Cherokee County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Cherokee County: 0.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the county boundary (or inside the county).
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 13, 2019Flood$3.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding resulted in extensive damage to public infrastructure including numerous county and township roads, culverts, and some bridges.

2. Jun 21, 2024Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall amounts across Cherokee County from June 20-22 ranged from around a quarter of an inch across southern areas to around 2 inches across northern areas. Farther north and upstream, 5 to 10 inches of rain fell across portions of northwest Iowa. This rainfall resulted in moderate to record flooding along the Little Sioux River and Mill Creek and overland flooding along the adjoining flood plain.||The majority of flood damage occurred in or around the city of Cherokee. A total of 140 residences were impacted by flood water. Of those, 45 received major damage while 22 were completely destroyed. There were also 10 businesses that received major damage or were destroyed. Spring…

3. Jun 17, 2014Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Persistent heavy rains caused major flooding of the Little Sioux River. Much farmland, other lowlands, and roads near the river were flooded. Flooded and closed roads in the town of Cherokee included Main Street and U. S. Highway 59. Several homes and businesses were flooded, especially in basements. The river crested at 8.55 feet above flood stage at Cherokee on June 19th.

4. Dec 15, 2021Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado spun up 7 miles south-southwest of Aurelia just west of the intersection of T Avenue and 610th Street. The tornado moved either northeast or north-northeast along its track and exited Cherokee County at 1707CST near the intersection of 510th Street and 10th Avenue. The tornado continued northeast and lifted one mile south of the Buena Vista County Conservation Park at 1712CST. ||Shortly after touchdown, the tornado partially collapsed the roof on a hog confinement which killed 13 hogs. Debris from this building was strewn for one to two miles to the northeast. On a northeastward track, another animal confinement farm was struck by the tornado after a couple minutes…

5. May 27, 2013Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread heavy rainfall of up to 9 inches caused flash flooding which was also widespread, affecting especially the eastern half of the county. There was significant flooding of numerous streets and homes, with many homes and businesses in the city of Cherokee affected by basement or lower level flooding. Some basements were nearly full of water. In rural areas, numerous roads, fields, and homes were flooded.

6. Dec 15, 2021Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado formed on the southeast fringes of Larrabee, just south of 455th Street. As the tornado crossed 455th Street, it quickly destroyed four silos, a shed and a chicken barn. The tornado traveled northeast over open fields before a few trees were snapped and the east wall of a barn was pulled away along R Avenue just south of 430th Street. The tornado exited Cherokee County around 4 miles south of Sutherland, one-half mile east of the intersection of Tyler Avenue and 420th Street. The tornado continued in O'Brien County for almost 4 miles before dissipating two miles southeast of Sutherland at 1711CST. The tornado was rated EF1 while in both Cherokee County and O'Brien…

7. Jul 22, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused widespread tree damage, including several large trees blown down. Several homes and businesses were damaged by falling trees, and other had shingle and other roof damage. Several vehicles were also damaged by falling trees and tree debris. A storage shed full of sports equipment at the high school was destroyed, with the equipment damaged. Signs and power lines were blown down, and a power outage resulted. A semi was blown over near town.

8. Jun 19, 1996Flood, Cherokee$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall of 5 to 15 inches during a 30 hour period caused widespread lowland, crop, urban, and river flooding. Rivers and streams including the Big Sioux, Little Sioux, West Fork Little Sioux, and Floyd Rivers were over flood stage for 2 to 6 days. The flooding caused widespread destruction of crops, drowned livestock, flooded and washed out roads, and flooded homes and other buildings, damaging contents.

9. Aug 1, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds destroyed the Maryhill Catholic Church, a structure which had stood since being rebuilt in 1905 after a lightning strike and fire. The winds also blew a hog shed 200 yards off its foundation, blew down or uprooted several large trees, and blew down power lines.

10. Aug 22, 2002Flash Flood$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rain amounting to over four inches caused flooding of roads and basements. Maple creek rose out of its banks and up to the bottom of a bridge on Iowa Highway Seven.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

109°F2 times, most recently Aug 18, 1936

All-time low

−35°F2 times, most recently Jan 20, 1970

Warmest night

79°F3 times, most recently Jul 15, 1969

Coldest day

−14°F2 times, most recently Dec 22, 1989

Wettest day

6.25 inJun 7, 1953

Snowiest day

12.0 in2 times, most recently Mar 24, 2016

Hottest year

1931mean 52.0°F

Coldest year

1972mean 43.4°F

Wettest year

201543.50 in

Driest year

195811.90 in

Snowiest season

60.7 in2015-16

Station Cherokee (USC00131442), 1,210 ft elevation, 2.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1921 to October 27, 2026; 99.5% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

Neighbouring counties

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00131442.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.