NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lake Elmo, 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 Elmo, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 108 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 108
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
23 deaths in all
What the records show for Lake Elmo
The highest rating among the 108 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 6, 1965, came within 18 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 6, 1965, killed 6 people. Of the 108, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 59 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 37. The most recent tornado was on May 15, 2025. Lake Elmo has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 82% of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 225 times since 1962, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Lake Elmo has more hail reports within 10 miles than 86% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
Compare Lake Elmo's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Lake Elmo
By decade
- 2020s16
- 2010s21
- 2000s22(1 EF3+)
- 1990s14
- 1980s9(3 EF3+)
- 1970s7
- 1960s11(2 EF3+)
- 1950s8(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 14 mi | 17.3 mi | 6 / 158 |
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 18 mi | 6.8 mi | 3 / 175 |
| Jul 20, 1951 | F3 | 19 mi | 11.6 mi | 5 / 40 |
| May 25, 2008 | EF3 | 12 mi | 5.96 mi | 1 / 17 |
| Apr 26, 1984 | F3 | 16 mi | 5.5 mi | 1 / 52 |
| Jun 14, 1981 | F3 | 6 mi | 16.2 mi | 1 / 83 |
| Jul 23, 1987 | F3 | 22 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 24, 1958 | F3 | 7 mi | 59.4 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 10, 1953 | F2 | 16 mi | 105.7 mi | 4 / 27 |
| May 15, 2025 | EF2 | 21 mi | 3.94 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 14, 2010 | EF2 | 23 mi | 15.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 21, 2005 | F2 | 20 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 108, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Lake Elmo
The Storm Prediction Center has 225 hail reports within 10 miles of Lake Elmo since 1962, made on 86 separate days. Of these, 150 were 1 inch across or larger, and 12 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on August 13, 2007. The most recent report is from September 21, 2025. May has the most reports, 87.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Lake Elmo
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Stillwater 1 SE, MN, 6 miles northeast of Lake Elmo at 710 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 27°F and 9°F. June is the wettest at 5.4 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 35.2 inches over 65 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 18 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 147 nights a year. That 35.2 inches is more than at 109 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (88%). Oakdale, 3 miles west, has its own station (St Paul Downtown Airport, MN): 29.3 inches a year, 5.9 less than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27 | 9 | 1.0 | 3 |
| Feb | 32 | 14 | 0.9 | 3 |
| Mar | 45 | 25 | 1.5 | 4 |
| Apr | 60 | 38 | 3.1 | 7 |
| May | 73 | 50 | 4.2 | 8 |
| Jun | 81 | 60 | 5.4 | 9 |
| Jul | 85 | 64 | 4.5 | 7 |
| Aug | 84 | 62 | 5.3 | 6 |
| Sep | 76 | 55 | 3.2 | 6 |
| Oct | 62 | 42 | 3.2 | 6 |
| Nov | 45 | 28 | 1.7 | 4 |
| Dec | 32 | 16 | 1.2 | 3 |
| Year | 58 | 38 | 35.2 | 65 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Stillwater 1 SE, MN (710 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 Elmo
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 190 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lake Elmo: 161 thunderstorm wind reports, 13 flash floods, 8 heavy rain events and 8 lightning strikes. They killed 2 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $23.7 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, 5 of 13. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 247 have had fewer than Lake Elmo.
September 20, 2007: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Lake Elmo — 1 killed, $200,000 damage.
July 21, 2009: lightning strike 6 miles from the centre of Lake Elmo — 1 killed.
June 11, 2017: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Lake Elmo — 2 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Lake Elmo's ZIP code 55042 have filed 34 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $278,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1986, with 11. 9% 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, 71 have fewer than Lake Elmo.
Washington County, which includes Lake Elmo, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 floods, 3 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 Washington 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 $92.7 million a year, the 7th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $41.5 million (45%), 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.