NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Merrifield, 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 Merrifield, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 35 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 35
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
12 deaths in all
What the records show for Merrifield
The highest rating among the 35 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on August 6, 1969, came within 18 miles. Of the 35, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 10 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 13. The most recent tornado was on June 16, 2025. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 87% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Merrifield. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 77 times since 1979, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Of the 341 Minnesota cities, 57% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Merrifield.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Merrifield
By decade
- 2020s6
- 2010s2
- 2000s2
- 1990s4(1 EF3+)
- 1980s5
- 1970s10(2 EF3+)
- 1960s6(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 1969 | F4 | 18 mi | 32.3 mi | 12 / 70 |
| Jun 11, 1966 | F4 | 9 mi | 72.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 5, 1991 | F3 | 11 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Aug 26, 1977 | F3 | 2 mi | 26.3 mi | 0 / 11 |
| Jun 25, 1973 | F3 | 10 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 12, 2024 | EF2 | 6 mi | 14.66 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 12, 2024 | EF2 | 10 mi | 3.16 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 19, 2016 | EF2 | 11 mi | 3.52 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 13, 2001 | F2 | 11 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 26, 1996 | F2 | 12 mi | 0.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 3, 1985 | F2 | 21 mi | 33 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 26, 1977 | F2 | 4 mi | 110.4 mi | 0 / 10 |
The strongest 12 of 35, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Merrifield
The Storm Prediction Center has 77 hail reports within 10 miles of Merrifield since 1979, made on 46 separate days. Of these, 46 were 1 inch across or larger, and 8 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on June 19, 2016. The most recent report is from September 12, 2025. June has the most reports, 29.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Merrifield
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Brainerd Crow Wing Co Airport, MN, 9 miles south of Merrifield at 1,221 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 58°F; January is the coolest, at 21°F and 0°F. July is the wettest at 4.4 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.4 inches; the year adds up to 24.8 inches over 47 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 6 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 173 nights a year. That 24.8 inches is more than at 9 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (7%). Nisswa, 9 miles west, has its own station (Gull Lake Dam, MN): 27.0 inches a year, 2.2 more than here, and a July average high of 79°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 21 | 0 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Feb | 27 | 4 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Mar | 40 | 18 | 1.0 | 3 |
| Apr | 55 | 31 | 1.6 | 4 |
| May | 68 | 43 | 3.3 | 6 |
| Jun | 77 | 53 | 4.0 | 7 |
| Jul | 82 | 58 | 4.4 | 6 |
| Aug | 79 | 55 | 3.1 | 6 |
| Sep | 71 | 47 | 2.6 | 5 |
| Oct | 56 | 35 | 2.4 | 5 |
| Nov | 40 | 22 | 0.9 | 2 |
| Dec | 26 | 8 | 0.6 | 1 |
| Year | 53 | 31 | 24.8 | 47 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Brainerd Crow Wing Co Airport, MN (1,221 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 Merrifield
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 117 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Merrifield: 114 thunderstorm wind reports, 2 floods and 1 flash flood. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $102,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 94 mph, on July 12, 2015.
July 25, 1999: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Merrifield — 3 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
Crow Wing County, which includes Merrifield, has been named in 13 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 floods, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on August 9, 2022. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Crow Wing County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail, inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for tornadoes and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $39.5 million a year, the 13th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $25.6 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 Merrifield
- Crosby, MN6 mi
- Nisswa, MN9 mi
- Crosslake, MN10 mi
- Pequot Lakes, MN10 mi
- Deerwood, MN12 mi
- Brainerd, MN12 mi
- Baxter, MN15 mi
- Pine River, MN19 mi
- Pillager, MN21 mi
- Aitkin, MN21 mi
- Motley, MN28 mi
- Backus, MN28 mi
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