NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Jackson, 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 Jackson, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 91 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 91
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Jackson
The highest rating among the 91 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 3 times; the most recent, on August 1, 2006, came within 24 miles. Of the 91, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 37 have come since 2000. May and June have had the most tornadoes, 24 each. The most recent tornado was on August 29, 2024. Jackson has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 55% of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 84 times since 1971, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 341 Minnesota cities, 50% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Jackson.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Jackson
By decade
- 2020s4
- 2010s16
- 2000s17(1 EF3+)
- 1990s8
- 1980s11
- 1970s16(2 EF3+)
- 1960s15
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 1, 2006 | F3 | 24 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1971 | F3 | 15 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1971 | F3 | 11 mi | 46.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 18, 1990 | F2 | 17 mi | 8.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 14, 1981 | F2 | 10 mi | 21.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 14, 1981 | F2 | 12 mi | 21.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 4, 1977 | F2 | 19 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 14, 1976 | F2 | 22 mi | 26.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 14, 1976 | F2 | 13 mi | 13.5 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Jun 13, 1968 | F2 | 14 mi | 4.9 mi | 0 / 17 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F2 | 22 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F2 | 15 mi | 8.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 91, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Jackson
The Storm Prediction Center has 84 hail reports within 10 miles of Jackson since 1971, made on 59 separate days. Of these, 44 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on June 20, 1998. The most recent report is from April 28, 2025. June has the most reports, 26.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Jackson
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Lakefield 2NE, MN, 9 miles northwest of Jackson at 1,530 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 22°F and 5°F. May and June are the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.6 inches; the year adds up to 30.5 inches over 56 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 8 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 168 nights a year. Snowfall averages 48.5 inches a year, most of it in December. That 30.5 inches is more than at 58 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (47%). Spirit Lake, IA, 15 miles south, has its own station (Spirit Lake, IA): 29.0 inches a year, 1.5 less than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22 | 5 | 0.6 | 2 | 9.2 |
| Feb | 27 | 8 | 0.7 | 2 | 9.3 |
| Mar | 39 | 21 | 1.5 | 4 | 7.8 |
| Apr | 55 | 33 | 3.0 | 7 | 5.4 |
| May | 68 | 46 | 4.5 | 8 | 0.3 |
| Jun | 78 | 57 | 4.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 60 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 58 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 49 | 3.1 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 59 | 36 | 2.3 | 4 | 1.1 |
| Nov | 42 | 23 | 1.2 | 3 | 5.2 |
| Dec | 28 | 11 | 0.8 | 3 | 10.2 |
| Year | 54 | 34 | 30.5 | 56 | 48.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Lakefield 2NE, MN (1,530 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 Jackson
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 80 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Jackson: 51 thunderstorm wind reports, 19 floods, 9 flash floods and 1 heavy rain event. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $3.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 98 mph, on May 19, 1996. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 218 have had fewer than Jackson.
June 26, 2010: flood 10 miles from the centre of Jackson — $1.3 million damage.
July 1, 2010: flood 10 miles from the centre of Jackson — $300,000 damage.
June 1, 2011: flood 10 miles from the centre of Jackson — $250,000 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 Jackson's ZIP code 56143 have filed 16 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $354,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 69% 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, 27 have fewer than Jackson.
Jackson County, which includes Jackson, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 floods, 6 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms and Flooding, on June 28, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Jackson County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Very Low for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $9.8 million a year, the 60th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $4.8 million (49%), 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 Jackson
- Lakefield, MN10 mi
- Spirit Lake, IA15 mi
- Windom, MN18 mi
- Estherville, IA18 mi
- Milford, IA22 mi
- Mountain Lake, MN22 mi
- Fairmont, MN27 mi
- Worthington, MN30 mi
- Saint James, MN31 mi
- Truman, MN31 mi
- Spencer, IA34 mi
- Fulda, MN34 mi
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