NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Albert Lea, MN
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Albert Lea, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 146 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 14 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 146
- EF3 or stronger
- 14
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
20 deaths in all
What the records show for Albert Lea
The highest rating among the 146 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 6 times; the most recent, on June 17, 2010, came within 11 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 30, 1967, killed 6 people. Of the 146, 12 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 68 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 58. The most recent tornado was on June 26, 2025. Albert Lea has more tornadoes within 25 miles than any other of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 89 times since 1966, with stones up to 3.25 inches. Albert Lea has more hail reports within 10 miles than 52% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Albert Lea
By decade
- 2020s27
- 2010s27(4 EF3+)
- 2000s14
- 1990s14
- 1980s22(2 EF3+)
- 1970s9(1 EF3+)
- 1960s22(6 EF3+)
- 1950s11(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 30, 1967 | F4 | 13 mi | 20.1 mi | 6 / 22 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F4 | 1 mi | 38.7 mi | 5 / 35 |
| Jun 17, 2010 | EF4 | 11 mi | 16.91 mi | 1 / 14 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F4 | 14 mi | 7.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F4 | 25 mi | 13.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 10, 1953 | F4 | 14 mi | 26.6 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F3 | 11 mi | 18.4 mi | 2 / 23 |
| Jun 17, 2010 | EF3 | 19 mi | 4.32 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 17, 2010 | EF3 | 10 mi | 5.01 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 17, 2010 | EF3 | 4 mi | 18.15 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 7, 1984 | F3 | 2 mi | 14 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 17, 1982 | F3 | 6 mi | 46 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 146, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Albert Lea
The Storm Prediction Center has 89 hail reports within 10 miles of Albert Lea since 1966, made on 60 separate days. Of these, 56 were 1 inch across or larger, and 12 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.25 inches, fell on June 27, 1998. The most recent report is from April 28, 2025. June has the most reports, 39.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Albert Lea
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Albert Lea 3SE, MN, 5 miles southeast of Albert Lea at 1,230 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 23°F and 6°F. June is the wettest at 5.4 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 35.7 inches over 66 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 8 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 159 nights a year. Snowfall averages 39.5 inches a year, most of it in February. That 35.7 inches is more than at 115 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (93%). Northwood, IA, 16 miles southeast, has its own station (Northwood, IA): 35.4 inches a year, 0.3 less than here, and a July average high of 79°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 23 | 6 | 0.9 | 3 | 8.9 |
| Feb | 27 | 10 | 0.9 | 3 | 9.8 |
| Mar | 40 | 23 | 1.9 | 4 | 6.6 |
| Apr | 55 | 36 | 3.7 | 7 | 2.8 |
| May | 68 | 48 | 4.9 | 9 | 0.3 |
| Jun | 78 | 59 | 5.4 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 63 | 4.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 60 | 4.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 51 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 59 | 38 | 2.6 | 5 | 0.3 |
| Nov | 42 | 25 | 1.5 | 3 | 2.7 |
| Dec | 28 | 13 | 1.1 | 3 | 8.1 |
| Year | 54 | 36 | 35.7 | 66 | 39.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Albert Lea 3SE, MN (1,230 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Albert Lea
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 71 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Albert Lea: 57 thunderstorm wind reports, 6 flash floods, 4 floods and 4 heavy rain events. They killed 3 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $1.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on June 18, 2014. June has had the most flash floods, 5 of 6. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 168 have had fewer than Albert Lea.
June 11, 2008: flash flood 1 mile from the centre of Albert Lea — 3 killed, 2 injured, $500,000 damage.
NWS: “Approximately three to five inches of heavy rain in three hours resulted in flash flooding. Water was reported over Highway 65 three miles southeast of Albert Lea, and over Interstate 90 five miles east and one mile north of Hayward.”
June 18, 2014: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Albert Lea — $200,000 damage.
NWS: “A severe downburst produced considerable damage to a home residence. Damage included the loss of the roof, and structure damage throughout the home, including total destruction of their garage.”
September 4, 2012: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Albert Lea — $100,000 damage.
NWS: “A large tree fell on a house in Albert Lea. In addition, there were reports of widespread tree damage across parts of Freeborn County, along with power outages.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Albert Lea's ZIP code 56007 have filed 33 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $769,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 9% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 120 Minnesota cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 67 have fewer than Albert Lea.
Freeborn County, which includes Albert Lea, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 19 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 floods, 7 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 tornadoes). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms and Flooding, on June 28, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Freeborn County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for inland flooding; Very Low for lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $17.2 million a year, the 37th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.6 million (39%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Albert Lea
- Northwood, IA16 mi
- Lake Mills, IA18 mi
- Wells, MN18 mi
- New Richland, MN19 mi
- Austin, MN20 mi
- Blooming Prairie, MN22 mi
- Saint Ansgar, IA28 mi
- Waseca, MN30 mi
- Owatonna, MN30 mi
- Forest City, IA31 mi
- Hayfield, MN32 mi
- Mapleton, MN34 mi
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