Power outage history
Humboldt County Iowa
3.3hours
without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025
54th most of 98 in Iowa 50% below the national median
Every day since 2015
Eleven years, one night at a time
Each cell is a day. The brighter it is, the larger the share of Humboldt's customers who were without power at that day's worst moment.
Year by year
Hours in the dark, per customer
2025 was the worst well-recorded year, at 6.3 hours for the average customer. Hatched years have a thin record and are left out of the averages.
Humboldt, hours without power per customer
The record
The biggest outages since 2015
Ranked by customer-hours lost: customers out multiplied by how long they stayed out. Times are local.
| Began | Storm | Peak out | Share | Lasted | 90% restored | Customer-hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 24, 2016 | Winter storm | 3,507 | 100% | 16 h | 1.0 h | 21k |
| Dec 15, 2021 | Tornadoes | 2,848 | 81% | 23 h | 7.2 h | 13k |
| Mar 4, 2025 | Winter storm | 1,257 | 36% | 28 h | 13 h | 9.6k |
| Jul 17, 2016 | Thunderstorms | 708 | 20% | 19 h | 10 h | 6.3k |
| Apr 12, 2022 | Tornadoes | 1,071 | 31% | 6.2 h | 4.5 h | 3.8k |
| Apr 14, 2018 | Winter storm | 784 | 22% | 11 h | 30 min | 3.2k |
| Feb 23, 2017 | Winter storm | 970 | 28% | 9.2 h | 1.8 h | 3.2k |
| Mar 7, 2025 | No storm report | 869 | 25% | 3.5 h | 9.2 h | 2.6k |
| Mar 19, 2025 | Winter storm | 535 | 15% | 13 h | 12 h | 2.6k |
| Dec 10, 2021 | No storm report | 229 | 7% | 14 h | 10 h | 2.1k |
| Jul 4, 2020 | No storm report | 1,328 | 38% | 2.0 h | 1.8 h | 2.1k |
| Oct 31, 2015 | No storm report | 1,238 | 35% | 5.8 h | 1.2 h | 2.0k |
| May 16, 2017 | No storm report | 464 | 13% | 8.2 h | 7.2 h | 1.8k |
| Apr 13, 2018 | No storm report | 1,919 | 55% | 1.2 h | 2.2 h | 1.7k |
| Jun 25, 2025 | No storm report | 2,872 | 82% | 2.0 h | 48 min | 1.5k |
| May 13, 2023 | No storm report | 960 | 27% | 1.5 h | 9.8 h | 1.4k |
| Apr 11, 2019 | Windstorm | 335 | 10% | 4.5 h | 1.5 h | 1.4k |
| May 21, 2019 | No storm report | 609 | 17% | 2.0 h | 1.2 h | 1.2k |
| May 3, 2018 | Flooding | 971 | 28% | 1.2 h | 48 min | 1.2k |
| Jun 14, 2025 | No storm report | 961 | 27% | 1.2 h | 1.2 h | 1.2k |
| Apr 25, 2019 | Flooding | 465 | 13% | 3.5 h | 2.5 h | 1.2k |
| May 19, 2024 | No storm report | 1,074 | 31% | 1.0 h | 48 min | 1.1k |
| Jul 26, 2024 | No storm report | 797 | 23% | 2.5 h | 2.2 h | 1.0k |
| May 24, 2024 | Thunderstorms | 223 | 6% | 6.8 h | 3.8 h | 978 |
| Apr 23, 2022 | Thunderstorms | 179 | 5% | 6.0 h | 4.8 h | 926 |
| Nov 10, 2020 | Ice storm | 93 | 3% | 14 h | – | 887 |
| Nov 8, 2020 | No storm report | 1,394 | 40% | 2.2 h | 30 min | 876 |
| May 31, 2021 | No storm report | 394 | 11% | 3.2 h | 2.8 h | 847 |
| May 24, 2022 | No storm report | 617 | 18% | 2.8 h | 2.8 h | 787 |
| Nov 11, 2020 | No storm report | 494 | 14% | 2.8 h | 2.0 h | 669 |
After the peak
How fast the lights come back
Each line is one major outage, from its peak. The amber line is the typical path.
When it happens
The outage clock
Customer-hours out by month (rings, January innermost) and local hour, 2018–2025.
What was happening
Weather behind the outages
Each outage is matched to NOAA storm reports for Humboldt from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.
- No storm on record 46%
- Tornadoes 21%
- Winter storm 21%
- Thunderstorms 4.6%
- Flooding 4.0%
- Windstorm 1.8%
- Ice storm 1.1%
Who keeps the lights on
Utilities serving Humboldt
As each utility reports to the Energy Information Administration for its whole Iowa territory, not this county alone. Outage minutes include major storm days.
| Utility | Type | Outage min / yr | Excl. major storms | Outages / yr | Residential ¢/kWh | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MidAmerican Energy Co | Investor Owned | 205 | 82 | 1.19 | 11.2 | 640k |
| Midland Power Coop | Cooperative | 488 | 91 | 1.79 | 13.7 | 12k |
| City of West Bend | IA | – | – | – | – | 6.1k |
| Boone Valley Electric Coop | IA | – | – | – | – | 5.6k |
| Prairie Energy Coop | Cooperative | 428 | 121 | 3.11 | 14.1 | 3.4k |
| City of Livermore | IA | – | – | – | – | 1.8k |
| City of Renwick | IA | – | – | – | – | 1.4k |
EIA Form 861, latest year each utility reported. Outage minutes are SAIDI, the yearly minutes the average customer goes without power; outages a year are SAIFI.
Next door
Neighbouring counties
About these numbers
Notes
Outages come from the EAGLE-I record of utility outage maps collected every 15 minutes by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Hours without power are customer-hours divided by the county's 3,507 electricity customers. Averages use well-covered years from 2018. Outages shorter than 15 minutes, and utilities that publish no outage map, are not in the record, so these figures understate the total. How every number is made →