What the record says
On 4 May 1977, a tornado touched down near Fort Dodge, Iowa. The Storm Prediction Center records its path as 2 miles long and up to 70 yards wide, rated F4 on the Fujita (F) scale. It injured 14 people.
- F4Fujita rating
- 0deaths
- 14injuries
- 2 mipath length
- 70 ydmaximum width
It has its own page because it was rated 4 or 5.
This page gives the official record's figures. Numbers of deaths and injuries are sometimes revised after a survey, and they cannot convey what the day was like for the people who lived through it.
Counties it crossed
The start point was at 42.53, -94.15. The record has no end point for this tornado, so it is drawn as a dot.
How to read this path
The Storm Prediction Center records most tornadoes as a straight line from the point where they touched down to the point where they lifted. The real path usually curved and was not the same width all the way along. The width given is the widest part. Older records are less precise, and the record starts in 1950.
Source: the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database, public domain.
Other notable tornadoes in Iowa
- Hansell, Iowa tornado15 May 1968, F5, 13 deaths, 462 injuries, 62.1 miles long
- Cedar Falls, Iowa tornado25 May 2008, EF5, 9 deaths, 70 injuries, 41 miles long
- Belmond, Iowa tornado14 October 1966, F5, 6 deaths, 172 injuries, 9.7 miles long
- Newton, Iowa tornado5 March 2022, EF4, 6 deaths, 5 injuries, 70.6 miles long
- Rhodes, Iowa tornado16 September 1978, F3, 6 deaths, 45 injuries, 31.8 miles long
- Oelwein, Iowa tornado15 May 1968, F5, 5 deaths, 156 injuries, 13.1 miles long
Other notable tornadoes of 1977
- Birmingham, Alabama tornado4 April 1977, F5, 22 deaths, 130 injuries, 14.7 miles long
- Windsor, Illinois tornado21 August 1977, F3, 6 deaths, 56 injuries, 26.9 miles long
- Noxapater, Mississippi tornado23 February 1977, F4, 2 deaths, 5 injuries, 15 miles long
- Merwin, Missouri tornado4 May 1977, F3, 2 deaths, 15 injuries, 29.8 miles long
- Bellevue, Michigan tornado2 April 1977, F4, 1 death, 44 injuries, 16.6 miles long
All tornadoes of 1977 · Iowa tornado history · All notable tornadoes