Tornadoes in Minnesota
2,193 tornadoes since 1950, an average of 28.9 a year, 13th of the 53 states and territories in the record. They have killed 98 people and injured 1,976. 23 were rated F4 or EF4 and above, 2 of them F5 or EF5.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The United States rated tornadoes on Ted Fujita’s F scale until 31 January 2007 and on the Enhanced Fujita scale after it. Both run from 0 to 5, and both rate the damage rather than measure the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
F0 / EF040 to 72 mph on the F scale, 65 to 85 mph on the EF scale
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F1 / EF173 to 112 mph on the F scale, 86 to 110 mph on the EF scale
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2 / EF2113 to 157 mph on the F scale, 111 to 135 mph on the EF scale
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3 / EF3158 to 206 mph on the F scale, 136 to 165 mph on the EF scale
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4 / EF4207 to 260 mph on the F scale, 166 to 200 mph on the EF scale
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5 / EF5261 to 318 mph on the F scale, over 200 mph on the EF scale
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.
The deadliest in Minnesota
- F4, Cass, Crow Wing and Aitkin counties, MinnesotaAugust 6, 1969
- F5, Murray, Lyon and Redwood counties, MinnesotaJune 13, 1968
- F4, Freeborn and Waseca counties, MinnesotaApril 30, 1967
- F4, Hennepin and Ramsey counties, MinnesotaMay 6, 1965
- F2, Freeborn County, MinnesotaMay 10, 1953
- F4, Freeborn and Steele counties, MinnesotaApril 30, 1967
- F3, Hennepin County, MinnesotaJuly 20, 1951
- F2, Norman, Mahnomen, Polk and Clearwater counties, MinnesotaJuly 5, 1978
- F4, Anoka County, MinnesotaMay 6, 1965
- F4, Carver and Hennepin counties, MinnesotaMay 6, 1965
- F0, Koochiching County, MinnesotaAugust 9, 1993
- F1, Polk County, MinnesotaAugust 31, 1975
The strongest
- F5, Nobles and Murray counties, MinnesotaJune 16, 1992
- F5, Murray, Lyon and Redwood counties, MinnesotaJune 13, 1968
- F4, Murray, Cottonwood, Brown and Watonwan counties, MinnesotaMarch 29, 1998
- F4, Crow Wing and Cass counties, MinnesotaJune 11, 1966
- F4, McLeod, Wright, Hennepin and Anoka counties, MinnesotaJune 19, 1951
- EF4, Douglas and Otter Tail counties, MinnesotaJune 17, 2010
- F4, Freeborn and Steele counties, MinnesotaApril 30, 1967
- F4, Cass, Crow Wing and Aitkin counties, MinnesotaAugust 6, 1969
- F4, Lyon County, MinnesotaJuly 7, 1955
- F4, Freeborn and Waseca counties, MinnesotaApril 30, 1967
- F4, Hennepin and Ramsey counties, MinnesotaMay 6, 1965
- EF4, Freeborn County, MinnesotaJune 17, 2010
The longest paths
- F2, Otter Tail, Wadena, Cass and Crow Wing counties, MinnesotaAugust 26, 1977
- F2, Cottonwood, Brown, Nicollet and Sibley counties, MinnesotaJune 23, 1952
- F4, Murray, Cottonwood, Brown and Watonwan counties, MinnesotaMarch 29, 1998
- F4, Crow Wing and Cass counties, MinnesotaJune 11, 1966
- F2, Le Sueur, Scott, Hennepin and Anoka counties, MinnesotaJune 24, 1952
- F3, Fillmore, Houston, Winona and La Crosse counties, Minnesota and WisconsinMay 5, 1965
- F3, Washington, Saint Croix, Pierce and Pepin counties, Minnesota and WisconsinMay 24, 1958
