NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Wapello, 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 Wapello, Iowa since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 115 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 1
- Tornadoes
- 115
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Wapello
None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Wapello; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 48 mph winds when its centre passed 44 miles away. Wapello 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 115 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3 or EF3, reached 3 times; the most recent, on June 1, 2007, came within 7 miles. The deadliest, an EF1 on June 24, 2013, killed 1 person. Of the 115, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 53 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 32. The most recent tornado was on June 3, 2025. Of the 241 Iowa cities, 64% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Wapello. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 57 times since 1956, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 241 Iowa cities, 83% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Wapello.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Wapello
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Wapello: 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 Wapello
By decade
- 2020s12
- 2010s25
- 2000s16(1 EF3+)
- 1990s17
- 1980s14
- 1970s18(1 EF3+)
- 1960s10(1 EF3+)
- 1950s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 2007 | EF3 | 7 mi | 15.75 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Aug 15, 1978 | F3 | 21 mi | 6.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 25, 1965 | F3 | 22 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 16, 2024 | EF2 | 5 mi | 41.66 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 31, 2023 | EF2 | 11 mi | 0.95 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 15, 2019 | EF2 | 10 mi | 1.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 15, 2019 | EF2 | 9 mi | 1.82 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 6, 2017 | EF2 | 25 mi | 25.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 6, 2017 | EF2 | 17 mi | 1.78 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Mar 6, 2017 | EF2 | 9 mi | 0.31 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 22, 2015 | EF2 | 24 mi | 4.22 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 24, 2015 | EF2 | 11 mi | 6.75 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 115, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Wapello
The Storm Prediction Center has 57 hail reports within 10 miles of Wapello since 1956, made on 31 separate days. Of these, 37 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently April 3, 2014. The most recent report is from October 24, 2024. April has the most reports, 24.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Wapello
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is New Boston Dam 17, IL, 6 miles east of Wapello at 548 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 32°F and 15°F. May is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.3 inches; the year adds up to 36.3 inches over 65 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 25 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 122 nights a year. That 36.3 inches is more than at 49 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (40%). Mediapolis, 11 miles south, has its own station (Gladstone Dam 18, IL): 37.3 inches a year, 1.0 more than here, and the same July average high, 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 32 | 15 | 1.3 | 4 |
| Feb | 36 | 19 | 1.7 | 4 |
| Mar | 49 | 30 | 2.6 | 5 |
| Apr | 62 | 40 | 3.6 | 7 |
| May | 73 | 52 | 5.1 | 8 |
| Jun | 83 | 62 | 4.6 | 7 |
| Jul | 86 | 65 | 3.5 | 5 |
| Aug | 84 | 63 | 3.8 | 6 |
| Sep | 77 | 55 | 3.3 | 5 |
| Oct | 64 | 43 | 2.9 | 5 |
| Nov | 49 | 32 | 2.1 | 4 |
| Dec | 37 | 22 | 1.8 | 4 |
| Year | 61 | 41 | 36.3 | 65 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at New Boston Dam 17, IL (548 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 Wapello
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 88 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Wapello: 44 thunderstorm wind reports, 33 floods, 10 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 2 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $3.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 119 mph, on March 31, 2023. June has had the most flash floods, 9 of 10. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 81 have had fewer than Wapello.
June 29, 1998: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Wapello — 1 killed, 1 injured, $1.0 million damage.
June 14, 2008: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Wapello — 1 killed.
NWS: “Major to record flooding caused a levee to fail on the Iowa River at Oakville leading to flash flooding in much of the town. One indirect fatality occurred in rural Oakville in Louisa County.”
May 9, 1996: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Wapello — $800,000 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 Wapello's ZIP code 52653 have filed 52 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1990, and were paid $1.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2008, with 22. 17% 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, 52 have fewer than Wapello.
Louisa County, which includes Wapello, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 18 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 floods, 6 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 Louisa County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes and inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $8.4 million a year, the 87th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $3.2 million (38%), 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 Wapello
- Mediapolis, IA11 mi
- Columbus Junction, IA12 mi
- Muscatine, IA19 mi
- New London, IA21 mi
- Aledo, IL23 mi
- West Burlington, IA24 mi
- Burlington, IA25 mi
- Mt Pleasant, IA25 mi
- Lone Tree, IA25 mi
- Taylor Ridge, IL28 mi
- West Liberty, IA28 mi
- Washington, IA29 mi
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