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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Decorah, IA

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Decorah, Iowa since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 62 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
62

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
5

1 deaths in all

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Decorah

By decade

  • 2020s7
  • 2010s6
  • 2000s7
  • 1990s13(1 EF3+)
  • 1980s6
  • 1970s8(2 EF3+)
  • 1960s14(2 EF3+)
  • 1950s1
Strongest tornadoes near Decorah, Iowa
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Jul 12, 1971F424 mi10.9 mi0 / 8
May 5, 1965F415 mi41.6 mi0 / 11
Jun 24, 1971F319 mi0.1 mi1 / 0
Jul 19, 1994F35 mi23 mi0 / 0
May 5, 1965F316 mi65.2 mi0 / 7
May 22, 2011EF219 mi28.68 mi0 / 3
Jul 19, 1994F225 mi8.5 mi0 / 0
Mar 24, 1988F214 mi9 mi0 / 0
Jul 29, 1987F26 mi10 mi0 / 0
Jun 4, 1973F214 mi1 mi0 / 0
May 15, 1968F217 mi4.7 mi0 / 0
Mar 30, 1967F215 mi4.1 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 62, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

How to read this page

A storm is listed when the centre of its track passed within 75 miles of Decorah while it was at least a tropical storm, which is the reach of damaging wind and rain for a typical hurricane. Being on the list does not mean the city took a direct hit; the "closest" column says how near the centre came. Tornadoes are counted when any part of the path came within 25 miles.

Tornado records before the 1990s are thinner, because weak tornadoes in open country often went unreported before Doppler radar and mobile phones. A rise in the decade counts is mostly better reporting, not a change in the weather.

Tracks come from the National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database, tornadoes from the Storm Prediction Center's database. Both are the official federal records and both are revised as old storms are re-analysed.

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