NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Woodward, 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 October 26, 2026

1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of Woodward, Iowa since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 189 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 12 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes: 0
Tropical storms: 1
Tornadoes: 189
EF3 or stronger: 12

What the records show for Woodward

None of the 1 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Woodward; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1900, a tropical storm with 43 mph winds when its centre passed 63 miles away. Woodward is tied for the most tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles among the 241 Iowa cities on this site. The strongest of the 189 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on June 13, 1976; its path came within 6 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on June 18, 1974, killed 2 people. Of the 189, 13 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 86 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 61. The most recent tornado was on July 19, 2025. Woodward has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 94% of the 241 Iowa cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 104 times since 1982, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Woodward has more hail reports within 10 miles than 62% of the 241 Iowa cities.

Compare Woodward's storm record with another city →

ShareX Facebook WhatsApp Email

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Woodward

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Woodward, Iowa, newest first
Year	Storm	Closest	Strength when closest	Peak
1900	Unnamed 1900 stormSep 11	63 mi	Tropical storm (43 mph)	Category 4

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Woodward: 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 Woodward

By decade

2020s22
2010s24
2000s40(1 EF3+)
1990s32(3 EF3+)
1980s29(1 EF3+)
1970s17(4 EF3+)
1960s17
1950s8(3 EF3+)

Strongest tornadoes near Woodward, Iowa
Date	Rating	Distance	Path	Killed / injured
Jun 13, 1976	F5	6 mi	21.3 mi	0 / 9
Jun 18, 1974	F4	18 mi	15.3 mi	2 / 50
Apr 8, 1999	F4	7 mi	56 mi	0 / 1
May 27, 1995	F4	13 mi	57 mi	0 / 2
Sep 28, 1986	F4	18 mi	20 mi	0 / 0
May 10, 1959	F4	9 mi	41.1 mi	0 / 1
Nov 12, 2005	F3	23 mi	17.6 mi	1 / 3
May 20, 1953	F3	24 mi	116.1 mi	1 / 0
Mar 22, 1991	F3	16 mi	43 mi	0 / 0
Jun 13, 1976	F3	19 mi	0.1 mi	0 / 0
Jun 13, 1976	F3	7 mi	17.9 mi	0 / 0
Jun 15, 1950	F3	19 mi	5.6 mi	0 / 5

The strongest 12 of 189, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Woodward

The Storm Prediction Center has 104 hail reports within 10 miles of Woodward since 1982, made on 45 separate days. Of these, 71 were 1 inch across or larger, and 7 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on July 9, 2021. The most recent report is from March 14, 2025. June has the most reports, 32.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Weather by month in Woodward

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Perry, IA, 10 miles west of Woodward at 950 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 30°F and 10°F. May is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 36.2 inches over 66 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 20 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 151 nights a year. That 36.2 inches is more than at 47 of the 124 Iowa stations used on this site (38%). Madrid, 7 miles east, has its own station (Ames 8 WSW, IA): 36.0 inches a year, 0.2 less than here, and a July average high of 84°F against 85°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Perry, IA
Month	High °F	Low °F	Precip. in	Days ≥ 0.1"
Jan	30	10	1.0	3
Feb	34	14	1.1	3
Mar	48	26	2.0	4
Apr	61	37	4.1	7
May	72	49	5.2	9
Jun	82	60	4.9	9
Jul	85	64	4.4	7
Aug	83	61	4.1	6
Sep	77	52	3.4	6
Oct	64	39	2.7	6
Nov	48	27	1.9	4
Dec	35	17	1.4	3
Year	60	38	36.2	66

Averages for 1991–2020 at Perry, IA (950 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.

Iowa weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Woodward

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 204 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Woodward: 122 thunderstorm wind reports, 48 heavy rain events, 20 flash floods and 14 floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $79.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on June 29, 1998. June has had the most flash floods, 8 of 20. Of the 240 Iowa cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 170 have had fewer than Woodward.

June 1, 2008: flood 4 miles from the centre of Woodward — $50.1 million damage.
June 12, 2010: flood 8 miles from the centre of Woodward — $20.0 million damage.
June 29, 1998: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Woodward — $5.4 million 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

Dallas County, which includes Woodward, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 18 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 severe storms, 6 floods, 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 Dallas County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $39.7 million a year, the 9th highest of 99 Iowa counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $16.9 million (43%), 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 Woodward

All Iowa cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Woodward with another place →

ShareX Facebook WhatsApp Email