NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lake City, 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 Lake City, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 63 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 63
- 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 Lake City
The highest rating among the 63 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 3 times; the most recent, on July 27, 1987, came within 23 miles. Of the 63, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 26 have come since 2000. June and July have had the most tornadoes, 15 each. The most recent tornado was on June 25, 2025. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 73% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Lake City. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 66 times since 1974, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Of the 341 Minnesota cities, 66% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Lake City.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Lake City
By decade
- 2020s6
- 2010s14
- 2000s6
- 1990s11
- 1980s11(1 EF3+)
- 1970s5
- 1960s7
- 1950s3(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 27, 1987 | F3 | 23 mi | 30 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 24, 1958 | F3 | 20 mi | 59.4 mi | 0 / 12 |
| Sep 12, 1951 | F3 | 18 mi | 24.4 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jul 14, 2010 | EF2 | 24 mi | 6.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 17, 1982 | F2 | 24 mi | 26 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Apr 29, 1981 | F2 | 22 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Oct 3, 1979 | F2 | 22 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 22, 1967 | F2 | 24 mi | 9.2 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Aug 28, 1964 | F2 | 7 mi | 2.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 29, 1954 | F2 | 14 mi | 6.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 25, 2025 | EF1 | 7 mi | 1.77 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF1 | 24 mi | 2.69 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 63, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Lake City
The Storm Prediction Center has 66 hail reports within 10 miles of Lake City since 1974, made on 38 separate days. Of these, 41 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on August 11, 2023. The most recent report is from July 31, 2024. May has the most reports, 25.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Lake City
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Theilman 1SSW, MN, 11 miles southeast of Lake City at 753 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 4°F. June is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 35.7 inches over 69 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 12 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 170 nights a year. Snowfall averages 48.3 inches a year, most of it in February. That 35.7 inches is more than at 114 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (92%). Wabasha, 13 miles east, has its own station (Alma Dam 4, WI): 37.2 inches a year, 1.5 more than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 24 | 4 | 1.0 | 3 | 9.9 |
| Feb | 30 | 8 | 1.1 | 3 | 12.1 |
| Mar | 42 | 21 | 2.0 | 5 | 9.0 |
| Apr | 57 | 33 | 3.4 | 7 | 2.7 |
| May | 69 | 45 | 4.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 79 | 57 | 5.3 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 83 | 60 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 58 | 4.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 74 | 49 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 60 | 36 | 2.5 | 5 | 0.6 |
| Nov | 43 | 25 | 2.0 | 4 | 2.3 |
| Dec | 30 | 13 | 1.3 | 4 | 11.7 |
| Year | 56 | 34 | 35.7 | 69 | 48.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Theilman 1SSW, MN (753 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 Lake City
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 82 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lake City: 48 thunderstorm wind reports, 15 floods, 10 flash floods and 9 heavy rain events. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $14.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 87 mph, on June 11, 2001. June has had the most flash floods, 5 of 10. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 223 have had fewer than Lake City.
May 19, 1996: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Lake City — $12.0 million damage.
August 13, 2010: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Lake City — $1.1 million damage.
NWS: “Hundreds of trees and at least a half dozen power poles were blown down throughout the city of Lake City. Damage was also reported to several homes as well as to a 100,000 bushel grain bin and a dryer at a local business.”
May 2, 2012: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Lake City — $815,000 damage.
NWS: “As a severe thunderstorm moved across the northern section of Wabasha County it dropped large hail damaging around 30 percent of the county's alfalfa crop. On farms near Lake City, up to 80 percent of the alfalfa crop was damaged, one cow was killed and irrigation systems were twisted by the wind.”
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 Lake City's ZIP code 55041 have filed 57 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $408,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Severe flooding in 2001: 21 claims (37% of all) and $217,000, then Flooding in 1997 with 16. 74% 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, 91 have fewer than Lake City.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Severe flooding2001 | 21 | $217,000 |
| Flooding1997 | 16 | $121,000 |
Wabasha County, which includes Lake City, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms and Flooding, on June 28, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Wabasha County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes, inland flooding and lightning; Very Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $17.5 million a year, the 35th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $11.3 million (65%), 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 Lake City
- Wabasha, MN13 mi
- Red Wing, MN14 mi
- Mazeppa, MN16 mi
- Goodhue, MN17 mi
- Hager City, WI19 mi
- Plainview, MN19 mi
- Elgin, MN20 mi
- Zumbrota, MN21 mi
- Ellsworth, WI22 mi
- Oronoco, MN22 mi
- Durand, WI23 mi
- Pine Island, MN24 mi
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