271
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$4.8M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Black Hawk County, Iowa: 271 recorded events between 1956 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 91. That places the county #574 nationally and #12 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Black Hawk County, Iowa: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Black Hawk County is the 2000s, when 88 of the county's 271 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Black Hawk County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 31.5% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #574 for this hazard and #12 within Iowa, putting it in the 81.8 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Black Hawk County with 82 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 1989 | 82 | 0 | 2 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 17, 2025 | (ALO)WATERLOO MUNI A | 50 | $0 |
| Aug 15, 2025 | LA PORTE CITY | 63 | $0 |
| Jul 30, 2025 | RAYMOND | 52 | $0 |
| Jul 30, 2025 | EVANSDALE | 56 | $0 |
| Jul 30, 2025 | ORANGE | 51 | $0 |
| Jul 29, 2025 | WATERLOO | 70 | $50K |
| Jul 29, 2025 | (ALO)WATERLOO MUNI A | 68 | $0 |
| Jul 28, 2025 | (ALO)WATERLOO MUNI A | 51 | $0 |
| Jun 12, 2025 | JUBILEE | 54 | $12K |
| Jun 12, 2025 | LA PORTE CITY | 58 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Black Hawk County
- Hail 253
- Flood 136
- Heavy Rain 92
- Flash Flood 44
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Air traffic controller reports trees, estimated 3-4 feet in diameter, uprooted at the airport. Limbs, estimated 8-10 inches in diameter were blown down. Some hangar doors were bent in and a helicopter was blown into a fence.
Aluminum machine shed was ripped off its foundation and blown anticyclonically north and east, destroying it. Debris from the shed continued in an anticyclonic path and was blown southward and wrapped into a grove of trees 100 feet to the east of the original location of the shed. Door from the machine shed was blown 15 feet into a neighboring corn field. Cattle barn 120 feet to the west was shifted south by 15 feet.
Thunderstorms formed along a stationary frontal boundary across Iowa. Although they were widespread, there was little in the way of severe weather associated with them. One inch diameter IOWA Cont'd hail was reported on the south side of Waterloo. High winds were also reported in the area. Northeast of La Porte City saw high winds. A grove of maple trees, 20 in all, was downed by the high winds. The average diameter of the trees was about one foot. The storms produced heavy rainfall. A small area of east central Tama County into west central Benton County received very heavy rainfall. Three to six inches of rain fell in a 3 hour period in that area. A check with officials in the county indicated there was no significant flooding from the rains however.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Black Hawk County, Iowa?
271 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Black Hawk County between 1956 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Black Hawk County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Black Hawk County measured 91.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Black Hawk County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Thunderstorm Wind in Black Hawk County, Iowa.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/iowa/black-hawk-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.