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
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
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
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954-04-30 | EF4 | 80.4 mi | 200 yd | Crossed in |
| 2000-05-11 | EF3 | 18.6 mi | 210 yd | Crossed in |
| 1960-04-16 | EF3 | 29.8 mi | 800 yd | Crossed in |
| 2008-05-25 | EF3 | 32.0 mi | 1,232 yd | Touched down here |
| 1995-07-27 | EF3 | 20.0 mi | 150 yd | Touched down here |
| 1964-05-07 | EF3 | 2.3 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 2023-03-31 | EF2 | 4.9 mi | 50 yd | Crossed in |
| 2001-09-06 | EF2 | 1.0 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
| 1998-06-18 | EF2 | 20.0 mi | 30 yd | Touched down here |
| 1990-06-02 | EF2 | 10.5 mi | 67 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 25, 2008 | FAIRBANK | EF3 | 0 | 3 | $1.0M |
| Apr 23, 2001 | INDEPENDENCE | F1 | 0 | 3 | $1.0M |
| May 14, 1961 | F1 | 0 | 2 | $25K | |
| May 7, 1964 | F3 | 0 | 1 | $250K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 14, 2026 | MONTI | EF1 | $0 |
| Apr 16, 2024 | BOIES BEND CO PARK | EF1 | $0 |
| Mar 31, 2023 | ROWLEY | EFU | $0 |
| Mar 31, 2023 | LIME CREEK CO PARK | EFU | $0 |
| Jul 6, 2022 | WINTHROP | EFU | $0 |
| Jul 6, 2022 | FAIRBANK | EFU | $0 |
| Jul 15, 2021 | AURORA | EFU | $0 |
| Jul 14, 2021 | HAZLETON | EF0 | $0 |
| Mar 28, 2020 | JESUP | EF1 | $0 |
| Jun 9, 2019 | BUFFALO CREEK CO PARK | EFU | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Buchanan County
- Thunderstorm Wind 275
- Hail 164
- Flash Flood 60
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A second tornado touched down 4 miles southwest of Hazelton with a continuous path for 8 miles to a point 4 miles southeast of Hazelton. At it's maximum, it produced F1 damage with a path width of about 1000 feet. This includes damage to major power lines and a couple of farms. This was the strongest tornado in Buchanan County.
A tornado developed just east of the county lines southwest of Fairbank and moved east. The tornado cross the southern part of Hazelton and continued east into Delaware County. Over ten homes, about 50 non-anchored mobile homes at a dealership, and numerous outbuildings were destroyed. Several other homes sustained structural damage. Numerous trees and utility poles were also blown down. An SUV was flipped over in Hazelton injuring the driver and some passengers.
A farm south of Jesup sustained massive damage from a tornado and severe thunderstorm winds which passed across Buchanan County. Most of the out buildings were damaged or destroyed and every tree on the farm was lost. A double car garage was blown into a cornfield, the tool shed was pushed off it's foundation, gas barrels were gone, and a Morton Building was destroyed. There was also serious damage to the the barn roof. In the home glass was driven into the woodwork. Closet doors and the access door to the attic were blown off, and attic insulation was driven down into the house. At another farm three grain wagons were lifted off the ground. One landed vertically across the road in a ditch and another landed in a ditch near the farmhouse. Shingles and shutters were blown off this house, and 60 feet of roof was torn off the cattle shed. At the Cedar Crest and St Athansius Cemetaries east of Jesup 46 trees were destroyed.
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.