Severe Weather History


Hazard archive · 1950 — present

Tornado in Buchanan County, Iowa

50

Recorded events

0

Direct deaths

9

Direct injuries

$7.4M

Property damage

Tornado in Buchanan County, Iowa: 50 recorded events between 1950 and 2026. The strongest on record measured F3. That places the county #372 nationally and #13 statewide for this hazard.

Decade by decade

Tornado in Buchanan County, Iowa: events per decade

Tornado in Buchanan County, Iowa: recorded events per decade
Tornado in Buchanan County, Iowa: recorded events per decade

Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.

The busiest decade for tornado in Buchanan County is the 2000s, when 21 of the county's 50 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 Buchanan County archive, tornado makes up 8.4% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #372 for this hazard and #13 within Iowa, putting it in the 86.9 percentile of all U.S. counties.

Seasonality

Events by month

0Jan
0Feb
3Mar
5Apr
15May
13Jun
9Jul
3Aug
2Sep
0Oct
0Nov
0Dec

May is the peak month for tornado in Buchanan County with 15 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.

Tornado tracks

Paths crossing this county

DateScalePath lengthMax widthOrigin
1954-04-30EF480.4 mi200 ydCrossed in
2000-05-11EF318.6 mi210 ydCrossed in
1960-04-16EF329.8 mi800 ydCrossed in
2008-05-25EF332.0 mi1,232 ydTouched down here
1995-07-27EF320.0 mi150 ydTouched down here
1964-05-07EF32.3 mi200 ydTouched down here
2023-03-31EF24.9 mi50 ydCrossed in
2001-09-06EF21.0 mi50 ydTouched down here
1998-06-18EF220.0 mi30 ydTouched down here
1990-06-02EF210.5 mi67 ydTouched down here
Source: NOAA SPC SVRGIS tornado tracks · path geometry intersected with county boundaries

Significant events

Deadliest on record

DateLocationScaleDeathsInjuriesDamage
May 25, 2008FAIRBANKEF303$1.0M
Apr 23, 2001INDEPENDENCEF103$1.0M
May 14, 1961F102$25K
May 7, 1964F301$250K
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events · dates UTC

Most recent

Latest recorded events

DateLocationMagnitudeDamage
Apr 14, 2026MONTIEF1$0
Apr 16, 2024BOIES BEND CO PARKEF1$0
Mar 31, 2023ROWLEYEFU$0
Mar 31, 2023LIME CREEK CO PARKEFU$0
Jul 6, 2022WINTHROPEFU$0
Jul 6, 2022FAIRBANKEFU$0
Jul 15, 2021AURORAEFU$0
Jul 14, 2021HAZLETONEF0$0
Mar 28, 2020JESUPEF1$0
Jun 9, 2019BUFFALO CREEK CO PARKEFU$0
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events · dates UTC · recent entries may be preliminary

Other hazards here

More from Buchanan County

County overview →

From the record

What the reports say

Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain

Quick answers

Frequently asked

How many tornado events are on record in Buchanan County, Iowa?

50 tornado events are recorded in Buchanan County between 1950 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths.

What is the strongest tornado recorded in Buchanan County?

The strongest tornado on record in Buchanan County measured F3.

Where does the tornado data for Buchanan 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

“Tornado in Buchanan County, Iowa.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/iowa/buchanan-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.


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