Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota

Tornadoes in Clay County, Minnesota

44 tornadoes have crossed Clay County since 1950, 1 of them surveyed so far this year and still preliminary, 9th of the 87 counties in Minnesota with a tornado on record, an average of one every 1.7 years. They have killed 10 people and injured 107. 2 were rated F4 or EF4 and above, 1 at the top of the scale.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The United States rated tornadoes on Ted Fujita’s F scale until 31 January 2007 and on the Enhanced Fujita scale after it. Both run from 0 to 5, and both rate the damage rather than measure the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F0 / EF040 to 72 mph on the F scale, 65 to 85 mph on the EF scale

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

  2. F1 / EF173 to 112 mph on the F scale, 86 to 110 mph on the EF scale

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

  3. F2 / EF2113 to 157 mph on the F scale, 111 to 135 mph on the EF scale

    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. F3 / EF3158 to 206 mph on the F scale, 136 to 165 mph on the EF scale

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

  5. F4 / EF4207 to 260 mph on the F scale, 166 to 200 mph on the EF scale

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

  6. F5 / EF5261 to 318 mph on the F scale, over 200 mph on the EF scale

    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.

Now

Tornadoes
44
Deaths
10
Injuries
107
F4 and above
2
Worst on record
F5, June 20, 1957

The deadliest in Clay County

  1. F5 Fargo tornado, North Dakota and MinnesotaJune 20, 195710 killed, 103 injured

The strongest

  1. F5 Fargo tornado, North Dakota and MinnesotaJune 20, 1957F5, 52.4 mi (84 km)
  2. F4, Clay County, MinnesotaJune 28, 1975F4, 5.4 mi (9 km)
  3. F3, Clay County, MinnesotaJune 28, 1975F3, 2.3 mi (4 km)
  4. F2, Clay County, MinnesotaJune 9, 1959F2, 14.1 mi (23 km)
  5. EF2, Norman and Clay counties, MinnesotaJuly 11, 2017EF2, 12.8 mi (21 km)
  6. F2, Clay County, MinnesotaJune 5, 1996F2, 5.0 mi (8 km)

Every year with a tornado

The 34 years of the 76 in the record with a tornado in Clay County. Each year links to every tornado in Minnesota that year.

YearTornadoesDeathsInjuriesStrongest
20261EF0
20221EF0
20201EF0
20192EF0
20172EF2
20162EF0
20151EF0
20131EF0
20121EF0
20111EF1
20101EF0
20054F1
20043F1
20021F1
19971F0
19961F2
19941F0
19911F0
19901F0
19881F1
19871F0
19841F0
19831F0
19811F0
19781F0
19771F1
19753F4
19661F1
196411F1
19601F1
19591F2
195813F1
1957110103F5
19551F1

Every tornado that crossed Clay County

44 tornadoes, newest first. 2 of them touched down in a neighboring state and ran in, so the record files them under that state rather than Minnesota. The 1 at the top is this year's, from the surveying office rather than SPC's published database, and its rating is marked as preliminary.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 29, 20268:48 PM CDTEF0Clay2.430
June 20, 20226:51 PM CDTEF0Clay0.2100
July 25, 20202:26 AM CDTEF0Clay0.440
July 9, 20196:30 PM CDTEF0Clay3.0150
July 9, 20195:58 PM CDTEF0Clay0.575
July 21, 20175:34 PM CDTEF0Clay0.4100
July 11, 20178:42 PM CDTEF2Norman12.8500$475,000
May 27, 20163:01 PM CDTEF0Clay0.150
May 27, 20162:57 PM CDTEF0Clay0.175
June 27, 20158:05 PM CDTEF0Clay0.125
June 25, 201311:25 PM CDTEF0Clay7.0100
April 21, 201212:41 PM CDTEF0Clay0.320$10,000
May 30, 20119:01 PM CDTEF1Clay4.5200$250,000
July 13, 20108:08 PM CDTEF0Clay0.225
September 5, 20058:04 PM CDTF1Clay2.5100
June 29, 20055:05 PM CDTF1Clay1.0100
June 23, 20057:25 PM CDTF1Clay2.0100
June 11, 20054:30 PM CDTF1Clay0.2100
July 12, 200410:52 PM CDTF1Clay10.050$100,000
July 12, 200410:32 PM CDTF0Clay0.525
July 10, 20048:42 AM CDTF1Clay to MN2.050
September 18, 20026:57 PM CDTF1Clay1.025$1,000
July 26, 19974:22 PM CDTF0Clay0.523
June 5, 19965:05 PM CDTF2Clay5.0100$250,000
June 25, 19943:10 PM CDTF0Clay0.110
June 9, 19913:35 PM CDTF0Clay0.210
June 11, 199010:05 PM CDTF0Clay0.210
May 7, 19884:30 PM CDTF1Clay3.020$5,000 to $50,000
July 21, 19877:45 PM CDTF0Clay0.210
June 4, 19845:32 PM CDTF0Clay0.110
July 2, 19838:56 PM CDTF0Clay0.210under $50
May 22, 19816:17 PM CDTF0Clay0.110
July 12, 19784:30 PM CDTF0Clay0.110$500 to $5,000
July 4, 19778:10 AM CDTF1Clay0.550$5,000 to $50,000
August 31, 19758:00 PM CDTF1Clay10.150$50,000 to $500,000
June 28, 19758:00 PM CDTF3Clay2.31,760$50,000 to $500,000
June 28, 19753:30 PM CDTF4Clay5.41,320$50,000 to $500,000
June 24, 19669:00 PM GMT-5F1Clay49.810$5,000 to $50,000
September 9, 19646:30 PM GMT-5F1Clay13.02001under $50
July 24, 196010:00 PM GMT-5F1Clay0.110$5,000 to $50,000
June 9, 19596:15 PM GMT-5F2Clay14.1150$50,000 to $500,000
August 11, 19588:25 PM GMT-5F1Clay0.81003$5,000 to $50,000
June 20, 19577:40 PM GMT-5F5Fargo tornado52.450010103$5 million to $50 million
June 30, 19555:15 PM GMT-5F1Wilkin12.710

Nearby

Warnings in force in Clay CountyThe forecast for Clay CountyThe live radar over Clay CountyEvery county in 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.