Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota

1958 tornadoes in Minnesota

14 tornadoes touched down in Minnesota in 1958, 51 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 2 people and injured 22.

1957 1959 The whole country in 1958

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    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.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    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.

  7. 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.

Every tornado in Minnesota in 1958

May 24 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 243:45 PM GMT-5F3Washington to WI59.45012$50,000 to $500,000

May 26 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 264:35 PM GMT-5F0Saint Louis6.910
May 265:00 PM GMT-5F1Saint Louis0.110
May 265:00 PM GMT-5F0Saint Louis0.110
May 267:00 PM GMT-5F1Faribault0.110

June 4 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 45:20 PM GMT-5F2Stearns13.34002$50,000 to $500,000
June 45:20 PM GMT-5F1Stearns0.1101under $50
June 45:20 PM GMT-5F0Stearns0.110under $50

June 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 195:00 PM GMT-5F0Redwood0.110under $50

June 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 236:00 PM GMT-5F1Martin6.4100$500 to $5,000

July 1 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 14:10 PM GMT-5F1Saint Louis2.01012under $50

August 4 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 48:30 PM GMT-5F1Redwood2.02712$50 to $500

August 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 118:25 PM GMT-5F1Clay0.81003$5,000 to $50,000

September 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 57:00 PM GMT-5F1Freeborn0.1100$500 to $5,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Minnesota since 1950Warnings in force in MinnesotaThe 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.