Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota

2018 tornadoes in Minnesota

44 tornadoes touched down in Minnesota in 2018, 52 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2017 2019 The whole country in 2018

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 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 2018

May 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 252:40 PM CDTEF0Faribault0.420

May 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 307:40 PM CDTEF0Fillmore0.58$8,000

June 24 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 243:51 PM CDTEF0Lincoln0.450

June 28 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 282:51 PM CDTEF1Norman1.0150

June 29 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 294:48 AM CDTEF1Norman1.2150
June 294:54 AM CDTEF2Polk15.4400$6.5 million
June 294:56 AM CDTEF1Polk2.5250

July 4 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 46:18 AM CDTEF1Beltrami0.7200$250,000

July 11 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 119:12 PM CDTEF0Beltrami1.8250$20,000
July 119:24 PM CDTEF1Beltrami2.0400$20,000
July 119:31 PM CDTEF1Beltrami5.0400$100,000

July 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 1912:45 PM CDTEF0Martin0.210

August 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 36:34 PM CDTEF0Kandiyohi11.1300$200,000

August 26 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 2611:30 PM CDTEF1Norman20.9300
August 2611:51 PM CDTEF1Clearwater25.0200
August 2612:50 AM CDTEF1Beltrami1.0150

August 27 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 275:17 PM CDTEF0Rice2.3100
August 275:37 PM CDTEF0Goodhue2.2150$300,000

September 4 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 49:05 PM CDTEF1Winona5.150$7,000

September 20 25 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 205:52 PM CDTEF1Martin6.5220$1.5 million
September 205:58 PM CDTEF0Blue Earth1.170
September 206:04 PM CDTEF0Blue Earth0.870$50,000
September 206:19 PM CDTEF1Waseca7.14401
September 206:20 PM CDTEF0Waseca0.720
September 206:20 PM CDTEF1Waseca10.9300
September 206:25 PM CDTEF1Waseca7.2330
September 206:28 PM CDTEF1Waseca11.1350
September 206:31 PM CDTEF2Rice4.9300
September 206:35 PM CDTEF1Steele8.1300
September 206:35 PM CDTEF1Rice8.6440
September 206:37 PM CDTEF2Rice3.0600
September 206:40 PM CDTEF1Rice1.6150
September 206:40 PM CDTEF1Rice9.1500
September 206:44 PM CDTEF1Rice4.7440
September 206:44 PM CDTEF1Rice7.2300
September 206:45 PM CDTEF1Rice5.8440
September 206:46 PM CDTEF0Rice5.575
September 206:52 PM CDTEF1Rice5.3550
September 206:56 PM CDTEF0Goodhue8.7250$50,000
September 207:01 PM CDTEF1Goodhue1.9440
September 207:02 PM CDTEF0Dakota3.270$15,000
September 207:04 PM CDTEF0Dakota4.6220
September 207:09 PM CDTEF0Goodhue6.2150$50,000
September 207:16 PM CDTEF0Pierce to WI3.2100$5,000

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.