NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Duluth, 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 Duluth, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 10 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 10
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Duluth
The strongest of the 10 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on August 6, 1969; its path came within 15 miles, and it killed 2 people. Of the 10, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 3 have come since 2000. August and September have had the most tornadoes, 3 each. The most recent tornado was on May 18, 2022. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 98% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Duluth. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 158 times since 1958, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Duluth has more hail reports within 10 miles than 74% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Duluth
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s2
- 1980s1
- 1970s3
- 1960s2(1 EF3+)
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 1969 | F3 | 15 mi | 17.2 mi | 2 / 3 |
| Sep 3, 1980 | F2 | 20 mi | 9.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 8, 1979 | F1 | 25 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 12, 1976 | F1 | 17 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 18, 2022 | EF0 | 8 mi | 3.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 2012 | EF0 | 8 mi | 0.05 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 2012 | EF0 | 8 mi | 0.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 9, 1977 | F0 | 23 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 19, 1967 | F0 | 21 mi | 19.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 26, 1958 | F0 | 1 mi | 6.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 10 of 10, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Duluth
The Storm Prediction Center has 158 hail reports within 10 miles of Duluth since 1958, made on 65 separate days. Of these, 94 were 1 inch across or larger, and 13 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on September 8, 1958. The most recent report is from July 6, 2024. May has the most reports, 41.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Duluth
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Duluth, MN, 5 miles west of Duluth at 1,428 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 78°F and low of 56°F; January is the coolest, at 20°F and 2°F. June is the wettest at 4.4 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 31.3 inches over 66 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 2 days a year. Lows fall below freezing on about 177 nights a year. Snowfall averages 90.2 inches a year, most of it in December. That 31.3 inches is more than at 69 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (56%). Superior, WI, 10 miles south, has its own station (Superior, WI): 31.5 inches a year, 0.2 more than here, and a July average high of 76°F against 78°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 20 | 2 | 1.0 | 3 | 16.8 |
| Feb | 25 | 6 | 1.0 | 3 | 15.1 |
| Mar | 36 | 18 | 1.5 | 4 | 12.8 |
| Apr | 49 | 30 | 2.5 | 6 | 9.1 |
| May | 63 | 41 | 3.4 | 7 | 0.8 |
| Jun | 72 | 50 | 4.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 78 | 56 | 3.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 76 | 55 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 67 | 47 | 3.5 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Oct | 53 | 36 | 2.9 | 6 | 2.7 |
| Nov | 37 | 23 | 2.0 | 5 | 14.1 |
| Dec | 25 | 10 | 1.5 | 4 | 18.7 |
| Year | 50 | 31 | 31.3 | 66 | 90.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Duluth, MN (1,428 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 Duluth
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 166 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Duluth: 126 thunderstorm wind reports, 27 flash floods, 8 lightning strikes, 4 floods and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 1 person and injured 5, and the NWS estimated $881,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on July 21, 2016. June has had the most flash floods, 18 of 27. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 291 have had fewer than Duluth.
August 18, 2012: lightning strike 10 miles from the centre of Duluth — 1 killed, 4 injured.
June 28, 2015: lightning strike 3 miles from the centre of Duluth — 1 injured.
NWS: “A 12-year-old boy was critically injured after being struck by lightning at Enger Park Golf Course in Duluth, near the fairway, at about 3:50 pm. The boy was a spectator at a tournament being held at the golf course.”
September 11, 2023: flash flood in Duluth — $250,000 damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorms over parts of Duluth dropped upwards of 3 to 6 inches of rain over a localized area focused on the Chester Creek basin over a period of 2 to 3 hours. The highest rainfall totals were located at the top of the hill in the College of St.”
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
Flood insurance policyholders in Duluth's 9 ZIP codes have filed 108 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2012, with 44. 8% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 120 Minnesota cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 106 have fewer than Duluth.
St. Louis County, which includes Duluth, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1970, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 floods, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms and Flooding, on June 28, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives St. Louis County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for hail, inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Low for tornadoes; Very Low for coastal flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $112.4 million a year, the 5th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $49.8 million (44%), 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 Duluth
- Proctor, MN8 mi
- Superior, WI10 mi
- Esko, MN14 mi
- Saginaw, MN17 mi
- South Range, WI19 mi
- Cloquet, MN19 mi
- Carlton, MN21 mi
- Two Harbors, MN27 mi
- Barnum, MN32 mi
- Solon Springs, WI38 mi
- Iron River, WI40 mi
- Moose Lake, MN41 mi
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