Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota

2021 tornadoes in Minnesota

62 tornadoes touched down in Minnesota in 2021, 115 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2020 2022 The whole country in 2021

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 2021

May 14 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 147:52 PM CDTEF0Yellow Medicine0.325

May 19 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 197:37 PM CDTEF0Rice1.525
May 197:39 PM CDTEF0Rice0.315
May 197:42 PM CDTEF0Rice1.850
May 197:56 PM CDTEF0Le Sueur0.825
May 198:13 PM CDTEF0Rice0.210
May 198:17 PM CDTEF1Rice1.225
May 198:53 PM CDTEF0Dakota0.225

June 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 116:15 AM CDTEF0Otter Tail0.110

July 26 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 265:13 PM CDTEF1Beltrami0.8300$1.2 million
July 265:16 PM CDTEF1Beltrami4.1300$500,000
July 265:23 PM CDTEF0Beltrami8.5200$100,000

August 9 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 910:55 PM CDTEF1Polk3.6200$120,000
August 911:05 PM CDTEF0Polk2.2150$5,000

August 20 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 206:30 PM CDTUnratedKandiyohi0.110
August 206:42 PM CDTEF0Stearns2.150

August 28 12 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 2811:26 AM CDTEF0Stearns2.125
August 285:29 PM CDTUnratedMurray1.240
August 285:40 PM CDTUnratedMurray1.920
August 285:48 PM CDTUnratedMurray0.620
August 285:53 PM CDTUnratedMurray2.220
August 286:04 PM CDTUnratedCottonwood3.520
August 286:29 PM CDTEF0Brown3.320
August 286:29 PM CDTEF0Brown4.325
August 286:47 PM CDTEF0Brown0.925
August 286:52 PM CDTUnratedBrown0.620
August 288:12 PM CDTEF0Waseca0.725
August 288:14 PM CDTEF0Waseca0.425

September 17 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 172:34 AM CDTEF0Sibley1.650$2,000
September 173:00 AM CDTEF0Scott2.1200$250,000
September 173:08 AM CDTEF0Dakota1.050
September 173:08 AM CDTEF0Dakota0.875

September 20 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 204:47 PM CDTEF0Olmsted5.7100$100,000

October 9 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 97:10 PM CDTEF0Traverse0.810
October 97:21 PM CDTEF0Traverse1.610
October 910:35 PM CDTEF1Hubbard0.225

October 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 106:10 PM CDTEF2Cook4.0500

October 13 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 133:33 PM CDTEF0Big Stone0.110
October 133:42 PM CDTEF0Big Stone0.310
October 133:46 PM CDTEF0Big Stone0.010
October 134:18 PM CDTEF1Traverse2.820
October 134:20 PM CDTEF0Traverse0.410

December 15 20 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 156:58 PM CSTEF1Freeborn3.675
December 157:03 PM CSTEF1Freeborn1.625
December 157:10 PM CSTEF0Freeborn2.6100
December 157:10 PM CSTEF1Freeborn6.3100
December 157:11 PM CSTEF2Freeborn2.255
December 157:11 PM CSTEF1Freeborn4.375
December 157:15 PM CSTEF0Freeborn6.7100
December 157:33 PM CSTEF0Steele6.475$105,000
December 157:37 PM CSTEF1Mower3.385$210,000
December 157:42 PM CSTEF0Fillmore4.680$265,000
December 157:48 PM CSTEF0Fillmore0.540$275,000
December 157:50 PM CSTEF1Dodge4.375$10,000
December 157:51 PM CSTEF1Fillmore1.875$230,000
December 157:51 PM CSTEF1Goodhue4.475
December 158:01 PM CSTEF1Fillmore1.2250$40,000
December 158:02 PM CSTEF1Fillmore2.475$95,000
December 158:03 PM CSTEF1Wabasha4.040$65,000
December 158:06 PM CSTEF1Houston7.3250$300,000
December 158:10 PM CSTEF0Winona0.640$95,000
December 158:17 PM CSTEF1Winona to WI4.840$125,000

Crossed into Minnesota

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Minnesota. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 156:48 PM CSTEF1Winnebago, IA to MN2.990$50,000
December 157:09 PM CSTEF0Worth, IA to MN2.650$15,000

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.