Thunderstorm Wind in Palo Alto County, Iowa

Thunderstorm Wind in Palo Alto County, Iowa: 102 recorded events between 1962 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 70. That places the county #2,195 nationally and #83 statewide for this hazard.

Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.

The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Palo Alto County is the 2010s, when 25 of the county's 102 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 Palo Alto County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 29.6% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #2,195 for this hazard and #83 within Iowa, putting it in the 30.4 percentile of all U.S. counties.

Jun is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Palo Alto County with 34 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.

• Hail 125

Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain

How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Palo Alto County, Iowa?

102 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Palo Alto County between 1962 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.

What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Palo Alto County?

The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Palo Alto County measured 70.

Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Palo Alto 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.