Skip to content

NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Clear Lake, MN

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Clear Lake, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 76 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
76

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
3

4 deaths in all

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Clear Lake

By decade

  • 2010s15
  • 2000s16
  • 1990s15(2 EF3+)
  • 1980s10(1 EF3+)
  • 1970s7
  • 1960s8
  • 1950s5
Strongest tornadoes near Clear Lake, Minnesota
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Sep 3, 1980F313 mi3.8 mi1 / 15
Jul 1, 1997F321 mi5 mi0 / 0
Jun 16, 1992F324 mi10 mi0 / 8
Sep 16, 2006F224 mi8 mi1 / 0
Jul 22, 1967F22 mi16.4 mi1 / 12
Mar 21, 1953F211 mi0.1 mi1 / 3
Jul 11, 2016EF225 mi2.22 mi0 / 1
Jul 1, 1997F212 mi5 mi0 / 0
Jul 1, 1997F213 mi2 mi0 / 0
Jul 21, 1995F218 mi10 mi0 / 0
Jun 16, 1992F214 mi0.3 mi0 / 0
Jun 16, 1992F210 mi10 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 76, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

How to read this page

A storm is listed when the centre of its track passed within 75 miles of Clear Lake while it was at least a tropical storm, which is the reach of damaging wind and rain for a typical hurricane. Being on the list does not mean the city took a direct hit; the "closest" column says how near the centre came. Tornadoes are counted when any part of the path came within 25 miles.

Tornado records before the 1990s are thinner, because weak tornadoes in open country often went unreported before Doppler radar and mobile phones. A rise in the decade counts is mostly better reporting, not a change in the weather.

Tracks come from the National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database, tornadoes from the Storm Prediction Center's database. Both are the official federal records and both are revised as old storms are re-analysed.

Other cities in Minnesota