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Minnesota

The recorded hazard history of every county in Minnesota: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, and National Flood Insurance Program claims since 1978.

Minnesota has 56,524 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950 across 87 counties, led by hail: 71.0 per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally.

NCEI attributes 293 deaths and 2,837 injuries to those events, with property damage estimated at $5.9B. By events per 100 square miles the leading counties are Ramsey, Hennepin and Scott.

FEMA lists 81 disaster declarations touching the state since 1953, most recently Severe Storms And Straight-Line Winds (22 Oct 2025). NFIP policyholders filed 12,474 flood claims since 1978, $157M paid; 5,166 residential policies are in force.

1,956events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

56,524events since 195071.0 per 100 sq mi (US 56.0)

81disaster declarations since 1953last 22 Oct 2025

12,474NFIP flood claims$157M paid

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. Storm records through 30 Jun 2026; declarations refreshed 29 Sep 2026; claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Compared with the United States

Measure	Minnesota	US
Recorded events since 1950	56,524	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	71.0	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	99.0	59.6
Deaths recorded by NCEI	293	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$5.9B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	2.2	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$16K	$43K
Residential flood policies in force	5,166	3,139,862

Hazard mix

Hail15,756

Wind15,237

Winter12,156

Cold4,238

Flood2,680

Tornado2,433

Drought1,446

Other1,368

Heat807

Lightning288

Fog88

Wildfire27

Hazard	Events	Share of US	Deaths
■ Hail	15,756	3.7%	—
■ Wind	15,237	2.2%	30
■ Winter	12,156	4.2%	63
■ Cold	4,238	7.9%	35
■ Flood	2,680	1.5%	23
■ Tornado	2,433	3.0%	101
■ Drought	1,446	1.7%	—
■ Other	1,368	3.0%	4
■ Heat	807	1.4%	19
■ Lightning	288	1.6%	11
■ Fog	88	0.5%	7
■ Wildfire	27	0.3%	—

Events by decade

Hail: 77Tornado: 98Wind: 84

Hail: 238Tornado: 224Wind: 290

Hail: 427Tornado: 193Wind: 674

Hail: 798Tornado: 229Wind: 1120

Hail: 2121Tornado: 362Flood: 278Wind: 2478Winter: 1437Heat: 105Cold: 333Drought: 16Lightning: 55Other: 76

Hail: 5494Tornado: 463Flood: 840Wind: 3559Winter: 3348Heat: 207Cold: 774Drought: 397Wildfire: 7Lightning: 106Fog: 64Other: 297

Hail: 3966Tornado: 517Flood: 1199Wind: 3981Winter: 4230Heat: 260Cold: 1801Drought: 413Wildfire: 8Lightning: 106Fog: 18Other: 767

Hail: 2635Tornado: 347Flood: 363Wind: 3051Winter: 3141Heat: 235Cold: 1330Drought: 620Wildfire: 12Lightning: 21Fog: 6Other: 228

2591950s7521960s1,2941970s2,1471980s7,2611990s15,5562000s17,2662010s11,9892020s

Recorded events in Minnesota by decade and hazard group, including events recorded by forecast zone. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterHeatColdDroughtWildfireLightningFogOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Counties by events per 100 square miles

