22, 1962, killed 1 person. Of the 148, 15 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 76 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 38. The most recent tornado was on July 11, 2025. Marion has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 75% of the 241 Iowa cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 253 times since 1962, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Marion has more hail reports within 10 miles than 90% of the 241 Iowa cities.
Compare Marion's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Marion
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Marion: 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 Marion
By decade
- 2020s24
- 2010s22
- 2000s30(1 EF3+)
- 1990s24(1 EF3+)
- 1980s19
- 1970s12(4 EF3+)
- 1960s9(1 EF3+)
- 1950s8(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 1990 | F4 | 15 mi | 19 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 12, 1974 | F4 | 22 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 12 |
| Apr 30, 1954 | F4 | 9 mi | 80.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 23, 1961 | F3 | 11 mi | 87.7 mi | 1 / 12 |
| May 21, 2004 | F3 | 10 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 12, 1971 | F3 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 18, 1971 | F3 | 11 mi | 4.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 18, 1971 | F3 | 23 mi | 4.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 20, 1953 | F3 | 4 mi | 38.6 mi | 0 / 7 |
| May 22, 1962 | F2 | 24 mi | 4.1 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Jul 11, 2025 | EF2 | 9 mi | 6.74 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 31, 2023 | EF2 | 12 mi | 8.97 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 148, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Marion
The Storm Prediction Center has 253 hail reports within 10 miles of Marion since 1962, made on 75 separate days. Of these, 164 were 1 inch across or larger, and 17 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on April 7, 2020. The most recent report is from August 15, 2025. April has the most reports, 87.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Marion
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Cedar Rapids #1, IA, in Marion at 813 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 30°F and 13°F. June is the wettest at 5.7 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.2 inches; the year adds up to 38.8 inches over 69 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 18 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 134 nights a year. Snowfall averages 34.3 inches a year, most of it in December. That 38.8 inches is more than at 105 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (85%). Ely, 10 miles south, has its own station (Cedar Rapids Municipal Airport, IA): 36.1 inches a year, 2.7 less than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 30 | 13 | 1.2 | 4 | 8.7 |
| Feb | 35 | 17 | 1.3 | 4 | 8.3 |
| Mar | 49 | 28 | 2.1 | 5 | 4.0 |
| Apr | 63 | 38 | 4.0 | 8 | 1.5 |
| May | 74 | 50 | 4.7 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 82 | 60 | 5.7 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 86 | 63 | 4.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 83 | 61 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 77 | 53 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 64 | 42 | 3.0 | 6 | 0.6 |
| Nov | 48 | 29 | 2.2 | 5 | 2.2 |
| Dec | 35 | 19 | 1.7 | 4 | 9.0 |
| Year | 61 | 39 | 38.8 | 69 | 34.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Cedar Rapids #1, IA (813 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 Marion
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 369 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Marion: 308 thunderstorm wind reports, 40 flash floods, 10 heavy rain events, 8 floods and 3 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 10, and the NWS estimated $7.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on June 30, 2014. June has had the most flash floods, 20 of 40. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 210 have had fewer than Marion.
June 30, 2014: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Marion — 1 killed, 1 injured.
June 30, 2014: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Marion — 4 injured.
May 16, 1999: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Marion — 2 injured, $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
Flood insurance policyholders in Marion's ZIP code 52302 have filed 25 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1982, and were paid $274,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 16% 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, 32 have fewer than Marion.
Linn County, which includes Marion, has been named in 23 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 21 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 floods, 8 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, on August 17, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Linn County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for strong wind; Relatively High for tornadoes, hail and lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $79.1 million a year, the 3rd highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $36.2 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.