NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Austin, 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 Austin, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 115 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 12 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 115
- EF3 or stronger
- 12
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
11 deaths in all
What the records show for Austin
The highest rating among the 115 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on April 30, 1967, came within 17 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on May 10, 1953, killed 6 people. Of the 115, 12 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 53 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 44. The most recent tornado was on June 26, 2025. Austin has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 91% of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 70 times since 1959, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 341 Minnesota cities, 62% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Austin.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Austin
By decade
- 2020s18
- 2010s16(3 EF3+)
- 2000s19(1 EF3+)
- 1990s16
- 1980s11(2 EF3+)
- 1970s9(2 EF3+)
- 1960s17(4 EF3+)
- 1950s9
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 30, 1967 | F4 | 20 mi | 38.7 mi | 5 / 35 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F4 | 10 mi | 7.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F4 | 17 mi | 13.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 17, 2010 | EF3 | 15 mi | 4.32 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 17, 2010 | EF3 | 14 mi | 5.01 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 17, 2010 | EF3 | 22 mi | 18.15 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 11, 2004 | F3 | 22 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 7, 1984 | F3 | 19 mi | 14 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 17, 1982 | F3 | 13 mi | 46 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 28, 1974 | F3 | 22 mi | 3.8 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jul 12, 1971 | F3 | 17 mi | 15.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F3 | 8 mi | 17.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 115, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Austin
The Storm Prediction Center has 70 hail reports within 10 miles of Austin since 1959, made on 53 separate days. Of these, 41 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on May 24, 1989. The most recent report is from June 12, 2025. May has the most reports, 28.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Austin
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Austin Waste Wtp Facility, MN, 1 mile south of Austin at 1,199 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 22°F and 5°F. June is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 1.1 inches; the year adds up to 36.3 inches over 66 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 6 days a year, almost all from June to July. Lows fall below freezing on about 165 nights a year. Snowfall averages 43.4 inches a year, most of it in January. That 36.3 inches is more than at 117 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (94%). Blooming Prairie, 15 miles north, has its own station (Owatonna, MN): 35.6 inches a year, 0.7 less than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22 | 5 | 1.1 | 3 | 11.0 |
| Feb | 26 | 9 | 1.1 | 3 | 10.4 |
| Mar | 39 | 23 | 2.0 | 4 | 7.5 |
| Apr | 55 | 35 | 3.7 | 7 | 2.2 |
| May | 68 | 48 | 5.0 | 8 | 0.3 |
| Jun | 78 | 58 | 5.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 61 | 4.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 59 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 50 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 58 | 38 | 2.6 | 5 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 42 | 25 | 1.8 | 3 | 2.3 |
| Dec | 28 | 13 | 1.3 | 4 | 9.3 |
| Year | 54 | 35 | 36.3 | 66 | 43.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Austin Waste Wtp Facility, MN (1,199 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 Austin
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 153 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Austin: 79 thunderstorm wind reports, 48 floods, 16 flash floods, 7 heavy rain events and 3 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $11.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 93 mph, on June 27, 1998. June has had the most flash floods, 6 of 16. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 264 have had fewer than Austin.
April 16, 2024: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Austin — 1 injured.
NWS: “A semi tractor trailer truck was reported to be blown over by strong thunderstorm winds near the intersection of Minnesota State Highway 56 and 205th Street in Austin. The driver sustained non-life threatening injuries.”
June 27, 1998: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Austin — $3.5 million damage.
June 27, 1998: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Austin — $1.9 million damage.
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 Austin's ZIP code 55912 have filed 710 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $10.8 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 117 claims (16% of all) and $751,000, then Flooding in 1978 with 72. The year with the most claims was 1978, with 166. 27% 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, 117 have fewer than Austin.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 117 | $751,000 |
| Flooding1978 | 72 | $427,000 |
Mower County, which includes Austin, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 severe storms, 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms and Flooding, on June 28, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Mower County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and strong wind; Relatively Low for heat waves; Very Low for lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $26.9 million a year, the 22nd highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $16.4 million (61%), 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 Austin
- Blooming Prairie, MN15 mi
- Hayfield, MN17 mi
- Saint Ansgar, IA19 mi
- Albert Lea, MN20 mi
- Northwood, IA20 mi
- Dodge Center, MN25 mi
- Stewartville, MN27 mi
- Osage, IA28 mi
- Kasson, MN28 mi
- Mantorville, MN30 mi
- Byron, MN30 mi
- Riceville, IA30 mi
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