Mitchell County, Iowa severe weather history spans 290 recorded events between 1954 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 37.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,832 nationally and #89 in Iowa.
290
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$15.3M
Property damage
The record
What the Mitchell County, Iowa severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Mitchell County, Iowa severe weather history averages 4.1 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 98 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 37 events fall before 1990 and 253 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is flash flood, with $7.7M 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 Mitchell County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 110 | 0 | $1.5M | 3 | 1965–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 105 | 0 | $2.9M | 74 | 1966–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 22 | 0 | $7.7M | 0 | 1999–2021 |
| Tornado | 18 | 0 | $1.6M | F2 | 1954–2022 |
| Flood | 15 | 0 | $1.6M | 0 | 2008–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 12 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2013–2021 |
| Funnel Cloud | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2005–2021 |
| Lightning | 3 | 0 | $110K | 0 | 2010–2017 |
Decade by decade
Mitchell County, Iowa severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
27 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 21 touched down inside it and 6 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968-05-15 | EF5 | 13 | 462 | 62.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 1967-04-30 | EF4 | 0 | 0 | 13.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 1965-05-05 | EF4 | 0 | 11 | 41.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2004-06-11 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1971-07-12 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 15.4 mi | Crossed in |
| 1993-06-08 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1981-05-23 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 1966-06-11 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-05-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 23.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1954-05-23 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 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
Heavy rain produced wide spread flash flooding across much of Mitchell County. Numerous roads around Stacyville were under water by early evening and sand bagging occurred along the Little Cedar River. U.S. Highway 218 was closed by flooding between Osage and St. Ansgar and State Highway 9 was closed east and west of Osage. West of Osage, two culverts were washed away, causing a section of Highway 9 to collapse. A total of 22 roads were closed, 6 to 8 bridges washed out and approximately 90 percent of the gravel roads across the entire county were covered with water. Damage to the roads was estimated to be around $4.5 million. In addition to all the road damage, a railroad bridge north of St. Ansgar was also washed out. The Stacyville fire department reported between 6 and 7 inches of rain had fallen during the mid and late afternoon hours. The heavy rains also took out about 15 percent of the county's corn crop.
Highway 218 was closed due to flooding and Highway 9 east of Osage was closed since water topped the bridge. Widespread overland flooding continued across the county, which was described as a lake on Sunday June 8. In addition, the Cedar River was in flood for several days, cresting in Charles City, Iowa during the morning of June 9th.||In Stacyville the flooding was the worst in years and left water standing in fields for more than a week. Besides crop damage, many basements were flooded.
Runoff from heavy rains pushed the Little Cedar River out of its banks. County roads A46 and T64 near New Haven had to be closed because of the flood waters. Spring Creek also went out if its banks causing U.S. Highway 18 to be closed near Osage. A dam on the Cedar River near Mitchell sustained damage from the flood waters. Numerous gravel roads across the county suffered washouts.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
10,575
Population (ACS)
$175K
Median home value
20
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 24, 2024 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR |
| May 24, 2024 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | 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 |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Mitchell County, Iowa?
290 events are on record between 1954 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $15.3M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Mitchell County?
Hail, with 110 recorded events — 37.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Mitchell County?
27 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 21 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Mitchell County?
20 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Mitchell County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Mitchell County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Mitchell County as very low risk, placing it in the 38 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Mitchell 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
- Mills County 329
- Monona County 337
- Marshall County 528
- Monroe County 228
- Marion County 710
- Montgomery County 278
Cite this page
“Mitchell County, Iowa.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/iowa/mitchell-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.