Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota

1991 tornadoes in Minnesota

37 tornadoes touched down in Minnesota in 1991, 28 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 12.

1990 1992 The whole country in 1991

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 1991

March 20 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 204:20 PM CSTF1Faribault15.0300$50,000 to $500,000

April 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 81:00 PM CDTF1Houston3.030$5,000 to $50,000

April 29 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 292:25 PM CDTF0Isanti1.110
April 294:20 PM CDTF1Blue Earth0.230$5,000 to $50,000
April 294:30 PM CDTF1Blue Earth0.230$5,000 to $50,000
April 294:50 PM CDTF1Le Sueur0.2509$50,000 to $500,000

May 28 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 288:15 PM CDTF1Lyon1.010

May 30 8 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 302:45 PM CDTF0Meeker0.110
May 303:05 PM CDTF0Meeker0.110
May 303:20 PM CDTF0Hennepin0.410
May 303:30 PM CDTF0Hennepin0.110
May 304:00 PM CDTF0Stearns0.110
May 304:06 PM CDTF0Sherburne0.110
May 304:09 PM CDTF0Stearns0.110
May 304:21 PM CDTF0Sherburne0.110

June 9 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 93:35 PM CDTF0Clay0.210
June 94:07 PM CDTF1Becker0.210
June 96:25 PM CDTF0Cook0.210

June 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 137:18 PM CDTF0Marshall0.210

June 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 189:45 AM CDTF0Meeker0.210

June 26 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 262:05 AM CDTF1Marshall5.910
June 262:15 AM CDTF1Marshall10.013
June 263:35 AM CDTF0Roseau0.210
June 263:50 AM CDTF0Roseau0.210

June 30 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 308:15 PM CDTF1Grant0.210
June 308:45 PM CDTF1Yellow Medicine0.210

July 5 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 56:25 PM CDTF2Cass2.513
July 57:35 PM CDTF1Cass0.3101
July 57:39 PM CDTF3Crow Wing6.0433
July 57:59 PM CDTF1Crow Wing5.020
July 58:08 PM CDTF1Crow Wing0.110
July 58:37 PM CDTF0Mille Lacs2.910
July 59:20 PM CDTF1Kanabec0.510

July 7 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 712:10 PM CDTF1Mower0.210
July 712:20 PM CDTF0Mower0.110
July 71:23 PM CDTF0Beltrami0.110

July 17 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 176:55 PM CDTF1Douglas0.560

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.