NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Nashua, 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 Nashua, Iowa since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 104 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 104
- EF3 or stronger
- 4
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
14 deaths in all
What the records show for Nashua
The strongest of the 104 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on May 15, 1968; its path came within 15 miles, and it killed 13 people. Of the 104, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 44 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 29. The most recent tornado was on May 9, 2024. Of the 241 Iowa cities on this site, 79% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Nashua. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 74 times since 1959, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 241 Iowa cities, 64% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Nashua.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Nashua
By decade
- 2020s15
- 2010s16
- 2000s13
- 1990s17
- 1980s12
- 1970s15(1 EF3+)
- 1960s12(2 EF3+)
- 1950s4(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 1968 | F5 | 15 mi | 62.1 mi | 13 / 462 |
| Jul 12, 1971 | F4 | 19 mi | 10.9 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Sep 1, 1961 | F4 | 6 mi | 26.6 mi | 0 / 7 |
| May 20, 1953 | F3 | 12 mi | 116.1 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Jul 14, 2021 | EF2 | 18 mi | 12.88 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 6, 2001 | F2 | 13 mi | 11.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 27, 1998 | F2 | 18 mi | 25.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 19, 1994 | F2 | 21 mi | 8.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 7, 1994 | F2 | 3 mi | 9.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 1993 | F2 | 9 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 10, 1993 | F2 | 19 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 8, 1993 | F2 | 22 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 104, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Nashua
The Storm Prediction Center has 74 hail reports within 10 miles of Nashua since 1959, made on 44 separate days. Of these, 53 were 1 inch across or larger, and 6 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently May 18, 1996. The most recent report is from September 16, 2025. June has the most reports, 28.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Nashua
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Charles City, IA, 10 miles northwest of Nashua at 993 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 25°F and 9°F. June is the wettest at 6.1 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 37.6 inches over 67 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 9 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 154 nights a year. Snowfall averages 37.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 37.6 inches is more than at 78 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (63%). Clarksville, 13 miles southwest, has its own station (Allison, IA): 35.4 inches a year, 2.2 less than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 25 | 9 | 1.0 | 3 | 9.5 |
| Feb | 30 | 13 | 1.1 | 3 | 9.3 |
| Mar | 43 | 25 | 1.9 | 5 | 5.4 |
| Apr | 58 | 37 | 3.7 | 7 | 2.1 |
| May | 70 | 49 | 5.1 | 9 | 0.3 |
| Jun | 79 | 59 | 6.1 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 62 | 4.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 60 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 51 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 39 | 2.6 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 44 | 26 | 1.7 | 4 | 2.8 |
| Dec | 30 | 15 | 1.4 | 4 | 8.0 |
| Year | 56 | 37 | 37.6 | 67 | 37.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Charles City, IA (993 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 Nashua
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 121 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Nashua: 77 thunderstorm wind reports, 22 floods, 14 heavy rain events, 6 flash floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $26.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 115 mph, on June 18, 1998. September has had the most flash floods, 3 of 6. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 32 have had fewer than Nashua.
June 18, 1998: thunderstorm wind in Nashua — 1 injured, $540,000 damage.
June 12, 2010: flood in Nashua — $20.0 million damage.
June 7, 2008: flood 2 miles from the centre of Nashua — $1.6 million damage.
NWS: “Highways 18 and 63 were closed in spots from flood waters. A Local Area Emergency (LAE) was issued for the county based on requests early Sunday morning June 8.”
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 Nashua's ZIP code 50658 have filed 18 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1993, and were paid $255,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 39% 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, 20 have fewer than Nashua.
Chickasaw County, which includes Nashua, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 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 Chickasaw County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes and inland flooding; Very Low for hurricanes, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $10.9 million a year, the 68th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $5.1 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 Nashua
- Charles City, IA11 mi
- Clarksville, IA13 mi
- New Hampton, IA13 mi
- Greene, IA14 mi
- Waverly, IA15 mi
- Tripoli, IA17 mi
- Shell Rock, IA17 mi
- Janesville, IA21 mi
- Denver, IA22 mi
- Sumner, IA23 mi
- Nora Springs, IA27 mi
- Osage, IA27 mi
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