NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Parkersburg, 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 Parkersburg, Iowa since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 125 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 9 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 125
- EF3 or stronger
- 9
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
25 deaths in all
What the records show for Parkersburg
The highest rating among the 125 tornadoes within 25 miles is F5 or EF5, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 25, 2008, came within 1 mile. The deadliest, an F5 on May 15, 1968, killed 13 people. Of the 125, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 72 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 40. The most recent tornado was on August 18, 2025. Of the 241 Iowa cities on this site, 49% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Parkersburg. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 54 times since 1959, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Of the 241 Iowa cities, 88% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Parkersburg.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Parkersburg
By decade
- 2020s16
- 2010s21
- 2000s35(2 EF3+)
- 1990s15(2 EF3+)
- 1980s8(1 EF3+)
- 1970s18
- 1960s10(3 EF3+)
- 1950s2(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 1968 | F5 | 22 mi | 62.1 mi | 13 / 462 |
| May 25, 2008 | EF5 | 1 mi | 40.97 mi | 9 / 70 |
| May 30, 1989 | F4 | 23 mi | 11 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Sep 1, 1961 | F4 | 16 mi | 26.6 mi | 0 / 7 |
| May 11, 2000 | F3 | 17 mi | 18.6 mi | 1 / 25 |
| Apr 16, 1960 | F3 | 20 mi | 29.8 mi | 1 / 5 |
| May 20, 1953 | F3 | 18 mi | 116.1 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Mar 22, 1991 | F3 | 22 mi | 43 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 28, 1990 | F3 | 13 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF2 | 19 mi | 7.49 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 14, 2021 | EF2 | 11 mi | 12.88 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 6, 2001 | F2 | 13 mi | 11.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 125, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Parkersburg
The Storm Prediction Center has 54 hail reports within 10 miles of Parkersburg since 1959, made on 31 separate days. Of these, 37 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on June 1, 2001. The most recent report is from July 15, 2024. May has the most reports, 19.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Parkersburg
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Allison, IA, 12 miles north of Parkersburg at 1,038 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 25°F and 8°F. June is the wettest at 5.5 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 35.4 inches over 64 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 12 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 150 nights a year. That 35.4 inches is more than at 37 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (30%). Ackley, 14 miles west, has its own station (Iowa Falls, IA): 38.2 inches a year, 2.8 more than here, and the same July average high, 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 25 | 8 | 0.9 | 3 |
| Feb | 29 | 12 | 1.0 | 3 |
| Mar | 43 | 24 | 1.8 | 5 |
| Apr | 59 | 36 | 3.8 | 7 |
| May | 70 | 49 | 5.1 | 9 |
| Jun | 80 | 59 | 5.5 | 8 |
| Jul | 83 | 63 | 4.2 | 7 |
| Aug | 80 | 60 | 4.0 | 6 |
| Sep | 74 | 51 | 3.4 | 6 |
| Oct | 61 | 39 | 2.5 | 5 |
| Nov | 44 | 25 | 1.8 | 4 |
| Dec | 31 | 15 | 1.4 | 3 |
| Year | 57 | 37 | 35.4 | 64 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Allison, IA (1,038 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 Parkersburg
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 107 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Parkersburg: 41 heavy rain events, 37 thunderstorm wind reports, 20 floods and 9 flash floods. They killed 2 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $5.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on July 22, 2011. May has had the most flash floods, 4 of 9. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 66 have had fewer than Parkersburg.
May 26, 2013: flood 1 mile from the centre of Parkersburg — 1 killed, $500,000 damage.
NWS: “Beaver Creek out of its banks and flooding about a mile long section of Iowa Highway 57 west of Parkersburg. Iowa DOT has already closed that section of the highway with water reaching several houses.”
May 17, 2017: thunderstorm wind in Parkersburg — 1 killed, $60,000 damage.
NWS: “Coop observer reported very high winds estimated at over 70 mph. Power reported out in Parkersburg, semi overturned on Highway 57 resulting in one fatality, and numerous tree limbs down on roads.”
May 17, 2017: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Parkersburg — 1 injured, $100,000 damage.
NWS: “A machine shed was blown down on top of a person, who was extricated and taken to the hospital. A building in Greene collapsed and caused a gas leak.”
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 Parkersburg's ZIP code 50665 have filed 17 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1997, and were paid $361,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 24% 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, 16 have fewer than Parkersburg.
Butler County, which includes Parkersburg, has been named in 25 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 23 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 floods, 11 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on May 24, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Butler County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail 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 $14.5 million a year, the 39th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $7.1 million (49%), 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 Parkersburg
- Shell Rock, IA13 mi
- Ackley, IA14 mi
- Grundy Center, IA15 mi
- Clarksville, IA16 mi
- Janesville, IA16 mi
- Cedar Falls, IA17 mi
- Reinbeck, IA19 mi
- Waverly, IA20 mi
- Hudson, IA21 mi
- Greene, IA22 mi
- Eldora, IA22 mi
- Waterloo, IA23 mi
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