45
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$24.0M
Property damage
Tornado in Pocahontas County, Iowa: 45 recorded events between 1953 and 2024. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #479 nationally and #22 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Pocahontas County, Iowa: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Pocahontas County is the 2020s, when 14 of the county's 45 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 Pocahontas County archive, tornado makes up 12.6% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #479 for this hazard and #22 within Iowa, putting it in the 83.2 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for tornado in Pocahontas County with 15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979-06-28 | EF4 | 14.9 mi | 33 yd | Touched down here |
| 2011-04-09 | EF4 | 3.2 mi | 587 yd | Touched down here |
| 1995-05-27 | EF4 | 36.0 mi | 400 yd | Crossed in |
| 2011-04-09 | EF3 | 29.4 mi | 2,640 yd | Crossed in |
| 1953-06-07 | EF3 | 30.7 mi | 200 yd | Crossed in |
| 2022-04-12 | EF2 | 7.2 mi | 450 yd | Touched down here |
| 2011-04-09 | EF2 | 0.9 mi | 146 yd | Touched down here |
| 2004-05-21 | EF2 | 12.5 mi | 880 yd | Touched down here |
| 1993-06-29 | EF2 | 15.0 mi | 70 yd | Touched down here |
| 1990-06-19 | EF2 | 16.0 mi | 77 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 12, 2022 | PALMER | EF2 | 0 | 1 | $150K |
| Jun 7, 1984 | F2 | 0 | 1 | $2.5M |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 2024 | VARINA | EFU | $0 |
| Apr 16, 2024 | ROLFE | EF0 | $10K |
| Apr 16, 2024 | ROLFE | EFU | $0 |
| Apr 16, 2024 | PALMER | EF0 | $200 |
| Jun 25, 2023 | POCAHONTAS MUNI ARPT | EF0 | $10K |
| May 14, 2023 | HAVELOCK | EFU | $0 |
| May 13, 2023 | WESTVIEW | EFU | $0 |
| May 13, 2023 | WARE | EFU | $0 |
| May 13, 2023 | BLANDEN | EF0 | $20K |
| May 13, 2023 | FONDA | EFU | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Pocahontas County
- Hail 145
- Thunderstorm Wind 93
- Heavy Rain 42
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
This is a continuation of a large wedge tornado. This tornado started in Sac County, clipped southeast Buena Vista County and continued in Pocahontas County. This tornado continued to produce numerous satellite tornadoes through Pocahontas County. This produced an unusual and varying debris field.
An intense EF4 satellite tornado on the west flank of a large wedge tornado passing through western Pocahontas county. This tornado approached from the northwest and completely destroyed a home leaving little debris at the site. Grove of mature hardwood trees near the home was decimated and debarked and a large combine in the machine shed was tossed and rolled several hundred feet. This tornado also absorbed the circulation of an EF2 satellite tornado.
Tornado developed a few miles east northeast of Palmer and moved northeast to north for the entire path. The tornado destroyed a farm buildings and also snapped several power poles producing the EF2 rating. Otherwise, much of the path was in rural cropland with a large dust cloud enveloping the tornado for much of its life.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Pocahontas County, Iowa?
45 tornado events are recorded in Pocahontas County between 1953 and 2024, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Pocahontas County?
The strongest tornado on record in Pocahontas County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Pocahontas 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 Pocahontas County, Iowa.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/iowa/pocahontas-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.