NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Inver Grove Heights, 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 Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 108 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 108
- EF3 or stronger
- 10
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
23 deaths in all
What the records show for Inver Grove Heights
The highest rating among the 108 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on May 6, 1965, came within 24 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 6, 1965, killed 6 people. Of the 108, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 54 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 28. The most recent tornado was on August 29, 2024. Inver Grove Heights has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 82% of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 248 times since 1956, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Inver Grove Heights has more hail reports within 10 miles than 88% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Inver Grove Heights
By decade
- 2020s16
- 2010s20
- 2000s18(1 EF3+)
- 1990s16
- 1980s11(4 EF3+)
- 1970s6
- 1960s13(3 EF3+)
- 1950s8(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 18 mi | 17.3 mi | 6 / 158 |
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 18 mi | 6.8 mi | 3 / 175 |
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 24 mi | 6.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 20, 1951 | F3 | 11 mi | 11.6 mi | 5 / 40 |
| May 25, 2008 | EF3 | 23 mi | 5.96 mi | 1 / 17 |
| Apr 26, 1984 | F3 | 15 mi | 5.5 mi | 1 / 52 |
| Jun 14, 1981 | F3 | 7 mi | 16.2 mi | 1 / 83 |
| Jul 27, 1987 | F3 | 23 mi | 30 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 23, 1987 | F3 | 24 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 24, 1958 | F3 | 20 mi | 59.4 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 10, 1953 | F2 | 19 mi | 105.7 mi | 4 / 27 |
| Jul 14, 2010 | EF2 | 24 mi | 15.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 108, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Inver Grove Heights
The Storm Prediction Center has 248 hail reports within 10 miles of Inver Grove Heights since 1956, made on 108 separate days. Of these, 174 were 1 inch across or larger, and 13 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on July 8, 1966. The most recent report is from September 21, 2025. May has the most reports, 82.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Radar-estimated hail days in Inver Grove Heights since 2019 →
Weather by month in Inver Grove Heights
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is St Paul Downtown Airport, MN, 7 miles north of Inver Grove Heights at 700 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 24°F and 9°F. June is the wettest at 4.6 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 29.3 inches over 54 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 12 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 146 nights a year. That 29.3 inches is more than at 47 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (38%). Mendota Heights, 5 miles northwest, has its own station (Minneapolis/St Paul Airport, MN): 31.7 inches a year, 2.4 more than here, and the same July average high, 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 24 | 9 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Feb | 29 | 13 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Mar | 42 | 25 | 1.4 | 4 |
| Apr | 57 | 37 | 2.6 | 6 |
| May | 69 | 49 | 4.0 | 8 |
| Jun | 79 | 59 | 4.6 | 8 |
| Jul | 83 | 64 | 4.0 | 6 |
| Aug | 80 | 62 | 4.1 | 6 |
| Sep | 72 | 53 | 3.1 | 5 |
| Oct | 58 | 40 | 2.5 | 5 |
| Nov | 42 | 27 | 1.3 | 3 |
| Dec | 29 | 15 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Year | 55 | 38 | 29.3 | 54 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at St Paul Downtown Airport, MN (700 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 Inver Grove Heights
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 197 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Inver Grove Heights: 168 thunderstorm wind reports, 16 flash floods, 8 lightning strikes, 3 heavy rain events and 2 floods. They killed 1 person and injured 19, and the NWS estimated $45.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 98 mph, on May 19, 1996. June has had the most flash floods, 6 of 16. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 264 have had fewer than Inver Grove Heights.
September 20, 2007: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Inver Grove Heights — 1 killed, $200,000 damage.
May 30, 1998: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Inver Grove Heights — 11 injured.
April 22, 2008: lightning strike 9 miles from the centre of Inver Grove Heights — 3 injured.
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
Dakota County, which includes Inver Grove Heights, 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 Inver Grove Heights
- St Paul Park, MN3 mi
- Newport, MN3 mi
- South St Paul, MN4 mi
- West St Paul, MN5 mi
- Mendota Heights, MN5 mi
- Cottage Grove, MN5 mi
- Eagan, MN6 mi
- Woodbury, MN8 mi
- Rosemount, MN8 mi
- Saint Paul, MN9 mi
- Apple Valley, MN10 mi
- Oakdale, MN11 mi
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