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Tornadoes in northeast Iowa, southeast Minnesota, and southwest & central Wisconsin |
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| Background Information | Statistics (1850-Present) | Records (1850-Present) |
| Date | Time | Location | Other Counties Affected |
Length (miles) |
Width (yards) |
Deaths** | Injuries** | EF-Scale | ||
| Month | Day | Year | ||||||||
| 9 | 12 | 2019 | 1549-1556 CST | Ossian 4.1S to Castalia | None | 2.82 | 150 | 0 | 0 | EF0 |
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A weak tornado touched down south of Ossian. The tornado moved northeast before dissipating southeast of Ossian. Several farm buildings and numerous trees were damaged along the path of the tornado. This tornado caused $60,000 in property damage.
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| 5 | 17 | 2017 | 1750-1751 CST | Bluffton 3.6SSE to Bluffton 3.4SSE | None | 0.2 | 30 | 0 | 0 | EF0 |
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A brief EF-0 tornado touched down northeast of Ridgeway. The tornado only produced some tree damage. This tornado caused $2,000 in property damage. More on this tornado can be found at: https://www.weather.gov/arx/may1717
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| 5 | 15 | 2017 | 1745-1747 CST | Calmar 2.1W to Calmar 1.4WSW | None | 0.98 | 50 | 0 | 0 | EF0 |
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A short-lived EF0 tornado occurred west of Calmar. The tornado started west of 265th Ave between 160th and 175th Streets and traveled southeast across Lake Meyer. A NWS Storm Survey Team found a broken line of tree damage along the path of the tornado. This tornado caused $4,000 in property damage. More on this tornado can be found at: https://www.weather.gov/arx/may1517
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| 8 | 19 | 2009 | 1500-1515 CST | Calmar 1.5 NE to Nordness 1.3 N | None | 5.29 | 25 | 0 | 0 | EF0 |
| A tornado touch down one mile northeast of Calmar with sporadic tree and corn field damage. It was estimated that this tornado caused $5,000 in property damage and $35,000 in crop damage. Three other tornaodes touched down in northeast Iowa (Chickasaw, Fayette, and Howard counties) during this afternoon. | ||||||||||
| 6 | 26 | 2002 | 1322-1326 CST | Ft. Atkinson 1.5W to Ft. Atkinson 1W | None | 0.3 | 25 | 0 | 0 | F0 |
| A tornado touched down on a farm just west of Fort Atkinson. It completely destroyed an old barn. Other nearby outbuildings sustained minor damage, as did a nearby farm house. There were no injuries reported. The tornado caused an estimated $15,000 in property damage and $7,500 in crop damage. | ||||||||||
| 7 | 19 | 1994 | 2100 CST | Decorah 7SW | None | 0.2 | 25 | 0 | 0 | F0 |
| 7 | 19 | 1994 | 2006-2050 CST | Schley 1W to Decorah 7N | Howard | 23 | 150 | 0 | 0 | F3 |
| One farmstead was completely destroyed while 3 others sustained heavy damage as this tornado tracked intermittently from Howard County, into Winneshiek. Numerous farm buildings were flattened. There were reports of debris in Decorah, and at least two people were injured by high wind. | ||||||||||
| 6 | 12 | 1990 | 2148-2150 CST | Ossian 2SE to Castalia 2NW | None | 2 | 40 | 0 | 0 | F1 |
| A mobile home was taken off its foundation. | ||||||||||
| 6 | 12 | 1990 | 2050 CST | Fort Atkinson | None | 0.1 | 15 | 0 | 0 | F0 |
| 5 | 24 | 1989 | 1945-2000 CST | Lawler 3W to Jackson Junction | Chickasaw | 10 | 35 | 0 | 0 | F1 |
| This tornado started in Chickasaw County but crossed into southwest parts of Winneshiek County before dissipating. | ||||||||||
| 3 | 24 | 1988 | 1715 CST | Waucoma to Calmar 2W | Fayette | 9 | 100 | 0 | 0 | F2 |
| Considerable damage to farm buildings in the path of the tornado was reported; some were almost completely destroyed. | ||||||||||
| 7 | 29 | 1987 | 1810 CST | Waukon 10W to Waukon 2S | Allamakee | 10 | 30 | 0 | 0 | F2 |
| This tornado moved through mainly rural areas along the Winneshiek-Allamakee County line until it hit a lumber yard south of Waukon. There it destroyed 2 buildings and threw 2x4 boards through the walls of others. Damage at the lumberyard alone was around $250,000. | ||||||||||
| 7 | 10 | 1984 | 1416-1420 CST | Decorah 2S | None | 2 | 50 | 0 | 0 | F1 |
| A tornado touched down south of Decorah and wrought significant damage to more than one farmstead. The storm turned a 40,000 bushel grain bin inside out and wrapped it around a chicken house. Holes were punched in the roof of a storage building by a grain elevator and a door was ripped off. Numerous trees were knocked down, and fencing destroyed at another farm. A wagon was blown into a new pickup, and at still another farm a branch flew through a house window and sprayed glass all over the furniture. A good deal of corn was knocked down by this storm as well. | ||||||||||
| 8 | 4 | 1979 | 0635 CST | ? | None | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | F1 |
| 8 | 4 | 1979 | 0620 CST | ? | None | ? | ? | 0 | 1 | F1 |
| 8 | 4 | 1979 | 0619 CST | ? | None | ? | ? | 0 | 1 | F1 |
| 6 | 19 | 1979 | 2130 CST | ? | None | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | F0 |
| 6 | 4 | 1973 | 1530 CST | Ossian | None | 1 | 100 | 0 | 0 | F2 |
| A new home had part of the roof blown off. | ||||||||||
| 8 | 25 | 1965 | 1900 CST | Ridgeway to Ossian 2N | None | 15 | 150 | 0 | 1 | F2 |
| Barns were destroyed. | ||||||||||
| 5 | 5 | 1965 | 1945-2124 CST | Nora Springs 2N (IA) to Yucatan (MN) | Fillmore (MN) Floyd Houston (MN) Howard Mitchell |