County	Events	Last 12 mo	Per 100 sq mi	Per 10k residents	Dominant	Tornadoes	Hail	Declarations	NFIP claims	NRI risk
Ramsey County	629	46	413.1	11.6	Hail	8	252	19	145	Relatively High
Hennepin County	1,442	47	260.3	11.4	Hail	31	586	18	682	Relatively High
Scott County	673	25	188.9	43.9	Hail	20	232	16	117	Relatively Low
Carver County	659	21	186.1	60.7	Wind	26	191	17	70	Relatively Low
Olmsted County	1,083	26	165.7	66.3	Hail	40	372	15	719	Relatively Moderate
Anoka County	694	22	164.5	18.9	Hail	30	254	13	96	Relatively Moderate
Washington County	593	28	154.1	21.8	Hail	27	203	17	533	Relatively Moderate
McLeod County	751	19	152.8	204.4	Wind	25	251	18	19	Relatively Low
Dakota County	844	23	150.0	19.1	Hail	41	310	16	181	Relatively Moderate
Rock County	701	38	145.3	724.2	Winter	15	138	16	29	Very Low
Pipestone County	673	33	144.7	722.6	Winter	15	138	14	17	Very Low
Dodge County	573	18	130.4	273.7	Hail	22	145	16	32	Very Low
Wright County	846	25	128.0	58.4	Hail	27	332	17	223	Relatively Low
Winona County	762	19	121.7	153.5	Hail	24	227	17	115	Relatively Low
Lyon County	853	49	119.4	338.1	Hail	29	255	18	63	Relatively Low
Sherburne County	503	17	116.2	50.8	Hail	13	181	10	59	Relatively Low
Waseca County	492	23	116.2	258.9	Wind	28	114	14	9	Very Low
Rice County	571	26	115.2	84.9	Hail	40	179	14	78	Relatively Low
Wabasha County	600	20	114.7	279.0	Wind	17	160	17	162	Relatively Low
Nobles County	812	33	113.5	369.2	Hail	46	222	21	83	Relatively Low
Cottonwood County	707	39	110.5	611.1	Winter	26	144	17	43	Very Low
Lincoln County	590	24	109.9	1,059.8	Winter	18	112	14	3	Very Low
Nicollet County	462	26	103.0	134.6	Winter	29	110	22	59	Relatively Low
Mower County	732	20	102.9	182.3	Wind	34	156	16	733	Relatively Low
Red Lake County	441	13	102.0	1,121.3	Winter	20	112	23	2	Very Low
Jackson County	696	36	99.0	696.7	Winter	21	161	18	20	Very Low
Wadena County	529	14	98.6	373.1	Hail	22	170	15	7	Very Low
Le Sueur County	440	25	98.1	152.6	Winter	26	106	19	87	Very Low
Grant County	537	11	98.0	872.7	Wind	32	129	19	3	Very Low
Steele County	420	24	97.8	112.5	Winter	28	80	17	90	Very Low
Big Stone County	481	17	96.4	934.9	Wind	13	106	20	92	Very Low
Watonwan County	401	28	92.2	360.1	Winter	24	101	13	16	Very Low
Murray County	639	23	90.7	784.6	Winter	34	123	17	15	Very Low
Douglas County	576	21	90.4	146.8	Wind	26	159	14	16	Relatively Low
Blue Earth County	661	31	88.4	95.4	Wind	43	182	24	92	Relatively Low
Chisago County	364	21	87.7	63.3	Wind	19	93	12	37	Relatively Low
Meeker County	532	22	87.5	227.6	Hail	26	188	11	6	Very Low
Freeborn County	616	17	87.1	200.3	Wind	72	152	21	45	Relatively Low
Wilkin County	649	15	86.4	1,014.9	Wind	35	126	25	495	Very Low
Sibley County	508	18	86.3	340.6	Wind	36	122	21	12	Very Low
Benton County	349	10	85.5	84.2	Hail	7	105	13	46	Relatively Low
Brown County	519	26	84.9	201.0	Wind	32	119	20	35	Relatively Low
Kandiyohi County	666	25	83.5	152.2	Hail	56	197	16	8	Relatively Low
Isanti County	362	14	83.1	86.4	Hail	14	101	10	26	Very Low
Mahnomen County	451	10	80.8	833.0	Winter	24	102	20	10	Very Low
Stevens County	453	27	80.4	467.0	Hail	18	129	19	2	Very Low
Fillmore County	688	24	79.9	323.4	Wind	25	175	18	99	Relatively Low
Crow Wing County	789	21	79.0	117.3	Wind	28	258	13	13	Relatively Low
Clay County	823	27	78.7	125.5	Hail	43	222	29	1,358	Relatively Low
Stearns County	1,055	25	78.6	66.4	Hail	57	431	13	112	Relatively Moderate
Chippewa County	455	20	78.3	368.2	Winter	25	106	21	172	Very Low
Goodhue County	583	32	77.0	121.5	Wind	35	155	18	209	Relatively Low
Houston County	422	8	76.4	224.7	Wind	14	79	21	78	Very Low
Martin County	524	19	73.6	263.1	Wind	23	140	15	0	Relatively Low
Norman County	640	17	73.3	997.5	Winter	30	153	32	247	Very Low
Pope County	491	23	73.3	430.6	Hail	30	135	16	7	Very Low
Traverse County	415	4	72.3	1,262.9	Winter	19	89	25	146	Very Low
Faribault County	499	15	70.0	358.8	Wind	42	120	22	12	Relatively Low
Mille Lacs County	400	12	69.9	148.9	Wind	16	109	10	24	Very Low
Pennington County	430	13	69.7	312.0	Winter	11	102	20	25	Relatively Low
Redwood County	582	16	66.2	378.8	Wind	29	153	21	3	Very Low
Lac qui Parle County	505	20	66.0	755.5	Hail	16	144	21	45	Very Low
Swift County	485	23	65.4	497.5	Winter	51	97	19	12	Very Low
Renville County	639	19	65.0	437.4	Hail	30	187	22	6	Very Low
Kittson County	687	14	62.5	1,657.0	Hail	33	178	32	247	Very Low
Hubbard County	575	16	62.1	264.8	Hail	24	173	10	28	Very Low
Kanabec County	314	11	60.2	194.3	Winter	11	82	11	21	Very Low
Yellow Medicine County	446	21	58.8	473.9	Winter	24	98	24	146	Very Low
Otter Tail County	1,056	6	53.6	175.9	Hail	87	460	17	109	Relatively Low
Todd County	451	17	47.7	178.7	Hail	25	143	13	13	Very Low
Morrison County	528	15	46.9	155.3	Hail	30	173	14	50	Relatively Low
Polk County	915	15	46.4	297.5	Hail	82	423	31	1,455	Relatively Low
Roseau County	686	7	41.0	449.6	Hail	38	252	28	279	Relatively Low
Becker County	504	3	38.3	143.1	Hail	34	257	19	92	Very Low
Pine County	534	19	37.8	182.2	Hail	13	191	15	60	Relatively Low
Carlton County	274	9	31.8	75.3	Hail	9	131	10	19	Relatively Low
Lake of the Woods County	412	13	31.7	1,077.7	Hail	17	112	18	5	Very Low
Cass County	566	20	28.0	184.7	Hail	28	265	16	12	Relatively Low
Marshall County	451	8	25.4	501.8	Hail	36	210	30	1,405	Very Low
Clearwater County	247	2	24.7	288.0	Hail	22	121	16	15	Very Low
Beltrami County	616	4	24.6	132.8	Hail	44	312	21	3	Relatively Low
Itasca County	628	11	23.5	139.3	Wind	11	273	15	12	Relatively Low
St. Louis County	1,352	44	21.6	67.9	Wind	43	525	17	183	Relatively Moderate
Aitkin County	380	20	20.9	239.2	Wind	22	143	21	95	Relatively Low
Koochiching County	466	11	15.0	390.3	Hail	6	149	14	17	Very Low
Lake County	162	3	7.7	147.5	Wind	7	61	12	9	Very Low
Cook County	86	5	5.9	153.1	Wind	4	25	10	15	Very Low

