NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Cottage Grove, 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 Cottage Grove, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 106 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 106
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
23 deaths in all
What the records show for Cottage Grove
The highest rating among the 106 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 6, 1965, came within 22 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 6, 1965, killed 6 people. Of the 106, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 54 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 26. The most recent tornado was on August 29, 2024. Cottage Grove has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 80% of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 169 times since 1964, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Cottage Grove has more hail reports within 10 miles than 77% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Cottage Grove
By decade
- 2020s16
- 2010s20
- 2000s18(1 EF3+)
- 1990s17
- 1980s10(3 EF3+)
- 1970s6
- 1960s12(2 EF3+)
- 1950s7(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 22 mi | 17.3 mi | 6 / 158 |
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 22 mi | 6.8 mi | 3 / 175 |
| Jul 20, 1951 | F3 | 17 mi | 11.6 mi | 5 / 40 |
| May 25, 2008 | EF3 | 23 mi | 5.96 mi | 1 / 17 |
| Apr 26, 1984 | F3 | 19 mi | 5.5 mi | 1 / 52 |
| Jun 14, 1981 | F3 | 11 mi | 16.2 mi | 1 / 83 |
| Jul 27, 1987 | F3 | 21 mi | 30 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 24, 1958 | F3 | 17 mi | 59.4 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 10, 1953 | F2 | 13 mi | 105.7 mi | 4 / 27 |
| Jul 14, 2010 | EF2 | 18 mi | 15.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 2001 | F2 | 22 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 29, 1998 | F2 | 23 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 106, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Cottage Grove
The Storm Prediction Center has 169 hail reports within 10 miles of Cottage Grove since 1964, made on 83 separate days. Of these, 121 were 1 inch across or larger, and 13 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on June 20, 2007. The most recent report is from September 21, 2025. May has the most reports, 52.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Cottage Grove
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Hastings Dam 2, MN, 6 miles southeast of Cottage Grove at 680 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 24°F and 6°F. June is the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 33.2 inches over 66 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 8 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 150 nights a year. That 33.2 inches is more than at 93 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (75%). St Paul Park, 3 miles west, has its own station (St Paul Downtown Airport, MN): 29.3 inches a year, 3.9 less than here, and the same July average high, 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 24 | 6 | 0.9 | 3 |
| Feb | 29 | 9 | 0.9 | 2 |
| Mar | 41 | 22 | 1.8 | 4 |
| Apr | 56 | 36 | 3.1 | 7 |
| May | 69 | 48 | 4.3 | 8 |
| Jun | 79 | 59 | 4.9 | 9 |
| Jul | 83 | 63 | 4.4 | 7 |
| Aug | 81 | 61 | 4.2 | 7 |
| Sep | 73 | 53 | 3.2 | 6 |
| Oct | 59 | 40 | 2.6 | 6 |
| Nov | 43 | 27 | 1.7 | 4 |
| Dec | 30 | 14 | 1.2 | 4 |
| Year | 56 | 36 | 33.2 | 66 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Hastings Dam 2, MN (680 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 Cottage Grove
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 130 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Cottage Grove: 118 thunderstorm wind reports, 6 flash floods, 3 heavy rain events and 3 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 16, and the NWS estimated $15.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 98 mph, on May 19, 1996. June has had the most flash floods, 2 of 6. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 168 have had fewer than Cottage Grove.
September 20, 2007: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Cottage Grove — 1 killed, $200,000 damage.
May 30, 1998: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Cottage Grove — 11 injured.
June 14, 2008: thunderstorm wind in Cottage Grove — 2 injured.
NWS: “Tents and stage items blown over at Cottage Grove City Festival. Two people received minor injuries when a tent struck them.”
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
Washington County, which includes Cottage Grove, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 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 Washington County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for strong wind; Relatively High for tornadoes, hail and lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $92.7 million a year, the 7th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $41.5 million (45%), 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 Cottage Grove
- St Paul Park, MN3 mi
- Newport, MN4 mi
- Inver Grove Heights, MN5 mi
- Woodbury, MN6 mi
- South St Paul, MN7 mi
- Afton, MN8 mi
- Hastings, MN8 mi
- West St Paul, MN9 mi
- Prescott, WI9 mi
- Mendota Heights, MN11 mi
- Lakeland, MN11 mi
- Oakdale, MN11 mi
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