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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Farmington, 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 Farmington, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 110 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
110

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
4

8 deaths in all

What the records show for Farmington

The strongest of the 110 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on May 6, 1965; its path came within 23 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on July 20, 1951, killed 5 people. Of the 110, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 61 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 23. The most recent tornado was on August 29, 2024. Farmington has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 84% of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 128 times since 1968, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Farmington has more hail reports within 10 miles than 69% of the 341 Minnesota cities.

Compare Farmington's storm record with another city →

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Farmington

By decade

  • 2020s16
  • 2010s31
  • 2000s14
  • 1990s19
  • 1980s9(2 EF3+)
  • 1970s6
  • 1960s10(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s5(1 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Farmington, Minnesota
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
May 6, 1965F423 mi6.9 mi0 / 0
Jul 20, 1951F317 mi11.6 mi5 / 40
Jun 14, 1981F313 mi16.2 mi1 / 83
Jul 27, 1987F312 mi30 mi0 / 0
Sep 20, 2018EF223 mi2.95 mi0 / 0
May 9, 2001F211 mi12 mi0 / 1
Mar 29, 1998F27 mi3 mi0 / 0
Mar 29, 1998F215 mi5 mi0 / 0
May 22, 1979F214 mi2 mi0 / 0
May 21, 1977F220 mi19.3 mi0 / 0
May 15, 1968F29 mi15.4 mi0 / 3
Jun 25, 1954F217 mi2.7 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 110, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Farmington

The Storm Prediction Center has 128 hail reports within 10 miles of Farmington since 1968, made on 70 separate days. Of these, 90 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on April 25, 1986. The most recent report is from August 15, 2025. May has the most reports, 34.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Radar-estimated hail days in Farmington since 2019 →

Weather by month in Farmington

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Farmington 3 NW, MN, 2 miles northwest of Farmington 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%). Eagan, 11 miles north, has its own station (Minneapolis/St Paul Airport, MN): 31.7 inches a year, 0.6 less than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 82°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Farmington 3 NW, MN
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow in
Jan2381.1310.5
Feb28120.826.4
Mar41241.748.0
Apr56362.751.8
May69483.980.0
Jun78594.990.0
Jul82634.270.0
Aug79604.470.0
Sep72523.250.0
Oct58392.850.3
Nov42271.637.0
Dec28141.027.0
Year553732.35941.0

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.

Minnesota weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Farmington

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 131 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Farmington: 103 thunderstorm wind reports, 14 heavy rain events, 8 flash floods, 5 lightning strikes and 1 flood. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $7.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on May 30, 1998. August has had the most flash floods, 7 of 8. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 204 have had fewer than Farmington.

  • August 8, 2020: lightning strike 7 miles from the centre of Farmington — 3 injured, $10,000 damage.

  • May 19, 1996: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Farmington — $4.5 million damage.

  • June 19, 2012: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Farmington — $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

Flood insurance policyholders in Farmington's ZIP code 55024 have filed 14 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1992, and were paid $52,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 7% 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, 18 have fewer than Farmington.

Dakota County, which includes Farmington, has been named in 16 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 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 Dakota 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 $133.7 million a year, the 3rd highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $56.6 million (42%), 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 Farmington