Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota

1984 tornadoes in Minnesota

27 tornadoes touched down in Minnesota in 1984, about the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 71.

1983 1985 The whole country in 1984

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 1984

April 26 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 264:35 PM CSTF1Stevens3.1300$500,000 to $5 million
April 264:50 PM CSTF2Grant12.5800$500,000 to $5 million
April 268:33 PM CSTF3Ramsey5.560152$5 million to $50 million

June 4 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 43:37 PM CDTF1Waseca1.5200$50,000 to $500,000
June 44:45 PM CDTF0Rice0.110
June 44:50 PM CDTF0Grant0.110
June 45:32 PM CDTF0Clay0.110

June 7 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 77:15 PM CDTF1Freeborn6.080$50,000 to $500,000
June 77:19 PM CDTF3Freeborn14.010012$5 million to $50 million
June 77:20 PM CDTF1Waseca1.050$500 to $5,000
June 77:25 PM CDTF1Freeborn18.080$500,000 to $5 million
June 77:36 PM CDTF2Mower5.01007$500,000 to $5 million
June 78:15 PM CDTF1Olmsted1.050$50,000 to $500,000
June 78:35 PM CDTF0Goodhue2.550$5,000 to $50,000

June 17 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 177:00 PM CDTF0Goodhue0.110
June 177:31 PM CDTF0Wabasha0.110

July 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 88:00 PM CDTF0Kittson0.110

July 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 102:42 PM CDTF0Winona0.817

July 16 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 164:00 PM CDTF1Hennepin4.5150$500,000 to $5 million
July 165:15 PM CDTF1Steele1.0100$5,000 to $50,000
July 165:45 PM CDTF1Jackson2.5200$50,000 to $500,000

July 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 197:00 PM CDTF0Stearns0.110

August 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 59:00 PM CDTF0Kittson0.350

August 8 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 84:12 PM CDTF0Kittson0.210
August 84:15 PM CDTF0Polk0.350
August 84:24 PM CDTF0Marshall0.210
August 84:48 PM CDTF0Marshall0.210

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.