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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Brooklyn Center, 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 Brooklyn Center, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 104 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 12 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
104

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
12

24 deaths in all

What the records show for Brooklyn Center

The highest rating among the 104 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 6 times; the most recent, on July 3, 1983, came within 11 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 6, 1965, killed 6 people. Of the 104, 10 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 54 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 27. The most recent tornado was on June 28, 2025. Brooklyn Center has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 74% of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 424 times since 1960, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Brooklyn Center has more hail reports within 10 miles than 97% of the 341 Minnesota cities.

Compare Brooklyn Center's storm record with another city →

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Brooklyn Center

By decade

  • 2020s18
  • 2010s20
  • 2000s16(1 EF3+)
  • 1990s16
  • 1980s9(4 EF3+)
  • 1970s9
  • 1960s11(4 EF3+)
  • 1950s5(3 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
May 6, 1965F42 mi17.3 mi6 / 158
May 6, 1965F43 mi6.8 mi3 / 175
May 6, 1965F421 mi12.3 mi3 / 175
Jun 19, 1951F410 mi52.6 mi1 / 20
Jul 3, 1983F411 mi1 mi0 / 4
May 6, 1965F413 mi6.9 mi0 / 0
Jul 20, 1951F311 mi11.6 mi5 / 40
May 25, 2008EF316 mi5.96 mi1 / 17
Apr 26, 1984F35 mi5.5 mi1 / 52
Jun 14, 1981F313 mi16.2 mi1 / 83
Jul 23, 1987F34 mi5 mi0 / 0
May 24, 1958F319 mi59.4 mi0 / 12

The strongest 12 of 104, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Brooklyn Center

The Storm Prediction Center has 424 hail reports within 10 miles of Brooklyn Center since 1960, made on 140 separate days. Of these, 277 were 1 inch across or larger, and 34 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on August 11, 1963. The most recent report is from August 15, 2025. May has the most reports, 133.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Radar-estimated hail days in Brooklyn Center since 2019 →

Weather by month in Brooklyn Center

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is New Hope, MN, 5 miles southwest of Brooklyn Center at 910 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 24°F and 7°F. June is the wettest at 4.6 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 34.8 inches over 65 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 9 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 156 nights a year. Snowfall averages 54.3 inches a year, most of it in December. That 34.8 inches is more than at 107 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (86%). Columbia Heights, 4 miles east, has its own station (Lower St Anthony Falls, MN): 34.5 inches a year, 0.3 less than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 82°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at New Hope, MN
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow in
Jan2471.0310.1
Feb29111.0310.1
Mar42231.959.0
Apr57353.375.1
May69484.580.0
Jun78584.680.0
Jul82634.570.0
Aug80614.260.0
Sep72523.560.0
Oct57393.060.8
Nov41261.946.9
Dec29141.4412.3
Year553634.86554.3

Averages for 1991–2020 at New Hope, MN (910 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.

Minnesota weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Brooklyn Center

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 344 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Brooklyn Center: 259 thunderstorm wind reports, 41 heavy rain events, 32 flash floods, 9 lightning strikes and 3 floods. They killed 0 people and injured 12, and the NWS estimated $52.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on July 1, 1997. June has had the most flash floods, 11 of 32. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 302 have had fewer than Brooklyn Center.

  • May 23, 2007: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Brooklyn Center — 5 injured.

  • August 6, 1996: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Brooklyn Center — 2 injured.

  • September 21, 2005: lightning strike 10 miles from the centre of Brooklyn Center — 2 injured.

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

Hennepin County, which includes Brooklyn Center, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 floods, 5 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 7, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Hennepin County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Relatively High for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $456.4 million a year, the highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $188.4 million (41%), 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 Brooklyn Center