NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Columbia Heights, 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 Columbia Heights, 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
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 104
- EF3 or stronger
- 12
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
24 deaths in all
What the records show for Columbia Heights
The highest rating among the 104 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 6 times; the most recent, on July 3, 1983, came within 12 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 6, 1965, killed 6 people. Of the 104, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 52 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 27. The most recent tornado was on June 28, 2025. Columbia Heights has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 74% of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 458 times since 1960, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Columbia Heights has more hail reports within 10 miles than 99% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Columbia Heights
By decade
- 2020s16
- 2010s20
- 2000s16(1 EF3+)
- 1990s16
- 1980s9(4 EF3+)
- 1970s8
- 1960s12(4 EF3+)
- 1950s7(3 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | in town | 17.3 mi | 6 / 158 |
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | in town | 6.8 mi | 3 / 175 |
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 24 mi | 12.3 mi | 3 / 175 |
| Jun 19, 1951 | F4 | 13 mi | 52.6 mi | 1 / 20 |
| Jul 3, 1983 | F4 | 12 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 15 mi | 6.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 20, 1951 | F3 | 12 mi | 11.6 mi | 5 / 40 |
| May 25, 2008 | EF3 | 13 mi | 5.96 mi | 1 / 17 |
| Apr 26, 1984 | F3 | 2 mi | 5.5 mi | 1 / 52 |
| Jun 14, 1981 | F3 | 10 mi | 16.2 mi | 1 / 83 |
| Jul 23, 1987 | F3 | 6 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 24, 1958 | F3 | 16 mi | 59.4 mi | 0 / 12 |
The strongest 12 of 104, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Columbia Heights
The Storm Prediction Center has 458 hail reports within 10 miles of Columbia Heights since 1960, made on 146 separate days. Of these, 299 were 1 inch across or larger, and 32 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, 149.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Columbia Heights
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Lower St Anthony Falls, MN, 5 miles south of Columbia Heights at 754 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 22°F and 8°F. June is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 34.5 inches over 66 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 18 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 147 nights a year. That 34.5 inches is more than at 103 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (83%). Fridley, 3 miles north, has its own station (U Of Mn St Paul, MN): 32.8 inches a year, 1.7 less than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22 | 8 | 1.0 | 3 |
| Feb | 27 | 12 | 0.9 | 3 |
| Mar | 40 | 24 | 1.7 | 5 |
| Apr | 55 | 36 | 3.3 | 7 |
| May | 69 | 49 | 4.3 | 8 |
| Jun | 79 | 59 | 4.8 | 8 |
| Jul | 83 | 64 | 4.6 | 7 |
| Aug | 80 | 62 | 4.5 | 6 |
| Sep | 72 | 54 | 3.4 | 6 |
| Oct | 56 | 41 | 3.0 | 6 |
| Nov | 40 | 27 | 1.7 | 4 |
| Dec | 27 | 15 | 1.3 | 4 |
| Year | 54 | 37 | 34.5 | 66 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Lower St Anthony Falls, MN (754 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 Columbia Heights
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 328 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Columbia Heights: 258 thunderstorm wind reports, 31 flash floods, 28 heavy rain events, 9 lightning strikes and 2 floods. They killed 2 people and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $28.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on July 1, 1997. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 299 have had fewer than Columbia Heights.
July 26, 2007: heavy rain event 7 miles from the centre of Columbia Heights — 2 killed.
August 6, 1996: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Columbia Heights — 2 injured.
September 21, 2005: lightning strike 9 miles from the centre of Columbia Heights — 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
Anoka County, which includes Columbia Heights, has been named in 13 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 floods, 3 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 Anoka County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for strong wind; Relatively High for hail and lightning; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $127.5 million a year, the 4th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $85.4 million (67%), 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 Columbia Heights
- Fridley, MN3 mi
- New Brighton, MN3 mi
- Brooklyn Center, MN4 mi
- Robbinsdale, MN5 mi
- Roseville, MN5 mi
- Brooklyn Park, MN6 mi
- Shoreview, MN6 mi
- Minneapolis, MN6 mi
- New Hope, MN6 mi
- Golden Valley, MN7 mi
- Blaine, MN8 mi
- Vadnais Heights, MN8 mi
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