NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Moorhead, 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 Moorhead, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 110 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 6 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 110
- EF3 or stronger
- 6
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
10 deaths in all
What the records show for Moorhead
The strongest of the 110 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on June 20, 1957; its path came within 2 miles, and it killed 10 people. Of the 110, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 45 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 38. The most recent tornado was on June 20, 2025. Moorhead has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 84% of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 193 times since 1957, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Moorhead has more hail reports within 10 miles than 82% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
Compare Moorhead's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Moorhead
By decade
- 2020s8
- 2010s20
- 2000s17
- 1990s10
- 1980s16
- 1970s14(3 EF3+)
- 1960s11
- 1950s14(3 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 1957 | F5 | 2 mi | 52.4 mi | 10 / 103 |
| Jun 28, 1975 | F4 | 1 mi | 5.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 28, 1975 | F3 | 8 mi | 2.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 15, 1973 | F3 | 23 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 30, 1956 | F3 | 3 mi | 5.1 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Jul 2, 1955 | F3 | 24 mi | 18.7 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 4, 2011 | EF2 | 17 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 30, 2011 | EF2 | 6 mi | 7.44 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 30, 2011 | EF2 | 6 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 30, 2011 | EF2 | 16 mi | 4.27 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 5, 2005 | F2 | 11 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 1965 | F2 | 12 mi | 33.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 110, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Moorhead
The Storm Prediction Center has 193 hail reports within 10 miles of Moorhead since 1957, made on 105 separate days. Of these, 121 were 1 inch across or larger, and 17 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on July 5, 1978. The most recent report is from June 16, 2025. July has the most reports, 48.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Moorhead
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Moorhead, MN, 2 miles north of Moorhead at 904 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 17°F and 0°F. June is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 26.0 inches over 53 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 10 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 170 nights a year. Snowfall averages 52.7 inches a year, most of it in January. That 26.0 inches is more than at 16 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (13%). West Fargo, ND, 7 miles west, has its own station (Fargo Hector International Airport, ND): 24.1 inches a year, 1.9 less than here, and the same July average high, 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 17 | 0 | 0.7 | 3 | 12.2 |
| Feb | 23 | 4 | 0.7 | 2 | 7.7 |
| Mar | 37 | 18 | 1.3 | 4 | 9.3 |
| Apr | 54 | 32 | 1.7 | 4 | 4.0 |
| May | 69 | 45 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 78 | 56 | 4.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 61 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 59 | 2.7 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 49 | 2.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 55 | 36 | 2.5 | 5 | 0.7 |
| Nov | 38 | 21 | 1.1 | 3 | 8.0 |
| Dec | 23 | 8 | 0.9 | 2 | 10.8 |
| Year | 52 | 32 | 26.0 | 53 | 52.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Moorhead, MN (904 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 Moorhead
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 244 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Moorhead: 197 thunderstorm wind reports, 28 flash floods, 14 floods, 3 heavy rain events and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $93.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on June 13, 2017. August has had the most flash floods, 11 of 28. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 294 have had fewer than Moorhead.
May 28, 2017: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Moorhead — 2 injured, $10,000 damage.
July 4, 1999: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Moorhead — $80.0 million damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorms producing strong winds hit the Fargo area, causing widespread damage. On the north side of town, Hector Airport had winds in excess of 50 knots for 39 minutes, with a peak speed of 79 knots at 0642 CST.”
July 4, 1999: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Moorhead — $5.0 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Moorhead's ZIP code 56560 have filed 1,155 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $12.2 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1997: 390 claims (34% of all) and $4.3 million, then Winter storm in 2009 with 86 and Not a named storm in 1979 with 61. 52% 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, 118 have fewer than Moorhead.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1997 | 390 | $4.3 million |
| Winter storm2009 | 86 | $1.8 million |
| Not a named storm1979 | 61 | $509,000 |
| Severe flooding2001 | 40 | $50,000 |
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 19 | $4,285 |
Clay County, which includes Moorhead, has been named in 29 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1966, 24 of them major disasters (by incident: 15 floods, 10 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms and Flooding, on July 19, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Clay County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail, inland flooding and strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes and lightning; Very Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $42.0 million a year, the 11th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $28.3 million (67%), 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.