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NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Minneapolis, MN

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Minneapolis, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 102 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 12 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
102

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
12

24 deaths in all

Tornadoes within 25 miles of Minneapolis

By decade

  • 2020s17
  • 2010s17
  • 2000s17(1 EF3+)
  • 1990s14
  • 1980s10(4 EF3+)
  • 1970s9
  • 1960s12(4 EF3+)
  • 1950s6(3 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Minneapolis, Minnesota
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
May 6, 1965F45 mi17.3 mi6 / 158
May 6, 1965F45 mi6.8 mi3 / 175
May 6, 1965F423 mi12.3 mi3 / 175
Jun 19, 1951F418 mi52.6 mi1 / 20
Jul 3, 1983F418 mi1 mi0 / 4
May 6, 1965F413 mi6.9 mi0 / 0
Jul 20, 1951F35 mi11.6 mi5 / 40
May 25, 2008EF318 mi5.96 mi1 / 17
Apr 26, 1984F34 mi5.5 mi1 / 52
Jun 14, 1981F37 mi16.2 mi1 / 83
Jul 23, 1987F311 mi5 mi0 / 0
May 24, 1958F320 mi59.4 mi0 / 12

The strongest 12 of 102, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

How to read this page

A storm is listed when the centre of its track passed within 75 miles of Minneapolis while it was at least a tropical storm, which is the reach of damaging wind and rain for a typical hurricane. Being on the list does not mean the city took a direct hit; the "closest" column says how near the centre came. Tornadoes are counted when any part of the path came within 25 miles.

Tornado records before the 1990s are thinner, because weak tornadoes in open country often went unreported before Doppler radar and mobile phones. A rise in the decade counts is mostly better reporting, not a change in the weather.

Tracks come from the National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database, tornadoes from the Storm Prediction Center's database. Both are the official federal records and both are revised as old storms are re-analysed.

Other cities in Minnesota