Howard County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Howard 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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 27, 2019Tornado$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado formed over rural Howard County south of Saratoga and then traveled north-northeast before dissipating just before entering Lime Springs. The tornado struck and destroyed a wind turbine north of State Highway 9 and also destroyed a large farm building along Lilac Avenue.

2. Jun 7, 2008Flood$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding led to aerial flooding across much of the county. Numerous roads and bridges remained closed, mainly in the northern part of the county.||In the Lime Springs area, the road to Lidtke park was damaged and water approached the top of the Lidtke Mill bridge.||Parts of Protivin was evacuated due to flood waters and ponding. Crops were also hit hard with too much standing water.

3. Sep 2, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$740,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A building roof and several grain bins were damaged, a shed destroyed and 70 power poles blown down along Jade Avenue five miles west of Lime Springs.

4. Dec 15, 2021Tornado$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This was the third tornado of the night in Howard County. This EF0 tornado formed west of Schley and move northeast before dissipating east of Davis Corners. This tornado removed the roof from a hog farm building, drove lumber through the side of a metal building and also damaged other outbuildings and trees. One house had broken windows and some damage from tree branches downed on it.

5. May 22, 2011Tornado$525,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado first caused some damage about 3 miles north of State Highway 9 north of Riceville. The tornado almost immediately strengthen to EF1 as it moved northeast. Several farms had outbuildings destroyed, widespread tree damage occurred and several homes had partial or complete roof damage. As the tornado passed south of Chester, it increased to its maximum width and strength. The tornado remained at EF2 strength as it crossed the state line into Fillmore County Minnesota. The tornado passed through rural portions of the county affecting around a dozen farms with only three minor injuries occurring. Around 850 customers were loss power as a result of the storms. Damages were…

6. Aug 24, 2016Flood$470,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   State Highway 9 was closed west of Cresco due to flood waters from the North Branch of the Turkey River. The flood waters from the North Branch of the Turkey River also washed out Robin Avenue. Lidtke County Park just north of Lime Springs was flooded by the Upper Iowa River. A small mudslide occurred along Watsons Creek in Lake Hendricks Park in Riceville. The county engineer estimated there were over 450 locations where water was over roads with only minor damage reported. In Cresco, several houses had water in the basements. School was canceled in the Howard-Winneshiek and Riceville school districts.

7. Jul 19, 1999Flood, Howard$375,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Cedar River experienced record flooding due to excessive rainfall amounts. On the 19th, the river crested at 18.26 feet at Charles City (Floyd County). Two days later on the 21st, the river had an all-time record crest at Charles City of 22.80 feet. Cooperative observer rainfall reports from the 19th through the 21st included 11.81 inches at Charles City, 10.75 inches at Osage (Mitchell County) and 11.85 inches at New Hampton (Chickasaw County).Nearly every creek, stream and river in Chickasaw and Floyd Counties was bankfull or flooding during the National Weather Service storm survey. Many roads were impassable. There was extensive evidence of flash flooding from heavy rains…

8. Apr 12, 2022Tornado$340,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF0 tornado developed southwest of Saratoga and tracked to the northeast before dissipating southeast of town. The tornado damaged trees and some farm outbuildings along its path.

9. Jun 1, 2000Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms dropped 3 to 6 inches of rain during the night of May 31 into the early morning hours of June 1, with the heaviest amounts near the Minnesota/Iowa border. Law enforcement officials reported damage to several roads and bridges in St. Ansgar and Osage (Mitchell County) as well as the Lime Springs and Cresco areas (Howard County).

10. Jul 20, 1999Flash Flood$275,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorms dropped torrential rains on northeast Iowa, which caused a second round of flash floods in as many days. Numerous highways were either closed or remained closed due to high water.

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

110°F2 times, most recently Jul 14, 1936

All-time low

−34°F2 times, most recently Jan 15, 1963

Warmest night

82°FJul 8, 1897

Coldest day

−17°F2 times, most recently Feb 2, 1996

Wettest day

7.10 inJul 21, 1999

Snowiest day

15.0 inNov 30, 1934

Hottest year

1931mean 51.2°F

Coldest year

2014mean 41.1°F

Wettest year

201865.67 in

Driest year

191016.69 in

Snowiest season

74.6 in2018-19

Station New Hampton (USC00135952), 1,148 ft elevation, 22.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1897 to October 27, 2026; 97.0% 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 USC00135952.
• 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.