NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Isanti, 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 Isanti, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 81 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 81
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
15 deaths in all
What the records show for Isanti
The highest rating among the 81 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 5 times; the most recent, on July 3, 1983, came within 17 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 6, 1965, killed 6 people. Of the 81, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 36 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 33. The most recent tornado was on August 29, 2024. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 54% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Isanti. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 108 times since 1975, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Isanti has more hail reports within 10 miles than 63% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
Compare Isanti's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Isanti
By decade
- 2020s5
- 2010s15
- 2000s16(1 EF3+)
- 1990s16
- 1980s10(2 EF3+)
- 1970s5
- 1960s9(2 EF3+)
- 1950s5(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 23 mi | 17.3 mi | 6 / 158 |
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 24 mi | 6.8 mi | 3 / 175 |
| Jun 19, 1951 | F4 | 18 mi | 52.6 mi | 1 / 20 |
| Jul 3, 1983 | F4 | 17 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 21, 1957 | F4 | 21 mi | 9.2 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 25, 2008 | EF3 | 23 mi | 5.96 mi | 1 / 17 |
| Jul 23, 1987 | F3 | 24 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 16, 2006 | F2 | 17 mi | 8 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Sep 21, 2005 | F2 | 20 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 21, 1995 | F2 | 20 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 18, 1986 | F2 | 22 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 13, 1981 | F2 | 12 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 81, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Isanti
The Storm Prediction Center has 108 hail reports within 10 miles of Isanti since 1975, made on 55 separate days. Of these, 58 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on June 14, 1981. The most recent report is from May 15, 2025. May has the most reports, 31.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Isanti
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Cambridge, MN, 6 miles north of Isanti at 965 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 22°F and 4°F. June and July are the wettest at 4.2 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 29.6 inches over 61 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 5 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 171 nights a year. Snowfall averages 44.1 inches a year, most of it in December. That 29.6 inches is more than at 51 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (41%). Bethel, 6 miles south, has its own station (Cedar, MN): 34.4 inches a year, 4.8 more than here, and a July average high of 80°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22 | 4 | 0.7 | 3 | 5.4 |
| Feb | 27 | 7 | 0.7 | 2 | 10.0 |
| Mar | 40 | 20 | 1.4 | 4 | 7.4 |
| Apr | 56 | 34 | 2.7 | 6 | 4.0 |
| May | 69 | 46 | 3.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 77 | 57 | 4.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 61 | 4.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 58 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 50 | 3.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 58 | 37 | 2.8 | 6 | 0.5 |
| Nov | 41 | 25 | 1.6 | 3 | 4.5 |
| Dec | 27 | 11 | 1.0 | 3 | 12.3 |
| Year | 54 | 34 | 29.6 | 61 | 44.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Cambridge, MN (965 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 Isanti
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 89 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Isanti: 77 thunderstorm wind reports, 10 heavy rain events and 2 flash floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $199,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on August 26, 2024.
May 30, 2022: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Isanti — $100,000 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 Isanti's ZIP code 55040 have filed 15 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $106,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 40% 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, 20 have fewer than Isanti.
Isanti County, which includes Isanti, 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 Isanti County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Very Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $15.3 million a year, the 42nd highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $9.5 million (62%), 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.