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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.

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, 110 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
1

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
110

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
3

2 deaths in all

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Wapello

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Wapello, Iowa, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
1900Unnamed 1900 stormSep 1144 miTropical 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

  • 2020s7
  • 2010s25
  • 2000s16(1 EF3+)
  • 1990s17
  • 1980s14
  • 1970s18(1 EF3+)
  • 1960s10(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s3
Strongest tornadoes near Wapello, Iowa
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Jun 1, 2007EF37 mi15.75 mi0 / 7
Aug 15, 1978F321 mi6.4 mi0 / 0
Aug 25, 1965F322 mi3 mi0 / 1
Apr 16, 2024EF25 mi41.66 mi0 / 0
Mar 31, 2023EF211 mi0.95 mi0 / 0
Jun 15, 2019EF29 mi1.82 mi0 / 0
Jun 15, 2019EF210 mi1.3 mi0 / 0
Mar 6, 2017EF217 mi1.78 mi0 / 3
Mar 6, 2017EF225 mi25.25 mi0 / 0
Mar 6, 2017EF29 mi0.31 mi0 / 0
Jun 22, 2015EF224 mi4.22 mi0 / 0
May 24, 2015EF211 mi6.75 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 110, 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 Wapello 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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