43
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$10.2M
Property damage
Tornado in Lyon County, Iowa: 43 recorded events between 1951 and 2025. The strongest on record measured F2. That places the county #537 nationally and #26 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Lyon County, Iowa: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Lyon County is the 2000s, when 10 of the county's 43 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 Lyon County archive, tornado makes up 9.9% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #537 for this hazard and #26 within Iowa, putting it in the 81.4 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for tornado in Lyon County with 14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-06-25 | EF4 | 13.7 mi | 800 yd | Touched down here |
| 1971-05-31 | EF3 | 46.5 mi | 100 yd | Crossed in |
| 1986-04-26 | EF2 | 18.5 mi | 120 yd | Touched down here |
| 2008-05-01 | EF2 | 13.0 mi | 400 yd | Crossed in |
| 1993-06-07 | EF2 | 10.0 mi | 127 yd | Touched down here |
| 1993-05-07 | EF2 | 11.5 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 1986-04-26 | EF2 | 9.5 mi | 70 yd | Touched down here |
| 1978-07-06 | EF2 | 14.2 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 1954-06-19 | EF2 | 2.3 mi | 880 yd | Touched down here |
| 2025-07-28 | EF1 | 2.1 mi | 250 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 1986 | F2 | 1 | 2 | $2.5M |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2025 | LAKEWOOD | EFU | $0 |
| Jul 29, 2025 | ALVORD | EF1 | $0 |
| Apr 16, 2024 | GEORGE | EF1 | $0 |
| May 30, 2022 | DOON | EF0 | $0 |
| May 30, 2022 | ROCK RAPIDS MUNI ARP | EF1 | $0 |
| Aug 18, 2019 | LOSTER | EF1 | $200K |
| Jun 18, 2014 | GEORGE | EF0 | $0 |
| Jun 16, 2014 | ALVORD | EF0 | $0 |
| Jun 26, 2010 | LITTLE ROCK | EF1 | $20K |
| Jun 26, 2010 | LITTLE ROCK | EF2 | $500K |
Other hazards here
More from Lyon County
- Hail 173
- Thunderstorm Wind 119
- Flood 85
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A tornado destroyed two hog confinement buildings, killing about 12 hogs, numerous outbuildings, a metal farm building, tore the roof off a house and damaged at least 6 other houses, and caused damage to other farm buildings, power lines, vehicles, and trees, before moving out of Lyon County and into Osceola County.
Border Crosser, went into Minnehaha County, SD at 1500CST. Intense thunderstorms developed ahead of an approaching cold front. This line was the first wave of storms to form. The bulk of the severe weather passed to the west and north of Iowa. One very large cell formed over the northwest corner of the state. It produced a tornado northwest of Larchwood, in the northwest corner of Lyon County. Buildings were damaged on three farms. A total of 10 buildings were destroyed as well as two silos. On one of the farms, the owner watched as a 1500 pound fertilizer tank was lifted 50 feet into the air and blew past his window. Total damage to the three farmsteads affected amounted to about $200,000. The only injury that occurred was to a bull on one of the farms. The bull sustained a broken leg. The tornado passed into southeast South Dakota shortly after this damage occurred. It was a border crossing tornado.
A tornado touched down 5 miles west of Rock Rapids, just east of Fig Avenue north of 160th Street, marked by damage to a corn field. The tornado traveled in a general east-southeast direction, striking a farmstead and flattening a silo within the first half-mile of its track. Within another minute, the tornado slashed through another farmstead, causing significant damage to a grain bin, large trees, and removed roofing from a home and a livestock shed. Around three miles west-southwest of Rock Rapids, several power transmission poles were broken. As the tornado passed just south of Rock Rapids, damage was mainly to trees, with several uprooted. The final structural damage occurred south of Rock Rapids just east of U.S. Highway 75 with roof panels torn off another livestock shed. The tornado lifted just over 2 miles southeast of Rock Rapids after crossing County Road K52. The average path width was 50 yards.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Lyon County, Iowa?
43 tornado events are recorded in Lyon County between 1951 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Lyon County?
The strongest tornado on record in Lyon County measured F2.
Where does the tornado data for Lyon 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 Lyon County, Iowa.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/iowa/lyon-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.