80 | 150 | 0 | 17 | F4 |
| Moved east-northeast from 2 miles north of Nora Springs, passing 3 miles north of Cresco and lifting near Yucatan, MN. The only F4 damage was to two large farm houses, 3 miles northwest of Kendallville in Winneshiek County. About 28 farms lost buildings in Iowa. Six people were injured in Minnesota, as homes and barns were destroyed near Canton, Lenora, and Newburg (Fillmore County). Six people were injured in Floyd County and 5 in Howard County. | ||||||||||
| 4 | 11 | 1965 | 1315 CST- ? | Fredericksburg 4NW to Waukon 8E | Allamakee Chickasaw Fayette |
110 | 300 | 0 | 0 | F1 |
| Apparently discontinuous path. Major damage near Ossian. | ||||||||||
| 4 | 19 | 1957 | 1330 CST | ? | None | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | F0 |
| 7 | 1 | 1956 | 0600 CST | Calmar 2E | None | ? | ? | ? | ? | F1 |
| A small tornado cut a path to the northeast passing east of Calmar. Three farms sustained heavy damage. Two men saw a funnel and ran for cover. | ||||||||||
| 6 | 20 | 1937 | 1937 CST | Protivin 3E | None | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | F2 |
| One barn was destroyed; estimated damage $8,000. | ||||||||||
| 6 | 19 | 1937 | 2130 CST | Riceville 1W to Kendallville | Howard Mitchell |
25 | 100 | 0 | 0 | F2 |
| This tornado moved east-northeast from west of Riceville (Mitchell County), passing near Davis Corners and Cresco (Howard County), to near Kendallville (Winneshiek County). A half dozen barns were damaged or destroyed. Beyond Kendalville, downburst damage totalled $100,000. | ||||||||||
| 5 | 9 | 1918 | 1630 CST | Pearl Rock 2N to Calmar | Chickasaw Floyd |
50 | 800 | 7 | 15 | F4 |
| This tornado touched down in extreme southeast Floyd County, and crossed Chickasaw County before hitting Calmar. Two people died just east of Calmar, when the tornado was a mile wide. Losses in and near Calmar totalled $250,000. | ||||||||||
| 6 | 6 | 1906 | 1630-1830 CST | Burr Oak, IA to Stoddard, WI to Coon Valley 10NE | Fillmore (MN), Houston (MN), La Crosse (WI), Vernon (WI), Winneshiek (IA) | 55 | 400 | 4 | 18 | F4 |
| "The tornado was flrst observed in northeastern Iowa at 430 pm, near Burr Oak. A large brick home was destroyed southeast of Newhouse (Houston County.), just inside the Minnesota border. Clothes from the home were found over three miles away. One boy was severely injured, and may have died later. He had been closing windows on the second floor when the tornado struck. This tornado then continues east-northeast to near Reno, MN, and Stoddard, WI where it crossed the Mississippi River at 5:40 pm. It was last observed at 6:30 pm in the town of Washington, La Crosse County, WI, about 2 miles west of Portland. Its path curved slightly to the northward as it progressed, and was about 55 miles in length. It destroyed all buildings in its path, killed 4 persons and injured 18. A mother and two children were killed as their farm near Freeburg, MN was leveled. One child was carried about half a mile. The other death occurred 2 miles east of Stoddard. The property loss was estimated at $70,000, exclusive of timber and crops, but the latter were not damaged to any great extent, because they were not far advanced. The tornado was characterized by many peculiar and violent phenomena usual to these storms. There was comparatively little electrical display, nor was the rainfall unusual. Its crossing the river near Stoddard was marked by well defined waterspout formation, and it destroyed a heavy wooden railway bridge across the Raccoon Creek nearby. Its action on the steep bluffs and in the deep ravines that mark the banks of the river was peculiar in that the windward or southwest exposures suffered far less damage, as shown by prostrated timber, than did the northeast slopes, where the full vorticular effect was very evident; whereas the southwest slopes, instead of showiug trees thrown in all directions, as is usual, showed trees, with few exceptions, thrown to the left across the entire breadth of the track. Many of the trees on these southwest slopes were broken off 10 to 15 feet above the ground. Another peculiar feature was the decreased violence on the top of the bluffs, which are here about 400 feet above the valley, and the immediate resumption of full destructive effect, not only in the deep ravines, but on the lee side of steepest declivities. Such destruction as occurred on the tops of steep hills crossed by the storm was most apparent on the farther edge, where trees invarlably were thrown in the direction of the storm, probably caused by the air rushing toward the vortex when it had resumed full violence at lower levels. The path of the storm averaged about 400 yards wide where its action could be determined in the timber. The vortex was quite distinct and regular, and, compared with the height of the bluffs which it crossed, seemed about 800 feet high, rapidly widening at the top. The vorticular motion was plainly discernible. Hail fell on the northwest side of the track. It took something less than 2 hours to travel its course." Source: Monthly Weather Review, Volume 34, Issue 6 (June 1906) | ||||||||||
| * The data in this table came from Storm Data and Significant Tornadoes--1680-1991 by Thomas P. Grazulis. ** Injuries and Deaths are for the entire tornado track. |
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Last Updated Friday, April 24, 2020 - Jeff Boyne
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