Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota

1998 tornadoes in Minnesota

59 tornadoes touched down in Minnesota in 1998, 104 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 3 people and injured 51. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1997 1999 The whole country in 1998

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 1998

March 29 15 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 29	3:23 PM CST	F2	Nobles	0.1	80			$400,000
March 29	3:25 PM CST	F0	Nobles	0.1	50			$10,000
March 29	3:28 PM CST	F0	Nobles	0.1	50			$50,000
March 29	3:35 PM CST	F2	Nobles	0.1	80			$200,000
March 29	3:45 PM CST	F1	Nobles	0.1	50			$100,000
March 29	3:50 PM CST	F4	Murray	73.5	1,500	1	19	$75 million
March 29	3:55 PM CST	F1	Murray	0.1	50			$50,000
March 29	5:07 PM CST	F0	Wabasha	1.5	50
March 29	5:18 PM CST	F3	Nicollet	12.0	2,200	1		$120 million
March 29	5:35 PM CST	F3	Le Sueur	6.0	2,200
March 29	5:48 PM CST	F2	Le Sueur	17.0	1,760		2	$20 million
March 29	6:09 PM CST	F1	Rice	0.1	200
March 29	6:16 PM CST	F2	Rice	5.0	440			$20 million
March 29	6:25 PM CST	F2	Dakota	3.0	440
March 29	6:43 PM CST	F0	Dakota	1.0	100

May 15 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 15	3:10 PM CDT	F1	Faribault	0.1	50
May 15	4:10 PM CDT	F1	McLeod	0.1	50			$100,000
May 15	4:40 PM CDT	F1	Stearns	9.0	30	1	30	$750,000
May 15	4:40 PM CDT	F1	Ramsey	13.0	350
May 15	5:00 PM CDT	F1	Olmsted	8.0	80			$50,000

June 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 11	4:30 PM CDT	F0	Swift	2.5	50

June 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 15	3:45 PM CDT	F0	Freeborn	2.5	50

June 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 16	3:00 PM CDT	F0	Freeborn	0.5	50

June 18 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 18	3:55 PM CDT	F1	Redwood	2.5	30
June 18	4:00 PM CDT	F0	Renville	0.1	30
June 18	4:07 PM CDT	F0	Redwood	0.1	30
June 18	4:18 PM CDT	F1	Renville	0.2	50	$1.0 million

June 24 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 24	7:23 PM CDT	F0	Polk	0.2	30
June 24	9:33 PM CDT	F0	Olmsted	0.2	50

June 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 25	11:15 AM CDT	F0	Mille Lacs	6.0	30

June 26 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 26	6:50 PM CDT	F0	Freeborn	0.1	50
June 26	6:53 PM CDT	F0	Freeborn	0.1	50
June 26	8:07 PM CDT	F0	Sibley	0.1	30
June 26	8:12 PM CDT	F0	Le Sueur	0.5	50

June 27 13 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 27	4:15 PM CDT	F0	Jackson	2.0	100	$100,000
June 27	5:36 PM CDT	F0	Martin	1.5	50
June 27	5:42 PM CDT	F0	Martin	2.5	50
June 27	5:46 PM CDT	F0	Faribault	0.5	50
June 27	5:51 PM CDT	F1	Faribault	1.0	50
June 27	6:03 PM CDT	F0	Nicollet	3.0	50
June 27	6:27 PM CDT	F0	Rice	0.1	30
June 27	6:30 PM CDT	F1	Freeborn	1.0	50
June 27	7:02 PM CDT	F0	Rice	0.1	30
June 27	7:05 PM CDT	F0	Goodhue	0.1	50
June 27	7:05 PM CDT	F0	Goodhue	0.5	50
June 27	7:08 PM CDT	F0	Goodhue	0.1	50
June 27	7:19 PM CDT	F0	Goodhue	0.1	50

June 30 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 30	3:15 PM CDT	F0	Meeker	0.5	30

July 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 14	9:14 PM CDT	F0	Kandiyohi	0.1	50

July 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 18	5:18 PM CDT	F0	Pennington	0.2	30

July 20 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 20	3:28 PM CDT	F0	Polk	0.2	30
July 20	3:30 PM CDT	F0	Polk	0.2	30
July 20	3:50 PM CDT	F0	Mahnomen	0.5	30
July 20	3:55 PM CDT	F0	Mahnomen	0.3	30	$30,000
July 20	4:20 PM CDT	F0	Mahnomen	0.2	30
July 20	4:30 PM CDT	F0	Becker	0.5	30
July 20	4:45 PM CDT	F0	Clearwater	0.2	30
July 20	5:05 PM CDT	F0	Becker	1.0	30	$20,000

August 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 22	8:08 PM CDT	F0	Scott	0.1	50

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.