NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Elk River, 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 Elk River, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 79 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 79
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
14 deaths in all
What the records show for Elk River
The highest rating among the 79 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on July 3, 1983, came within 14 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 6, 1965, killed 6 people. Of the 79, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 37 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 29. The most recent tornado was on August 29, 2024. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 57% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Elk River. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 191 times since 1974, with stones up to 3.5 inches. Elk River has more hail reports within 10 miles than 81% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
Compare Elk River's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Elk River
By decade
- 2020s6
- 2010s15
- 2000s16
- 1990s15(1 EF3+)
- 1980s12(3 EF3+)
- 1970s5
- 1960s8(2 EF3+)
- 1950s2(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 24 mi | 17.3 mi | 6 / 158 |
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 21 mi | 6.8 mi | 3 / 175 |
| Jun 19, 1951 | F4 | 11 mi | 52.6 mi | 1 / 20 |
| Jul 3, 1983 | F4 | 14 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Apr 26, 1984 | F3 | 24 mi | 5.5 mi | 1 / 52 |
| Jul 1, 1997 | F3 | 20 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 23, 1987 | F3 | 13 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 16, 2006 | F2 | 7 mi | 8 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Jul 22, 1967 | F2 | 14 mi | 16.4 mi | 1 / 12 |
| Sep 21, 2005 | F2 | 16 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 1, 1997 | F2 | 12 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 1, 1997 | F2 | 12 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 79, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Elk River
The Storm Prediction Center has 191 hail reports within 10 miles of Elk River since 1974, made on 83 separate days. Of these, 119 were 1 inch across or larger, and 16 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.5 inches, fell on July 13, 2024. The most recent report is from August 15, 2025. May has the most reports, 57.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Elk River
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Elk Rvr, MN, in Elk River 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%). Saint Michael, 9 miles southwest, has its own station (Buffalo 2NE, MN): 31.6 inches a year, 1.3 less than here, and a July average high of 81°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 Elk River
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 123 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Elk River: 106 thunderstorm wind reports, 10 heavy rain events, 5 flash floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $91.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 109 mph, on July 1, 1997. June has had the most flash floods, 2 of 5. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 132 have had fewer than Elk River.
July 1, 2011: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Elk River — 1 injured, $500,000 damage.
July 1, 1997: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Elk River — 1 injured.
September 21, 2005: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Elk River — $85.0 million 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Elk River's ZIP code 55330 have filed 25 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $65,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1997: 11 claims (44% of all) and $50,000. 64% 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, 55 have fewer than Elk River.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1997 | 11 | $50,000 |
Sherburne County, which includes Elk River, has been named in 10 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 7 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 severe storms, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 7, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Sherburne County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail and lightning; Relatively Low for inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $30.8 million a year, the 19th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $17.0 million (55%), 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.