Palo Alto County

Every recorded tornado

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

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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.

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. Aug 1, 2003Drought, Palo Alto$12.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dry weather settled in over Iowa during the month. The last widespread rain occurred on 09 July. With the increasingly dry conditions became a primary concern as the month progressed. An extended period of heat and humidity from the 15th to 25th saw highs into the 90s to over 100 degrees F. in some locations. By month's end drought indices had worsened to severe to extreme drought across south central Iowa and at least moderate drought over the remainder of the HSA. Waterloo had its driest August on record, Des Moines its 3rd driest and Ottumwa its 8th driest. A cold front brought only a brief respite from the intense heat, as temperatures rebounded into the 90s to near 100…

2. Jun 21, 2024Flood$721,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The West Fork of the Des Moines at Emmetsburg crested at 15.47 ft on June 24 at 01:15 pm CDT. The river remained in flood through the end of the month and into July. Preliminary information indicates this is the new flood of record for the point.

3. Dec 15, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Law enforcement reported hog building completely destroyed.

4. Nov 10, 1998High Wind, Palo Alto$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Iowa experienced the worst November storm system since the great storm of 9 and 10 November 1975. During the 9th, low pressure developed over southeast Colorado. The low moved across Kansas during the afternoon and evening of the 9th and deepened to about 990 mb. Warm and moist air was drawn north ahead of the low resulting in widespread across the state. Thunderstorms erupted during the late evening of the 9th, though no severe weather occurred. During the predawn hours of the 10th, a jet streak rotated around the base of the upper level low pressure area. The jet stream, combined with a tropospheric fold, resulted in explosive deepening of the low. As the low moved through…

5. Jul 11, 1997Lightning$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms moved through Palo Alto County. As they did, lightning struck a building housing two businesses in Graettinger. A fire started which caused considerable damage to both of them.

6. Feb 24, 2007Winter Storm, Palo Alto$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major winter storm affected Iowa through the 24th and 25th of February. A powerful upper low moved onto the west coast during the middle of the week, and advanced east through the Rockies during the end of the week. Strong warm air advection took place over the top of a shallow polar airmass that was in place over Iowa. The east-southeasterly flow at the surface drew cool and dry air into the state from the east, setting the stage for a significant ice storm. The main area of precipitation overspread the state during the early morning hours of the 24th and persisted through much of the 25th. Initially, very warm air aloft meant that the precipitation fell in the form of freezing…

7. Jul 26, 1997Tornado$220,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A stationary frontal boundary was located east to west across northern Iowa during the predawn hours. Thunderstorms erupted along this boundary in the very unstable air. Dew point temperatures were around 80 degrees F. with CAPE values near 5000 J/kg. A small cluster of thunderstorms developed and slid east across the area. Winds of 70 MPH swept through the town of Emmetsburg. A church steeple was taken down by the winds. A short time later a small tornado touched down at the Emmetsburg Airport. One hanger was destroyed and 4 private airplanes were overturned. Three of them were totally destroyed, one severely damaged. The aircraft damage itself was around $140,000.

8. Jul 26, 1997Flash Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms moving into Palo Alto County not only produced severe weather, but very heavy rainfall as well. In the town of Emmetsburg, 2 1/2 to 4 inches of rain fell in a 45 minute period, causing local flash flooding in the are as well as many flooded basements. Reports of 4 to 5 feet of water in basements were received. Several roads were closed for a period of time as water over a foot deep overtopped them in places. The ground was quite wet before the rain fell as significant rainfall had been received just two to four days prior.

9. Jun 26, 2011High Wind, Palo Alto$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A dynamic pattern was once again in place over the central U.S. A strong surge of moisture took place during the day on the 26th, with precipitable water values rising to over 2 inches by evening. The airmass became very unstable with the lifted index falling to around -8 and CAPE in excess of 4000 J/kg. The atmosphere was quite warm with the freezing level between 15,000 and 16,000 feet. CAPE in the -10 to -30 C layer of the atmosphere was around 600 J/kg. Downdraft CAPE was quite high, in the 1200 to 1500 J/kg range. Considerable shear was available with shear in the 50 to 65 kt range. Meanwhile, a strong mid level trough of low pressure approached the central U.S. along with a…

10. Apr 7, 2001Flood, Palo Alto$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The first significant rainfall of the month affected much of the Des Moines Hydrologic Service Area (HSA) on the 5th as scattered showers and the seasons's first thunderstorms moved across the area. The 24-hour isohyetal map showed a chaotic pattern as 0.50 to 0.75 inches fell across west central Iowa, mainly in the North Raccoon River basin. Rains in excess of a half-inch fell along the southern border of Iowa. Less than 0.10 of an inch fell over northwest and south central parts of the HSA, while a broad area of around 0.25 inches fell from just north of Des Moines northeast into the Cedar basin. Early on the 6th a few severe storms developed over west central Iowa and moved…

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

108°F2 times, most recently Jul 17, 1936

All-time low

−38°FFeb 9, 1899

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Jul 31, 1955

Coldest day

−19°FJan 11, 1912

Wettest day

6.45 inSep 15, 2004

Snowiest day

16.0 inMar 2, 2007

Hottest year

1931mean 51.9°F

Coldest year

1979mean 38.5°F

Wettest year

199345.04 in

Driest year

195815.50 in

Snowiest season

68.7 in1935-36

Station Estherville 4E (USC00132724), 1,320 ft elevation, 21.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 89.5% 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 USC00132724.
• 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.