NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit La Crescent, 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 La Crescent, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 55 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 55
- 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 La Crescent
The highest rating among the 55 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 3 times; the most recent, on June 5, 1980, came within 13 miles. Of the 55, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 31 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 19. The most recent tornado was on June 25, 2025. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 78% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than La Crescent. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 166 times since 1959, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). La Crescent has more hail reports within 10 miles than 76% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
Compare La Crescent's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of La Crescent
By decade
- 2020s14
- 2010s11
- 2000s6
- 1990s6
- 1980s5(1 EF3+)
- 1970s2
- 1960s8(1 EF3+)
- 1950s3(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 5, 1980 | F3 | 13 mi | 26.9 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 5, 1965 | F3 | 2 mi | 65.2 mi | 0 / 7 |
| May 26, 1959 | F3 | 12 mi | 34.3 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 22, 2011 | EF2 | 4 mi | 13.79 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 26, 1986 | F2 | 24 mi | 5.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 1980 | F2 | 15 mi | 70.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 14, 1961 | F2 | 6 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 1957 | F2 | 13 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 25, 2025 | EF1 | 11 mi | 5.11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 25, 2025 | EF1 | 19 mi | 6.53 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF1 | 17 mi | 4.85 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF1 | 12 mi | 7.31 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 55, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in La Crescent
The Storm Prediction Center has 166 hail reports within 10 miles of La Crescent since 1959, made on 83 separate days. Of these, 95 were 1 inch across or larger, and 14 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 3 inches (tea cup size), was reported on 2 days, most recently April 10, 2011. The most recent report is from July 13, 2024. July has the most reports, 47.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in La Crescent
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is La Crosse Municipal Airport, WI, 6 miles northeast of La Crescent at 652 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 27°F and 11°F. June is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.2 inches; the year adds up to 35.3 inches over 68 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 17 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 141 nights a year. Snowfall averages 46.3 inches a year, most of it in January. That 35.3 inches is more than at 110 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (89%). La Crosse, WI, 6 miles east, has its own station (La Crosse WFO, WI): 37.4 inches a year, 2.1 more than here, and a July average high of 80°F against 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27 | 11 | 1.3 | 4 | 11.8 |
| Feb | 33 | 14 | 1.2 | 3 | 9.7 |
| Mar | 46 | 26 | 2.0 | 5 | 7.3 |
| Apr | 60 | 38 | 3.8 | 7 | 2.9 |
| May | 72 | 50 | 4.3 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 82 | 60 | 5.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 85 | 65 | 4.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 83 | 62 | 3.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 76 | 54 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 62 | 42 | 2.5 | 5 | 0.3 |
| Nov | 46 | 30 | 1.9 | 4 | 3.4 |
| Dec | 33 | 18 | 1.5 | 4 | 10.9 |
| Year | 59 | 39 | 35.3 | 68 | 46.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at La Crosse Municipal Airport, WI (652 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 La Crescent
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 329 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of La Crescent: 217 thunderstorm wind reports, 62 floods, 21 heavy rain events, 17 flash floods and 12 lightning strikes. They killed 2 people and injured 34, and the NWS estimated $53.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 94 mph, on June 27, 1998. August has had the most flash floods, 11 of 17. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 266 have had fewer than La Crescent.
August 18, 2007: flash flood 1 mile from the centre of La Crescent — 1 killed, 2 injured, $3.3 million damage.
NWS: “A man was killed when he attempted to cross flood waters with two others in his vehicle. The car was washed away on County Road 6 near Pine Creek.”
August 18, 2007: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of La Crescent — 1 killed, $670,000 damage.
August 18, 2007: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of La Crescent — 30 injured, $27.8 million damage.
NWS: “At least 50 mudslides were reported across the county with four state highways and eight county roads closed. At one point 20 roads were closed across the county.”
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 La Crescent's ZIP code 55947 have filed 61 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $735,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Severe flooding in 2001: 24 claims (39% of all) and $462,000. 61% 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, 95 have fewer than La Crescent.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Severe flooding2001 | 24 | $462,000 |
Houston County, which includes La Crescent, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 18 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 floods, 6 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 tornadoes). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms and Flooding, on June 28, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Houston County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and strong wind; Very Low for hurricanes, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $14.0 million a year, the 44th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $8.6 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.