NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Forest Lake, 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 Forest Lake, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 87 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 11 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 87
- EF3 or stronger
- 11
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
17 deaths in all
What the records show for Forest Lake
The highest rating among the 87 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 5 times; the most recent, on July 3, 1983, came within 16 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 6, 1965, killed 6 people. Of the 87, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 38 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 32. The most recent tornado was on August 29, 2024. Forest Lake has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 51% of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 98 times since 1975, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Forest Lake has more hail reports within 10 miles than 58% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Forest Lake
By decade
- 2020s7
- 2010s14
- 2000s17(1 EF3+)
- 1990s17
- 1980s9(4 EF3+)
- 1970s3
- 1960s12(2 EF3+)
- 1950s8(4 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 8 mi | 17.3 mi | 6 / 158 |
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 15 mi | 6.8 mi | 3 / 175 |
| Jun 19, 1951 | F4 | 18 mi | 52.6 mi | 1 / 20 |
| Jul 3, 1983 | F4 | 16 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 21, 1957 | F4 | 22 mi | 9.2 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 23, 1952 | F3 | 20 mi | 18.2 mi | 2 / 6 |
| May 25, 2008 | EF3 | 7 mi | 5.96 mi | 1 / 17 |
| Apr 26, 1984 | F3 | 16 mi | 5.5 mi | 1 / 52 |
| Jun 14, 1981 | F3 | 19 mi | 16.2 mi | 1 / 83 |
| Jul 23, 1987 | F3 | 20 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 24, 1958 | F3 | 9 mi | 59.4 mi | 0 / 12 |
| Sep 16, 2006 | F2 | 21 mi | 8 mi | 1 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 87, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Forest Lake
The Storm Prediction Center has 98 hail reports within 10 miles of Forest Lake since 1975, made on 48 separate days. Of these, 67 were 1 inch across or larger, and 12 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on May 1, 2001. The most recent report is from July 3, 2025. May and June have the most reports, 27 each.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Forest Lake
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Forest Lake 5NE, MN, 6 miles northeast of Forest Lake at 905 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 24°F and 3°F. July is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 33.2 inches over 64 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 14 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 161 nights a year. Snowfall averages 51.6 inches a year, most of it in December. That 33.2 inches is more than at 93 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (75%). Hugo, 8 miles south, has its own station (Vadnais Lake, MN): 33.1 inches a year, 0.1 less than here, and the same July average high, 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 24 | 3 | 0.9 | 3 | 9.6 |
| Feb | 30 | 6 | 0.9 | 3 | 9.3 |
| Mar | 43 | 19 | 1.7 | 4 | 9.2 |
| Apr | 58 | 33 | 3.0 | 7 | 3.7 |
| May | 70 | 45 | 4.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 79 | 56 | 4.5 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 83 | 60 | 4.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 82 | 58 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 74 | 50 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 37 | 2.9 | 6 | 0.6 |
| Nov | 43 | 24 | 1.8 | 4 | 7.4 |
| Dec | 29 | 11 | 1.2 | 4 | 11.8 |
| Year | 56 | 34 | 33.2 | 64 | 51.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Forest Lake 5NE, MN (905 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 Forest Lake
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 74 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Forest Lake: 67 thunderstorm wind reports, 3 heavy rain events, 3 lightning strikes and 1 flash flood. They killed 0 people and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $1.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on June 26, 1998.
July 1, 2011: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Forest Lake — 6 injured, $500,000 damage.
July 1, 2011: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Forest Lake — $250,000 damage.
July 10, 2011: thunderstorm wind in Forest Lake — $250,000 damage.
NWS: “Straight line winds caused a large area of northern Washington County to lose power. The hardest hit area was Forest Lake, where several large trees fell on cars and homes.”
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
Washington County, which includes Forest Lake, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 floods, 3 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 Washington 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 $92.7 million a year, the 7th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $41.5 million (45%), 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 Forest Lake
- Wyoming, MN5 mi
- Hugo, MN8 mi
- Scandia, MN8 mi
- Chisago City, MN8 mi
- Stacy, MN9 mi
- Marine On Saint Croix, MN10 mi
- Lindstrom, MN11 mi
- Lino Lakes, MN11 mi
- White Bear Lake, MN13 mi
- Blaine, MN14 mi
- Vadnais Heights, MN14 mi
- Andover, MN14 mi
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