Palo Alto County, Iowa severe weather history spans 345 recorded events between 1953 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 36.2% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,520 nationally and #69 in Iowa.
345
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$11.5M
Property damage
The record
What the Palo Alto County, Iowa severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Palo Alto County, Iowa severe weather history averages 4.8 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 133 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 46 events fall before 1990 and 299 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Palo Alto County, Iowa record is lightning, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $6.5M 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 Palo Alto County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 125 | 0 | $562K | 3 | 1959–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 102 | 0 | $2.0M | 70 | 1962–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 39 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2024 |
| Flood | 28 | 0 | $1.4M | 0 | 2006–2024 |
| Tornado | 22 | 0 | $6.5M | F2 | 1953–2021 |
| Flash Flood | 19 | 0 | $710K | 0 | 1997–2018 |
| Funnel Cloud | 6 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2022 |
| Lightning | 4 | 1 | $315K | 61 | 1997–2009 |
Decade by decade
Palo Alto 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: 17 touched down inside it and 10 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977-06-10 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 14.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 1994-06-12 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 13.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1984-06-07 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 25.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1984-06-07 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1980-07-19 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 24.4 mi | Crossed in |
| 1976-06-14 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 26.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 1967-04-30 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 14.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1959-05-28 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1957-06-16 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 47.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 1953-06-07 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 49.2 mi | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Palo Alto County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 11, 2008 | Lightning | CURLEW | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 7, 1984 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $2.5M |
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 Emmetsburg crested at 15.47 ft on June 24 at 01:15 pm 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 Moines River at Emmetsburg went into flood in late June and remained in flood through much of July. The river crested 3 times in July. The first crest at 13.25 feet on 3 July 2018 at 13:45Z, the second crest at 13.02 feet on 4 July 2018 at 18:00 UTC, and the third crest at 13.26 feet on 11 July 2018 at 03:00 UTC.
The West Fork of the Des Moines River at Emmetsburg crested twice through the period of flooding. The river remained in flood into July. The first crest was at 12.55 feet on 24 June 2018 at 01:45 UTC, and the second one was at 13.00 feet on 27 June 2018 at 09:00 UTC.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
8,863
Population (ACS)
$123K
Median home value
23
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 Palo Alto County, Iowa?
345 events are on record between 1953 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $11.5M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Palo Alto County?
Hail, with 125 recorded events — 36.2% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Palo Alto County?
27 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 Palo Alto County?
23 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Palo Alto County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Palo Alto County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Palo Alto County as very low risk, placing it in the 15 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Palo Alto 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
- Page County 349
- Plymouth County 692
- Osceola County 262
- Pocahontas County 356
- O'Brien County 481
- Polk County 2,151
Cite this page
“Palo Alto County, Iowa.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/iowa/palo-alto-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.