NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Clearwater, 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 Clearwater, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 74 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 74
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
4 deaths in all
What the records show for Clearwater
The highest rating among the 74 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 3 times; the most recent, on July 1, 1997, came within 16 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on September 16, 2006, killed 1 person. Of the 74, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 31 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 24. The most recent tornado was on September 29, 2023. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 60% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Clearwater. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 113 times since 1972, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Clearwater has more hail reports within 10 miles than 64% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
Compare Clearwater's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Clearwater
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s14
- 2000s16
- 1990s18(2 EF3+)
- 1980s5(1 EF3+)
- 1970s6
- 1960s10
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3, 1980 | F3 | 13 mi | 3.8 mi | 1 / 15 |
| Jul 1, 1997 | F3 | 16 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | F3 | 17 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Sep 16, 2006 | F2 | 25 mi | 8 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Jul 22, 1967 | F2 | 5 mi | 16.4 mi | 1 / 12 |
| Mar 21, 1953 | F2 | 13 mi | 0.1 mi | 1 / 3 |
| Jul 11, 2016 | EF2 | 17 mi | 2.22 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 1, 1997 | F2 | 13 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 1, 1997 | F2 | 9 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | F2 | 21 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | F2 | 9 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 14, 1981 | F2 | 12 mi | 2.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 74, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Clearwater
The Storm Prediction Center has 113 hail reports within 10 miles of Clearwater since 1972, made on 60 separate days. Of these, 68 were 1 inch across or larger, and 10 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on July 26, 2019. The most recent report is from July 18, 2025. May has the most reports, 29.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Clearwater
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is St Cloud Regional Airport, MN, 11 miles north of Clearwater at 1,018 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 59°F; January is the coolest, at 21°F and 3°F. August is the wettest at 4.0 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 28.7 inches over 57 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 172 nights a year. Snowfall averages 47.9 inches a year, most of it in December. That 28.7 inches is more than at 36 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (29%). South Haven, 9 miles southwest, has its own station (Dassel 3SE, MN): 28.9 inches a year, 0.2 more than here, and the same July average high, 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 21 | 3 | 0.7 | 2 | 8.8 |
| Feb | 26 | 7 | 0.8 | 3 | 8.9 |
| Mar | 39 | 20 | 1.6 | 4 | 8.2 |
| Apr | 54 | 32 | 2.6 | 6 | 4.7 |
| May | 68 | 45 | 3.7 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 77 | 55 | 3.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 59 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 56 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 71 | 48 | 3.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 56 | 36 | 2.6 | 5 | 1.0 |
| Nov | 39 | 23 | 1.4 | 3 | 6.9 |
| Dec | 26 | 10 | 0.9 | 3 | 9.3 |
| Year | 53 | 33 | 28.7 | 57 | 47.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at St Cloud Regional Airport, MN (1,018 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 Clearwater
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 93 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Clearwater: 91 thunderstorm wind reports, 1 flood and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $757,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on May 18, 1996.
June 28, 1997: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Clearwater — 1 injured.
July 17, 2010: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Clearwater — $250,000 damage.
July 5, 2016: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Clearwater — $250,000 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
Wright County, which includes Clearwater, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 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 Wright County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $51.2 million a year, the 10th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $29.9 million (58%), 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 Clearwater
- Clear Lake, MN9 mi
- South Haven, MN9 mi
- Annandale, MN10 mi
- Maple Lake, MN10 mi
- Becker, MN11 mi
- Saint Cloud, MN12 mi
- Kimball, MN14 mi
- Monticello, MN14 mi
- Waite Park, MN14 mi
- Big Lake, MN16 mi
- Sauk Rapids, MN16 mi
- Buffalo, MN18 mi
All Minnesota cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Clearwater with another place →