NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Melrose, 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 Melrose, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 64 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 64
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Melrose
The strongest of the 64 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on May 5, 1964; its path came within 4 miles. The deadliest, an F1 on May 15, 1998, killed 1 person. Of the 64, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 37 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 18. The most recent tornado was on May 15, 2025. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 72% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Melrose. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 56 times since 1974, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Of the 341 Minnesota cities, 77% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Melrose.
Compare Melrose's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Melrose
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s16
- 2000s12
- 1990s8
- 1980s4
- 1970s2
- 1960s7(1 EF3+)
- 1950s6
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 1964 | F3 | 4 mi | 4.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 26, 1996 | F2 | 10 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Sep 3, 1980 | F2 | 4 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 7, 1959 | F2 | 24 mi | 13 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 4, 1958 | F2 | 12 mi | 13.3 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 15, 1998 | F1 | 12 mi | 9 mi | 1 / 30 |
| Aug 3, 2024 | EF1 | in town | 5.36 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 20, 2017 | EF1 | 16 mi | 6.75 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 19, 2017 | EF1 | 6 mi | 8.18 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 12, 2010 | EF1 | 11 mi | 6.23 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 11, 2001 | F1 | 24 mi | 7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 1999 | F1 | 17 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 64, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Melrose
The Storm Prediction Center has 56 hail reports within 10 miles of Melrose since 1974, made on 39 separate days. Of these, 33 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on May 1, 2012. The most recent report is from August 8, 2025. July has the most reports, 16.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Melrose
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Melrose, MN, 1 mile northeast of Melrose at 1,195 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 20°F and 0°F. July is the wettest at 4.3 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 29.0 inches over 58 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 175 nights a year. Snowfall averages 39.0 inches a year, most of it in February. That 29.0 inches is more than at 43 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (35%). Albany, 11 miles east, has its own station (Collegeville St John'S, MN): 31.1 inches a year, 2.1 more than here, and the same July average high, 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 20 | 0 | 0.7 | 2 | 5.0 |
| Feb | 25 | 3 | 0.7 | 2 | 9.0 |
| Mar | 37 | 17 | 1.4 | 4 | 7.2 |
| Apr | 53 | 31 | 2.6 | 6 | 5.1 |
| May | 67 | 45 | 3.6 | 7 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 77 | 56 | 4.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 60 | 4.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 58 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 70 | 48 | 2.8 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 56 | 35 | 2.8 | 6 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 39 | 21 | 1.2 | 3 | 4.0 |
| Dec | 25 | 8 | 0.9 | 3 | 8.1 |
| Year | 52 | 32 | 29.0 | 58 | 39.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Melrose, MN (1,195 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 Melrose
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 41 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Melrose: 32 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 flash floods and 4 heavy rain events. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $1.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 78 mph, on September 19, 2017. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 132 have had fewer than Melrose.
June 6, 2015: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Melrose — 1 injured, $1,000 damage.
NWS: “Local officials in Stearns County reported flooding southeast of Freeport on County Road 172 and 157 after midnight. A few cars and a party bus floated off the road into a ditch at that location.”
September 19, 2017: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Melrose — $1.0 million damage.
NWS: “Hundreds of trees, possibly over one thousand, were blown down across a broadening swath from northeast of Elrosa to Melrose. Numerous corn fields and other crops were also damaged.”
September 19, 2017: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Melrose — $500,000 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
Stearns County, which includes Melrose, has been named in 13 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on July 8, 2022. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Stearns County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $78.9 million a year, the 8th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $48.4 million (61%), 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.