Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota

1981 tornadoes in Minnesota

41 tornadoes touched down in Minnesota in 1981, 42 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 94.

1980 1982 The whole country in 1981

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.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 1981

March 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 25	1:15 PM CST	F2	Morrison	3.0	50			$5,000 to $50,000

April 29 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 29	3:55 PM CDT	F1	Dakota	0.5	200		$50,000 to $500,000
April 29	3:55 PM CDT	F2	Olmsted	0.1	100	2	$500,000 to $5 million
April 29	4:28 PM CDT	F0	Olmsted	0.5	90
April 29	4:30 PM CDT	F0	Olmsted	0.8	300		$500 to $5,000

May 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 22	6:17 PM CDT	F0	Clay	0.1	10

June 13 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 13	7:30 AM CDT	F1	Kandiyohi	0.5	50	under $50
June 13	6:30 PM CDT	F2	Isanti	2.0	100	$50,000 to $500,000
June 13	9:25 PM CDT	F1	Cottonwood	0.5	50	$50 to $500

June 14 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 14	5:25 AM CDT	F1	Blue Earth	3.3	100			$5,000 to $50,000
June 14	6:00 AM CDT	F2	Le Sueur	2.0	100		8	$50,000 to $500,000
June 14	3:49 PM CDT	F3	Ramsey	16.2	600	1	83	$5 million to $50 million
June 14	3:50 PM CDT	F1	Blue Earth	2.0	440			$500,000 to $5 million
June 14	8:47 PM CDT	F2	Wright	2.9	440			$50,000 to $500,000

June 21 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 21	4:00 PM CDT	F0	Norman	1.0	20	$500 to $5,000
June 21	4:30 PM CDT	F1	Lac qui Parle	2.0	50	$5,000 to $50,000
June 21	4:38 PM CDT	F2	Yellow Medicine	54.3	200	$50,000 to $500,000
June 21	5:47 PM CDT	F0	Redwood	2.0	33
June 21	6:28 PM CDT	F0	Brown	12.0	50
June 21	6:45 PM CDT	F1	Watonwan	15.6	50	$5,000 to $50,000

June 23 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 23	2:00 PM CDT	F1	Yellow Medicine	0.1	20	$5,000 to $50,000
June 23	2:30 PM CDT	F0	Yellow Medicine	0.1	20
June 23	2:56 PM CDT	F2	Redwood	1.0	20	$500,000 to $5 million
June 23	5:20 PM CDT	F0	Faribault	0.1	20
June 23	5:25 PM CDT	F0	Faribault	0.1	20
June 23	5:39 PM CDT	F2	Faribault	1.0	30	$50,000 to $500,000
June 23	10:30 PM CDT	F2	Renville	6.8	150	$50,000 to $500,000

June 28 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 28	6:25 PM CDT	F1	Morrison	0.3	17			$5,000 to $50,000
June 28	6:30 PM CDT	F1	Kanabec	0.3	17			$5,000 to $50,000

July 10 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 10	7:26 PM CDT	F0	Becker	0.1	10	under $50
July 10	7:30 PM CDT	F0	Mahnomen	0.1	10	under $50
July 10	8:00 PM CDT	F0	Becker	0.1	10	under $50

July 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 16	7:30 PM CDT	F0	Koochiching	2.3	10			under $50

July 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 20	4:00 PM CDT	F0	Hubbard	0.1	20			under $50

July 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 24	4:00 PM CDT	F0	Martin	0.1	10			under $50

July 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 31	5:35 PM CDT	F0	Grant	0.2	33			under $50

August 2 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 2	3:16 PM CDT	F1	Beltrami	5.7	713			$50 to $500
August 2	4:30 PM CDT	F1	Cass	0.5	400			$500,000 to $5 million

August 5 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
August 5	4:30 PM CDT	F2	Clearwater	0.8	70		$500 to $5,000
August 5	5:00 PM CDT	F2	Renville	0.1	10		$50,000 to $500,000
August 5	8:30 PM CDT	F1	Wright	0.3	200	1	$5,000 to $50,000

Nearby

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