166
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$3.4M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Winneshiek County, Iowa: 166 recorded events between 1955 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 78. That places the county #1,361 nationally and #42 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Winneshiek County, Iowa: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Winneshiek County is the 2010s, when 50 of the county's 166 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 Winneshiek County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 37.7% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #1,361 for this hazard and #42 within Iowa, putting it in the 56.6 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Winneshiek County with 46 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.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 1994 | Decorah | 50 | 0 | 2 | $50K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2025 | DECORAH | 50 | $0 |
| Aug 30, 2024 | RIDGEWAY | 50 | $15K |
| Aug 6, 2024 | DECORAH MUNI ARPT | 50 | $0 |
| Aug 6, 2024 | LOCUST | 65 | $5K |
| Aug 6, 2024 | LOCUST | 60 | $0 |
| Aug 6, 2024 | BLUFFTON | 48 | $0 |
| Aug 6, 2024 | BLUFFTON | 50 | $15K |
| Jun 12, 2024 | OSSIAN | 65 | $20K |
| Jun 12, 2024 | CALMAR | 50 | $0 |
| Jun 12, 2024 | SPILLVILLE | 45 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Winneshiek County
- Hail 161
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
In and near Calmar, several buildings sustained wind damage and numerous trees were blown down. The roof was blown off a house, a business lost part of its roof, a system to move grain between storage silos was destroyed, a metal silo collapsed, the side of another silo was blown in, and a portion of the roof was removed from a large barn. At the community college, numerous buildings sustained roof and siding damage with doors blown in, windows broken, and a couple of vehicles were also blown over. The public schools sustained damage to their athletic fields. Metal bleachers at the softball field were blown over and pushed through a chain link fence. At the football field, the new press box was blown off the top of the stadium and two metal light poles were downed. Some rooftop air conditioning units were flipped over on the high school building.
Two barns were blown down between Castalia and Ossian. One of these barns was a 114 foot by 283 foot freestall barn under construction. On the same farm, another calf barn was partially destroyed and three cattle sheds were completely destroyed. One cow was killed, 55 acres of corn was sheared off by the wind and 50 acres of alfalfa was destroyed.
Southeast of Calmar, a commodity shed was destroyed with several other buildings damaged, a 30 foot travel trailer was tossed across the yard of a residence and a large pine tree was topped with the debris found a quarter of a mile away.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Winneshiek County, Iowa?
166 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Winneshiek County between 1955 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Winneshiek County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Winneshiek County measured 78.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Winneshiek 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
“Thunderstorm Wind in Winneshiek County, Iowa.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/iowa/winneshiek-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.