- F2, Norman, Mahnomen, Polk and Clearwater counties, MinnesotaJuly 5, 1978
- F2, Koochiching County, MinnesotaSeptember 1, 1973
- F2, Yellow Medicine, Redwood and Brown counties, MinnesotaJune 21, 1981
- F4, McLeod, Wright, Hennepin and Anoka counties, MinnesotaJune 19, 1951
- F1, Clay, Norman, Mahnomen and Clearwater counties, MinnesotaJune 24, 1966
The costliest
- EF1, Hennepin, Ramsey and Anoka counties, MinnesotaMay 22, 2011
- F3, Nicollet County, MinnesotaMarch 29, 1998
- F4, Murray, Cottonwood, Brown and Watonwan counties, MinnesotaMarch 29, 1998
- F2, Hennepin and Anoka counties, MinnesotaSeptember 16, 2006
- EF3, Anoka and Washington counties, MinnesotaMay 25, 2008
- F3, Nicollet and Le Sueur counties, MinnesotaAugust 24, 2006
- F3, Roseau County, MinnesotaAugust 5, 2006
- F2, Rice, Dakota and Goodhue counties, MinnesotaMay 9, 2001
- F2, Freeborn County, MinnesotaMay 1, 2001
- F4, Yellow Medicine County, MinnesotaJuly 25, 2000
- F2, Rice County, MinnesotaMarch 29, 1998
- F2, Le Sueur County, MinnesotaMarch 29, 1998
The biggest days in Minnesota
Every year
| Year | Tornadoes | Deaths | Injuries | F4 and above |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 43 | |||
| 2024 | 30 | |||
| 2023 | 24 | |||
| 2022 | 71 | 2 | ||
| 2021 | 62 | |||
| 2020 | 59 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2019 | 52 | |||
| 2018 | 44 | 1 | ||
| 2017 | 61 | |||
| 2016 | 37 | 1 | ||
| 2015 | 40 | |||
| 2014 | 23 | |||
| 2013 | 15 | |||
| 2012 | 36 | |||
| 2011 | 30 | 1 | 48 | |
| 2010 | 111 | 3 | 46 | 3 |
| 2009 | 24 | 1 | ||
| 2008 | 43 | 1 | 24 | |
| 2007 | 17 | |||
| 2006 | 25 | 2 | 39 | |
| 2005 | 71 | 2 | ||
| 2004 | 57 | |||
| 2003 | 46 | 5 | ||
| 2002 | 34 | 1 | ||
| 2001 | 73 | 13 | ||
| 2000 | 32 | 1 | 18 | 1 |
| 1999 | 36 | 2 | ||
| 1998 | 59 | 3 | 51 | 1 |
| 1997 | 47 | 1 | 2 | |
| 1996 | 33 | 11 | ||
| 1995 | 33 | 11 | ||
| 1994 | 34 | 2 | ||
| 1993 | 47 | 2 | 10 | |
| 1992 | 39 | 1 | 52 | 2 |
| 1991 | 37 | 1 | 12 | |
| 1990 | 12 | |||
| 1989 | 11 | |||
| 1988 | 5 | |||
| 1987 | 21 | 1 | 8 | |
| 1986 | 17 | |||
| 1985 | 26 | 3 | ||
| 1984 | 27 | 1 | 71 | |
| 1983 | 20 | 4 | 1 | |
| 1982 | 14 | 4 | ||
| 1981 | 41 | 1 | 94 | |
| 1980 | 16 | 1 | 16 | |
| 1979 | 25 | 1 | ||
| 1978 | 25 | 4 | 48 | |
| 1977 | 25 | 33 | ||
| 1976 | 11 | 1 | 17 | |
| 1975 | 14 | 2 | 1 | |
| 1974 | 13 | 9 | ||
| 1973 | 22 | 1 | 22 | |
| 1972 | 5 | |||
| 1971 | 20 | 1 | ||
| 1970 | 14 | 9 | ||
| 1969 | 26 | 15 | 117 | 1 |
| 1968 | 34 | 10 | 155 | 1 |
| 1967 | 26 | 14 | 92 | 2 |
| 1966 | 23 | 5 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 30 | 13 | 690 | 4 |
| 1964 | 20 | 29 | ||
| 1963 | 7 | |||
| 1962 | 15 | 37 | 1 | |
| 1961 | 8 | 4 | ||
| 1960 | 7 | |||
| 1959 | 14 | |||
| 1958 | 14 | 2 | 22 | |
| 1957 | 15 | 4 | 1 | |
| 1956 | 9 | |||
| 1955 | 11 | 2 | 24 | 1 |
| 1954 | 7 | 1 | ||
| 1953 | 7 | 7 | 7 | |
| 1952 | 7 | 29 | ||
| 1951 | 3 | 6 | 60 | 1 |
| 1950 | 1 | 4 |
Every county in Minnesota
A tornado is counted once for every county its path crossed, so these add up to more than 2,193. Each county has a page of its own: every tornado that crossed it, year by year.
Nearby
Warnings in force in MinnesotaForecast for your townThe live radar over Minnesota
What this means
Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.