NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Elko, 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 Elko, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 123 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 123
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
10 deaths in all
What the records show for Elko
The highest rating among the 123 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 6, 1965, came within 24 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on July 20, 1951, killed 5 people. Of the 123, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 64 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 25. The most recent tornado was on June 28, 2025. Elko has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 95% of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 122 times since 1973, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Elko has more hail reports within 10 miles than 67% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Elko
By decade
- 2020s17
- 2010s33
- 2000s14
- 1990s29
- 1980s7(2 EF3+)
- 1970s4
- 1960s14(2 EF3+)
- 1950s5(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 24 mi | 12.3 mi | 3 / 175 |
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 21 mi | 6.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 20, 1951 | F3 | 22 mi | 11.6 mi | 5 / 40 |
| Jun 14, 1981 | F3 | 18 mi | 16.2 mi | 1 / 83 |
| Jul 27, 1987 | F3 | 11 mi | 30 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 20, 2018 | EF2 | 17 mi | 2.95 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 20, 2018 | EF2 | 21 mi | 4.94 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 2001 | F2 | 12 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 29, 1998 | F2 | 6 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 29, 1998 | F2 | 7 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 29, 1998 | F2 | 14 mi | 17 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Sep 6, 1995 | F2 | 24 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 123, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Elko
The Storm Prediction Center has 122 hail reports within 10 miles of Elko since 1973, made on 66 separate days. Of these, 76 were 1 inch across or larger, and 13 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on August 24, 2006. The most recent report is from July 27, 2025. June has the most reports, 46.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Elko
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Farmington 3 NW, MN, 12 miles northeast of Elko at 980 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 23°F and 8°F. June is the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.8 inches; the year adds up to 32.3 inches over 59 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 7 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 150 nights a year. Snowfall averages 41.0 inches a year, most of it in January. That 32.3 inches is more than at 80 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (65%). Lonsdale, 8 miles southwest, has its own station (Faribault, MN): 35.5 inches a year, 3.2 more than here, and the same July average high, 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 23 | 8 | 1.1 | 3 | 10.5 |
| Feb | 28 | 12 | 0.8 | 2 | 6.4 |
| Mar | 41 | 24 | 1.7 | 4 | 8.0 |
| Apr | 56 | 36 | 2.7 | 5 | 1.8 |
| May | 69 | 48 | 3.9 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 78 | 59 | 4.9 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 63 | 4.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 60 | 4.4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 52 | 3.2 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 58 | 39 | 2.8 | 5 | 0.3 |
| Nov | 42 | 27 | 1.6 | 3 | 7.0 |
| Dec | 28 | 14 | 1.0 | 2 | 7.0 |
| Year | 55 | 37 | 32.3 | 59 | 41.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Farmington 3 NW, MN (980 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 Elko
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 69 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Elko: 57 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 heavy rain events, 4 floods, 2 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $5.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on May 30, 1998.
August 8, 2020: lightning strike 7 miles from the centre of Elko — 3 injured, $10,000 damage.
May 19, 1996: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Elko — $4.5 million damage.
June 19, 2012: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Elko — $1.0 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
Scott County, which includes Elko, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 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 Scott County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and heat waves; Relatively Low for lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $66.5 million a year, the 9th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $27.3 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.
Cities near Elko
- Elko New Market, MNunder 1 mi
- Lonsdale, MN8 mi
- Lakeville, MN8 mi
- Prior Lake, MN10 mi
- New Prague, MN11 mi
- Farmington, MN12 mi
- Northfield, MN12 mi
- Dundas, MN12 mi
- Savage, MN13 mi
- Burnsville, MN14 mi
- Jordan, MN14 mi
- Apple Valley, MN14 mi
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