64
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
21
Direct injuries
$37.2M
Property damage
Tornado in Story County, Iowa: 64 recorded events between 1950 and 2025. The strongest on record measured F5. That places the county #203 nationally and #4 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Story County, Iowa: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Story County is the 2000s, when 12 of the county's 64 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 Story County archive, tornado makes up 5.8% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #203 for this hazard and #4 within Iowa, putting it in the 93.0 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for tornado in Story County with 21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976-06-13 | EF5 | 21.3 mi | 880 yd | Crossed in |
| 1953-05-20 | EF3 | 116.1 mi | 400 yd | Crossed in |
| 1991-03-22 | EF3 | 43.0 mi | 70 yd | Touched down here |
| 1990-03-13 | EF3 | 9.0 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 1950-06-15 | EF3 | 5.6 mi | 300 yd | Touched down here |
| 2024-05-21 | EF2 | 40.8 mi | 1,000 yd | Crossed in |
| 2005-11-12 | EF2 | 12.0 mi | 100 yd | Crossed in |
| 1990-03-13 | EF2 | 15.0 mi | 60 yd | Crossed in |
| 1976-06-13 | EF2 | 1.3 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 1974-06-18 | EF2 | 2.0 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 1953 | F3 | 1 | 0 | $0 | |
| Sep 8, 2005 | AMES | F1 | 0 | 8 | $150K |
| Jun 16, 1950 | F3 | 0 | 5 | $0 | |
| May 21, 2024 | CAMBRIDGE | EF2 | 0 | 2 | $3.2M |
| Apr 8, 1999 | SLATER | F1 | 0 | 2 | $800K |
| Aug 27, 1965 | F2 | 0 | 2 | $25K | |
| Nov 12, 2005 | AMES | F2 | 0 | 1 | $250K |
| Mar 14, 1990 | F3 | 0 | 1 | $250K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 19, 2025 | GILBERT | EFU | $0 |
| May 21, 2024 | CAMBRIDGE | EF2 | $3.2M |
| Apr 23, 2022 | KELLEY | EF0 | $1K |
| Jul 19, 2018 | COLLINS | EF0 | $0 |
| Jul 19, 2018 | ROLAND | EF0 | $0 |
| Jul 19, 2018 | STORY CITY | EF0 | $0 |
| May 29, 2018 | AMES | EF0 | $0 |
| Aug 21, 2017 | MIDVALE | EF0 | $0 |
| Aug 21, 2017 | KELLEY | EF0 | $0 |
| Mar 7, 2017 | GILBERT | EF0 | $75K |
Other hazards here
More from Story County
- Thunderstorm Wind 390
- Hail 325
- Heavy Rain 174
- Flash Flood 64
- Flood 53
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
This tornado developed in southern Ames just south of the Highway 30 and 69 interchange damaging traffic signals at Airport Road and Duff Avenue. It tracked through an Iowa DNR nursery and heavily damaged 1/4 of a mile of pine trees along a road. The tornado weakened and moved across a soccer field complex, damaging more trees before dissipating as it reached the South Skunk River.
Tornado continued from Boone County into Story County. The tornado produced tree and shed damage southwest of Gilbert before downing power lines just west of Gilbert. Additional tree and outbuilding damage occurred as the tornado raced northeast with an intermittent track.
This is a multiple segment tornado with three segments that passed through portions of Story, Marshall and Hardin counties. This is the first segment in Story county. This longer track tornado formed about a mile and a half east of Zearing where a farmstead sustained roof damage to multiple buildings. The relatively narrow tornado continued to the NE, with RFD winds destroying 6 grain bins and an outbuilding just south of the track. The tornado then passed into Marshall county.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Story County, Iowa?
64 tornado events are recorded in Story County between 1950 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Story County?
The strongest tornado on record in Story County measured F5.
Where does the tornado data for Story 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 Story County, Iowa.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/iowa/story-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.