Buchanan County tornado history

49 tornadoes touched Buchanan County, Iowa between 1950 and 2025 — about 0.6 a year. The strongest was rated F3 (Apr 16, 1960). Tornadoes here killed 2 and injured 39 people.

49tornadoes since 1950

F3strongest rating

2killed · 39 injured

32 milongest path · 2008

(E)F0(E)F1(E)F2(E)F3(E)F4(E)F5· dots = start point only

By rating

(E)F016

(E)F117

(E)F26

(E)F35

(E)F40

(E)F50

unrated5

By month

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: May.

By decade

’50’60’70’80’90’00’10’20

Strongest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width	Injured	Killed
Apr 16, 1960	F3	29.8 mi	800 yd	5	1
May 11, 2000	F3	18.6 mi	210 yd	25	1
May 25, 2008	EF3	32 mi	1,232 yd	3	0
Jul 27, 1995	F3	20 mi	150 yd	0	0
May 7, 1964	F3	2.3 mi	200 yd	1	0
Jun 18, 1998	F2	20 mi	30 yd	0	0
Jul 1, 1950	F2	14 mi	10 yd	0	0
Jun 2, 1990	F2	10.5 mi	67 yd	0	0
Mar 31, 2023	EF2	4.9 mi	50 yd	0	0
Apr 30, 1954	F2	1 mi	200 yd	0	0
Sep 6, 2001	F2	1 mi	50 yd	0	0
Jun 18, 1998	F1	15 mi	30 yd	0	0

Most recent tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width
Apr 16, 2024	EF1	10 mi	125 yd
Mar 31, 2023	EF2	4.9 mi	50 yd
Mar 31, 2023	unrated	1.7 mi	10 yd
Jul 5, 2022	unrated	1.4 mi	20 yd
Jul 5, 2022	unrated	0.7 mi	20 yd
Jul 14, 2021	EF0	3.2 mi	30 yd
Jul 14, 2021	unrated	0.1 mi	10 yd
Mar 28, 2020	EF1	7.4 mi	50 yd
Jun 9, 2019	unrated	7.3 mi	10 yd
Jun 9, 2018	EF1	0.1 mi	20 yd
Jul 23, 2016	EF1	0.1 mi	25 yd
Jun 16, 2014	EF1	1.3 mi	50 yd

Deadliest: Apr 16, 1960, F3, 1 killed.

Nearby counties

Black Hawk County, IA40 Delaware County, IA45 Fayette County, IA32 Benton County, IA48 Linn County, IA66 Bremer County, IA29 Clayton County, IA17 Jones County, IA46

Questions

How many tornadoes has Buchanan County, Iowa had?

49 tornadoes touched Buchanan County, Iowa between 1950 and 2025 in the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database — about 0.6 per year.

What was the strongest tornado in Buchanan County?

The strongest rating recorded was F3 on Apr 16, 1960, with a 29.8-mile path and 1 deaths.

When is tornado season in Buchanan County?

Most of its tornadoes happened in May (13 of 49). Tornadoes can occur in any month, so keep alerts on year-round.

Right now: live tornado warnings map · alerts for your location. Dates link to that day’s full storm reports where available (2004 onward).