Howard County tornado history

41 tornadoes touched Howard County, Iowa between 1950 and 2025 — about 0.5 a year. The strongest was rated F4 (May 10, 1953). Tornadoes here killed 2 and injured 46 people.

41tornadoes since 1950

F4strongest rating

2killed · 46 injured

162 milongest path · 1953

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

By rating

(E)F021

(E)F19

(E)F26

(E)F32

(E)F43

(E)F50

By month

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: May.

By decade

’50’60’70’80’90’00’10’20

Strongest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width	Injured	Killed
May 10, 1953	F4	162 mi	100 yd	24	2
May 5, 1965	F4	41.6 mi	200 yd	11	0
Jul 12, 1971	F4	10.9 mi	1,320 yd	8	0
Jul 19, 1994	F3	23 mi	150 yd	0	0
Jun 11, 2004	F3	12 mi	150 yd	0	0
May 22, 2011	EF2	28.7 mi	250 yd	3	0
Jul 19, 1994	F2	8.5 mi	40 yd	0	0
May 15, 1968	F2	4.7 mi	250 yd	0	0
Mar 30, 1967	F2	4.1 mi	100 yd	0	0
Sep 2, 1961	F2	1 mi	40 yd	0	0
Sep 9, 1965	F2	1 mi	50 yd	0	0
May 27, 2019	EF1	12.6 mi	95 yd	0	0

Most recent tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width
Apr 12, 2022	EF1	9.1 mi	325 yd
Apr 12, 2022	EF0	4.5 mi	125 yd
Dec 15, 2021	EF0	5 mi	50 yd
Dec 15, 2021	EF0	5.9 mi	45 yd
Dec 15, 2021	EF0	4.4 mi	45 yd
Dec 15, 2021	EF0	4.6 mi	90 yd
May 15, 2021	EF0	0.3 mi	15 yd
May 27, 2019	EF0	4.1 mi	25 yd
May 27, 2019	EF1	12.6 mi	95 yd
May 27, 2019	EF0	6.2 mi	30 yd
Jul 19, 2017	EF0	0.7 mi	20 yd
Sep 6, 2016	EF0	—	25 yd

Deadliest: May 10, 1953, F4, 2 killed.

Nearby counties

Chickasaw County, IA30 Mitchell County, IA21 Winneshiek County, IA25 Fillmore County, MN28 Mower County, MN36 Floyd County, IA27 Bremer County, IA29 Fayette County, IA32

Questions

How many tornadoes has Howard County, Iowa had?

41 tornadoes touched Howard County, Iowa between 1950 and 2025 in the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database — about 0.5 per year.

What was the strongest tornado in Howard County?

The strongest rating recorded was F4 on May 10, 1953, with a 162-mile path and 2 deaths.

When is tornado season in Howard County?

Most of its tornadoes happened in May (10 of 41). 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.