Emmet County, Iowa severe weather history spans 374 recorded events between 1953 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 34.2% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,362 nationally and #57 in Iowa.
374
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$19.2M
Property damage
The record
What the Emmet County, Iowa severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Emmet County, Iowa severe weather history averages 5.2 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 147 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 43 events fall before 1990 and 331 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is flood, with $12.7M in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Emmet County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 128 | 0 | $1.4M | 90 | 1964–2025 |
| Hail | 122 | 0 | $355K | 3 | 1961–2025 |
| Flood | 47 | 0 | $12.7M | 0 | 2006–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 36 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2009–2024 |
| Tornado | 21 | 0 | $3.1M | F3 | 1953–2022 |
| Flash Flood | 13 | 0 | $1.6M | 0 | 2000–2016 |
| Lightning | 4 | 0 | $85K | 0 | 1997–2008 |
| Funnel Cloud | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2013–2022 |
Decade by decade
Emmet County, Iowa severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
20 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 17 touched down inside it and 3 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953-03-21 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 31.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 1976-06-14 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 26.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 1967-04-30 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 8.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1967-04-30 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 14.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1967-04-30 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2018-09-20 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 2004-06-11 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1994-05-04 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1979-06-28 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1978-07-14 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 mi | Touched down here |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The West Fork of the Des Moines at Estherville crested at 18.1 ft on June 24 at 09:00 am 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.
The West Fork of the Des River crested 6 times through the month of May. The crests are as follows: first, 10.5 ft on 9 May 2019 at 21:30 UTC, second, 10.07 ft on 15 May 2019 at 12:30 UTC, third, 8.88 ft on 23 May 2019 at 01:15 UTC, fourth, 9.28 ft on 25 May 2019 at 07:45 UTC, fifth, 12.3 ft on 28 May 2019 at 12:00 UTC, and sixth at 13.32 ft on 30 May 2019 at 16:45 UTC.
The West Fork of the Des Moines River at Estherville crested twice through the period and remained in flood into October. The first crest was at 10.62 feet on 21 September 2018 at 2145 UTC, the second crest was at 9.81 feet on 29 September 2018 at 1915 UTC.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
9,262
Population (ACS)
$114K
Median home value
19
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 24, 2024 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR |
| Feb 23, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR |
| Mar 23, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Mar 23, 2019 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Aug 20, 2018 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Emmet County, Iowa?
374 events are on record between 1953 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $19.2M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Emmet County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 128 recorded events — 34.2% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Emmet County?
20 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 17 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Emmet County?
19 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Emmet County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Emmet County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Emmet County as very low risk, placing it in the 43 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Emmet County, Iowa severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Dubuque County 700
- Fayette County 444
- Dickinson County 487
- Floyd County 424
- Des Moines County 492
- Franklin County 366
Cite this page
“Emmet County, Iowa.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/iowa/emmet-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.