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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Monticello, IA

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

1 tropical system has passed within 75 miles of Monticello, Iowa since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was an unnamed storm in 1900. Since 1950, 136 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
1

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
136

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
10

1 deaths in all

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Monticello

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Monticello, Iowa, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
1900Unnamed 1900 stormSep 1124 miTropical storm (51 mph)Category 4

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

By decade

  • 2020s21
  • 2010s24
  • 2000s20
  • 1990s26(5 EF3+)
  • 1980s18
  • 1970s6(2 EF3+)
  • 1960s13(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s8(2 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Monticello, Iowa
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Mar 13, 1990F48 mi19 mi0 / 0
Aug 12, 1974F417 mi5 mi0 / 12
Apr 30, 1954F423 mi80.4 mi0 / 0
Apr 23, 1961F32 mi87.7 mi1 / 12
May 15, 1998F324 mi47 mi0 / 47
Jul 27, 1995F318 mi20 mi0 / 0
Jun 19, 1993F322 mi9 mi0 / 0
Jul 13, 1992F34 mi5 mi0 / 0
Jul 12, 1971F315 mi0.1 mi0 / 2
May 20, 1953F312 mi38.6 mi0 / 7
Mar 31, 2023EF223 mi16.42 mi0 / 0
Mar 31, 2023EF224 mi8.97 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 136, 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 Monticello 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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