Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota

1994 tornadoes in Minnesota

34 tornadoes touched down in Minnesota in 1994, 18 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1993 1995 The whole country in 1994

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 1994

April 25 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 257:15 PM CDTF0Rock0.110
April 258:00 PM CDTF0Jackson0.110

April 26 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 2612:00 PM CDTF2Washington5.01,3001$500,000 to $5 million

May 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 304:00 PM CDTF0Chisago1.590

June 12 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 126:00 PM CDTF0Rock0.110

June 14 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 1410:10 PM CDTF0Pine0.110

June 25 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 253:00 PM CDTF0Kittson0.110
June 253:10 PM CDTF0Clay0.110
June 253:14 PM CDTF0Becker0.110
June 253:25 PM CDTF0Becker0.110
June 254:40 PM CDTF1Swift0.570$5,000 to $50,000

June 27 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 275:15 PM CDTF0Pine0.110under $50

June 30 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 302:16 PM CDTF0Roseau0.110
June 307:45 PM CDTF1Sibley0.130
June 308:00 PM CDTF0Carver0.110
June 308:22 PM CDTF0Aitkin0.110
June 309:13 PM CDTF1Blue Earth1.0731$50,000 to $500,000
June 3010:27 PM CDTF0Freeborn0.120

July 7 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 73:30 PM CDTF0Meeker0.110

July 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 115:00 PM CDTF0Murray0.110

July 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 153:22 PM CDTF0Yellow Medicine0.110

August 7 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 75:33 PM CDTF0Renville0.110
August 75:38 PM CDTF0Kandiyohi0.110
August 76:22 PM CDTF0Renville0.110
August 77:24 PM CDTF0Nicollet0.530
August 77:35 PM CDTF1Murray3.0100
August 78:00 PM CDTF1Nobles6.0500$50,000 to $500,000
August 78:02 PM CDTF1Blue Earth1.013
August 78:20 PM CDTF2Blue Earth5.040$50,000 to $500,000
August 78:30 PM CDTF1Waseca1.020

August 27 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 278:50 AM CDTF0Roseau0.110
August 279:12 AM CDTF0Lake of the Woods0.110

October 6 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 66:10 PM CDTF0Lincoln3.050
October 66:20 PM CDTF0Traverse3.050

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.