Events are county-recorded plus zone-recorded events whose zone is named for the county. NRI risk is FEMA's National Risk Index overall rating (December 2025).

Counties by flood claims per 100 policies in force

County	Claims, last 10 years	Policies in force	Claims per 100 policies	Claims since 1978	Paid
Polk County	28	102	27.5	1,455	$36M
Dakota County	42	161	26.1	181	$3.9M
Washington County	52	247	21.1	533	$5.4M
Sherburne County	17	107	15.9	59	$478K
Stearns County	24	153	15.7	112	$1.1M
Olmsted County	16	154	10.4	719	$5.3M
Pine County	10	106	9.4	60	$1.4M
Ramsey County	12	179	6.7	145	$1.3M
Anoka County	13	230	5.7	96	$451K
Hennepin County	49	882	5.6	682	$4.6M
Wright County	7	124	5.6	223	$2.0M
St. Louis County	15	290	5.2	183	$1.8M
Scott County	4	117	3.4	117	$1.1M
Aitkin County	2	101	2.0	95	$755K
Winona County	2	113	1.8	115	$3.9M

Counties with at least 100 residential policies in force. Claims by year of loss in the ten years to 2026, divided by residential policies in force as of 3 Aug 2026; a rough ratio, since policies in force today differ from those in force when the losses occurred.

Federal disaster declarations by year

195319902026

Declarations touching Minnesota by year declared, 1953 to 2026; each disaster number counted once.

Incident type	Declarations
Flood	31
Severe Storm	26
Fire	10
Biological	4
Tornado	3
Severe Ice Storm	2
Straight-Line Winds	1
Other	1
Hurricane	1
Snowstorm	1

Most recent declarations (each disaster number once, with the number of counties designated):

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
22 Oct 2025	DR-4894	Major disaster	Straight-Line Winds	Severe Storms And Straight-Line Winds	0
14 May 2025	FM-5583	Fire management assistance	Fire	Munger Shaw Fire	1
28 Jun 2024	DR-4797	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	32
19 Jul 2023	DR-4722	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	25
9 Aug 2022	DR-4666	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	23
13 Jul 2022	DR-4659	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	15
8 Jul 2022	DR-4658	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	23
7 Apr 2020	DR-4531	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	91
13 Mar 2020	EM-3508	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	0
13 Mar 2020	EM-3503	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	0
13 Mar 2020	EM-3453	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	90
12 Jun 2019	DR-4442	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	51
1 Feb 2019	DR-4414	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	1
5 Sep 2018	DR-4390	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	28
2 Nov 2016	DR-4290	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	10

Flood insurance claims by year

197820022026

NFIP claims in Minnesota by year of loss, 1978 to 2026.

12,474 claims, 10,102 paid, $157M in total; 553 repetitive-loss and 64 severe repetitive-loss properties. ZIP codes in Minnesota with flood claims (264).

Year by year

Each year's events, declarations and claims: 2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011 · 2010 · 2009 · 2008 · 2007 · 2006 · 2005 · 2004 · 2003 · 2002 · 2001 · 2000 · 1999 · 1998 · 1997 · and earlier years back to 1950

Questions and answers

Which Minnesota counties have the most recorded tornadoes?

Otter Tail (87), Polk (82) and Freeborn (72), by NCEI count since 1950. Larger counties record more events; the state table also ranks by events per 100 square miles.

Which Minnesota counties have the most flood insurance claims?

Polk (1,455), Marshall (1,405) and Clay (1,358) since 1978, in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file.

How many federal disaster declarations has Minnesota had?

81 declarations since 1953 (major disaster, emergency and fire management assistance declarations combined), 0 of them in 2026 so far.

How does Minnesota compare with the national rate?

71.0 recorded events per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally; 2.2 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 8.1.

Provenance

NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 refreshed 29 Sep 2026; OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026); FEMA National Risk Index December 2025; US Census Bureau 2021 population and area. Built 30 Sep 2026. Methodology.