NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Dayton, 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 Dayton, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 84 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 11 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 84
- EF3 or stronger
- 11
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
23 deaths in all
What the records show for Dayton
The highest rating among the 84 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 6 times; the most recent, on July 3, 1983, came within 8 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 6, 1965, killed 6 people. Of the 84, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 40 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 28. The most recent tornado was on June 28, 2025. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 51% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Dayton. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 242 times since 1962, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Dayton has more hail reports within 10 miles than 87% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
Compare Dayton's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Dayton
By decade
- 2020s7
- 2010s14
- 2000s19(1 EF3+)
- 1990s13(1 EF3+)
- 1980s10(3 EF3+)
- 1970s4
- 1960s13(4 EF3+)
- 1950s4(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 15 mi | 17.3 mi | 6 / 158 |
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 13 mi | 6.8 mi | 3 / 175 |
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 21 mi | 12.3 mi | 3 / 175 |
| Jun 19, 1951 | F4 | 2 mi | 52.6 mi | 1 / 20 |
| Jul 3, 1983 | F4 | 8 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 19 mi | 6.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 20, 1951 | F3 | 20 mi | 11.6 mi | 5 / 40 |
| May 25, 2008 | EF3 | 21 mi | 5.96 mi | 1 / 17 |
| Apr 26, 1984 | F3 | 16 mi | 5.5 mi | 1 / 52 |
| Jul 1, 1997 | F3 | 22 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 23, 1987 | F3 | 5 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 16, 2006 | F2 | 1 mi | 8 mi | 1 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 84, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Dayton
The Storm Prediction Center has 242 hail reports within 10 miles of Dayton since 1962, made on 101 separate days. Of these, 152 were 1 inch across or larger, and 26 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 3 inches (tea cup size), was reported on 2 days, most recently August 5, 2019. The most recent report is from August 15, 2025. May has the most reports, 70.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Dayton
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Elk Rvr, MN, 8 miles northwest of Dayton at 880 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 23°F and 4°F. June and July are the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 0.8 inches; the year adds up to 32.9 inches over 54 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 11 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 163 nights a year. Snowfall averages 35.7 inches a year, most of it in January. That 32.9 inches is more than at 87 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (70%). Anoka, 4 miles northeast, has its own station (Andover 1N, MN): 28.8 inches a year, 4.1 less than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 23 | 4 | 0.8 | 2 | 8.2 |
| Feb | 28 | 7 | 0.8 | 2 | 7.3 |
| Mar | 41 | 18 | 1.7 | 4 | 6.3 |
| Apr | 56 | 32 | 3.0 | 5 | 2.4 |
| May | 69 | 45 | 4.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 79 | 56 | 4.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 83 | 61 | 4.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 58 | 4.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 49 | 3.6 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 58 | 36 | 3.0 | 5 | 0.2 |
| Nov | 41 | 24 | 1.7 | 3 | 5.3 |
| Dec | 27 | 11 | 1.1 | 3 | 6.0 |
| Year | 55 | 33 | 32.9 | 54 | 35.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Elk Rvr, MN (880 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 Dayton
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 216 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Dayton: 175 thunderstorm wind reports, 24 heavy rain events, 11 flash floods and 6 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $119.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 98 mph, on July 1, 1997. September has had the most flash floods, 5 of 11. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 231 have had fewer than Dayton.
September 21, 2005: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Dayton — 1 injured, $25.0 million damage.
July 1, 2011: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Dayton — 1 injured, $500,000 damage.
August 6, 1996: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Dayton — 1 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 Dayton, 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.