States › Iowa › Guthrie County

Guthrie County, Iowa

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 19077 · 10,567 residents (2021) · 591 sq mi · dominant hazard Hail

Hail · 223Tornado · 31Flood · 80Wind · 189Winter · 72

Guthrie County within Iowa. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Guthrie County, Iowa, has 707 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them hail.

That is 119.7 events per 100 square miles, in line with the Iowa figure of 124.6, and 669.1 per 10,000 residents against 218.0 statewide.

7 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 0 deaths and 2 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $33M and crop damage at $131M.

FEMA has designated the county in 17 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes (major disaster, 23 Feb 2022).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 10 claims since 1978, of which 8 were paid, totalling $157K (about $20K per paid claim). FEMA counts 17 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Very Low" and its expected annual loss as "Very Low" ($14M a year across 18 hazards).

7events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

707events since 19500 deaths, 2 injuries recorded

17disaster declarationslast 23 Feb 2022

10NFIP flood claims$157K paid

Compared with Iowa and the United States

Measure	Guthrie County	Iowa	US
Recorded events since 1950	707	69,606	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	119.7	124.6	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	669.1	218.0	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	7	1,467	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	0	223	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$33M	$6.5B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	0.9	4.6	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$20K	$30K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	11.8	21.8	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Hail: 1Tornado: 2Wind: 2

Hail: 2Tornado: 3Wind: 7

Hail: 7Tornado: 4Wind: 4

Hail: 29Tornado: 2Flood: 20Wind: 17Winter: 17Cold: 8Drought: 1

Hail: 86Tornado: 4Flood: 36Wind: 79Winter: 24Heat: 1Cold: 1Drought: 4Other: 3

Hail: 88Tornado: 10Flood: 20Wind: 57Winter: 21Heat: 3Cold: 13Drought: 5Lightning: 3Other: 42

Hail: 10Tornado: 6Flood: 4Wind: 23Winter: 10Cold: 4Drought: 20Wildfire: 1Other: 3

01950s51960s121970s151980s941990s2382000s2622010s812020s

Recorded events in Guthrie County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterHeatColdDroughtWildfireLightningOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 448 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 236 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Hail223

Wind189

Flood80

Winter72

Other48

Tornado31

Drought30

Cold26

Heat4

Lightning3

Wildfire1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Hail	223	—	1.4%	detail
■ Wind	189	—	0.9%	detail
■ Flood	80	—	1.1%	detail
■ Winter	72	—	0.7%	detail
■ Other	48	—	1.1%
■ Tornado	31	—	0.9%	detail
■ Drought	30	—	1.2%
■ Cold	26	—	0.9%
■ Heat	4	—	0.5%
■ Lightning	3	—	0.8%
■ Wildfire	1	—	4.5%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
1 Jul 2012	Drought	Drought	—	—	$45M	—	—	Forecast zone
1 Aug 2013	Drought	Drought	—	—	$21M	—	—	Forecast zone
12 Jun 2010	Flood	Flood	—	—	$20M	—	—	County
1 Aug 2003	Drought	Drought	—	$13M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
27 May 1995	Tornado	Tornado	F4	$2.0M	$22K	—	1	County
1 Aug 2001	Drought	Drought	—	—	$11M	—	—	Forecast zone
13 Apr 2023	Wildfire	Wildfire	—	—	—	—	1	Forecast zone
1 Aug 2012	Drought	Drought	—	—	$6.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
1 Sep 2000	Drought	Drought	—	—	$5.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
14 Aug 2000	Drought	Drought	—	—	$4.7M	—	—	Forecast zone
20 Jul 1999	Drought	Drought	—	—	$4.6M	—	—	Forecast zone
26 Oct 1997	Heavy Snow	Winter	—	$640K	$2.6M	—	—	Forecast zone
29 Jun 1986	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$2.5M	—	—	—	County
10 Oct 2009	Frost/Freeze	Cold	—	—	$2.5M	—	—	Forecast zone
10 Jul 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	77 mph	$150K	$2.0M	—	—	County
11 Apr 2012	Frost/Freeze	Cold	—	—	$1.5M	—	—	Forecast zone
11 May 2014	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$1.3M	—	—	—	County
14 Jun 1998	Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	$100K	—	—	Forecast zone
10 Jul 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	72 mph	$15K	$1.0M	—	—	County
23 Dec 2009	Ice Storm	Winter	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
23 Feb 2022	DR-4642	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes	Public assistance
17 Aug 2020	DR-4557	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms	Public assistance
23 Mar 2020	DR-4483	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3480	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
23 Mar 2019	DR-4421	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
31 Jul 2015	DR-4234	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Public assistance
29 Jul 2010	DR-1930	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes	Public assistance
2 Mar 2010	DR-1880	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
25 Feb 2010	DR-1877	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm	Public assistance
27 May 2008	DR-1763	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
30 Mar 2007	EM-3275	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snow	Public assistance
10 Sep 2005	EM-3239	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
25 May 2004	DR-1518	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
2 Jul 1998	DR-1230	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
9 Jul 1993	DR-996	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
26 Dec 1991	DR-928	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Ice Storm	Public assistance
24 Jun 1974	DR-443	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Guthrie County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 197810

Paid claims8

Total paid$157K

Average paid claim$20K

Repetitive-loss properties10 severe

Residential policies in force170.2% of 7,729 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2019	2	2	$115,997	$57,999
2015	1	1	$9,875	$9,875
2010	1	1	$7,255	$7,255
2008	2	1	$1,189	$1,189
2004	1	1	$589	$589
2002	1	0	$0	—
1998	2	2	$22,028	$11,014

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskVery Lowscore 26.5 of 100

Expected annual loss$14MVery Low

Social vulnerabilityVery Low

Community resilienceVery High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Very Low	$4,170,849
Drought	Relatively High	$4,021,419
Tornado	Relatively Low	$3,250,109
Cold wave	Relatively Low	$720,799
Strong wind	Relatively Low	$704,454
Hail	Relatively Low	$600,946
Heat wave	Very Low	$213,379
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$65,993
Winter weather	Relatively Low	$57,520
Wildfire	Very Low	$38,518
Lightning	Very Low	$37,032
Earthquake	Very Low	$14,181
Landslide	Relatively Low	$13,312
Hurricane	Very Low	$3,043

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

No HURDAT2 track at tropical-storm strength passes within 100 miles of the county's centre point (through the 2025 season).

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Guthrie County, IA?

NCEI records 223 hail events in Guthrie County since 1950, in 40 different years; that is about 2.9 recorded events a year. 64 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Guthrie County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 31 tornadoes in Guthrie County since 1950, 6 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Guthrie County?

23 Feb 2022: Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes, a major disaster declaration for severe storm. The county appears in 17 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Guthrie County, and how much was paid?

10 NFIP claims since 1978, 8 of them paid, for $157K in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Guthrie County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Very Low" for overall risk, "Very Low" for expected annual loss, "Very Low" for social vulnerability and "Very High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Guthrie County compare with the rest of Iowa?

119.7 recorded events per 100 square miles against 124.6 statewide, and 0.9 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 4.6. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.