NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lewiston, 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 Lewiston, 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
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Lewiston
The strongest of the 63 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on May 10, 1953; its path came within 2 miles, and it killed 2 people. Of the 63, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 36 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 15. 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 Lewiston. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 93 times since 1959, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Lewiston has more hail reports within 10 miles than 54% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Lewiston
By decade
- 2020s21
- 2010s13
- 2000s2
- 1990s7
- 1980s7
- 1970s3
- 1960s8(1 EF3+)
- 1950s2(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10, 1953 | F4 | 2 mi | 162 mi | 2 / 24 |
| May 5, 1965 | F3 | 20 mi | 65.2 mi | 0 / 7 |
| May 26, 1959 | F3 | 22 mi | 34.3 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 22, 2011 | EF2 | 25 mi | 13.79 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 8, 1999 | F2 | in town | 3.5 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 17, 1982 | F2 | 11 mi | 26 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 5, 1980 | F2 | in town | 5.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 14, 1977 | F2 | 18 mi | 9.2 mi | 0 / 10 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F2 | 19 mi | 6.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 25, 2025 | EF1 | 21 mi | 6.53 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF1 | 22 mi | 2.69 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF1 | 17 mi | 3.9 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 Lewiston
The Storm Prediction Center has 93 hail reports within 10 miles of Lewiston since 1959, made on 57 separate days. Of these, 53 were 1 inch across or larger, and 10 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on July 13, 2023. The most recent report is from April 28, 2025. June has the most reports, 23.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Lewiston
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Rushford, MN, 12 miles southeast of Lewiston at 770 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 59°F; January is the coolest, at 26°F and 5°F. June is the wettest at 5.7 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 1.1 inches; the year adds up to 37.1 inches over 67 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 9 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 167 nights a year. That 37.1 inches is more than at 119 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (96%). Saint Charles, 11 miles west, has its own station (Minnesota City Dam 5, MN): 35.4 inches a year, 1.7 less than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 26 | 5 | 1.1 | 4 |
| Feb | 30 | 8 | 1.1 | 3 |
| Mar | 42 | 20 | 1.8 | 5 |
| Apr | 57 | 32 | 3.9 | 7 |
| May | 69 | 44 | 4.6 | 9 |
| Jun | 78 | 56 | 5.7 | 8 |
| Jul | 82 | 59 | 4.3 | 7 |
| Aug | 80 | 57 | 4.7 | 6 |
| Sep | 73 | 48 | 4.0 | 6 |
| Oct | 60 | 36 | 2.8 | 5 |
| Nov | 45 | 24 | 1.8 | 4 |
| Dec | 31 | 13 | 1.3 | 4 |
| Year | 56 | 34 | 37.1 | 67 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Rushford, MN (770 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 Lewiston
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 79 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lewiston: 66 thunderstorm wind reports, 8 flash floods, 4 heavy rain events and 1 lightning strike. They killed 6 people and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $31.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 74 mph, on May 19, 2013. August has had the most flash floods, 4 of 8. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 204 have had fewer than Lewiston.
August 18, 2007: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Lewiston — 5 killed, $425,000 damage.
NWS: “Five fatalities were reported from people driving into flood waters. Two fatalities occurred near Witoka when a couple's vehicle fell into a chasm along County Road 17 that had opened when flood waters washed out the road.”
May 3, 2015: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Lewiston — 1 killed, $10,000 damage.
August 18, 2007: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Lewiston — $22.2 million 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
Winona County, which includes Lewiston, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 floods, 6 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 Winona County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail and inland flooding; Relatively Low for strong wind, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $30.5 million a year, the 20th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $20.0 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 Lewiston
- Saint Charles, MN11 mi
- Winona, MN11 mi
- Rushford, MN12 mi
- Fountain City, WI15 mi
- Chatfield, MN18 mi
- Houston, MN19 mi
- Cochrane, WI20 mi
- Eyota, MN20 mi
- Trempealeau, WI20 mi
- Plainview, MN21 mi
- Elgin, MN25 mi
- Preston, MN26 mi
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