NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Oronoco, 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 Oronoco, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 82 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 82
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Oronoco
The strongest of the 82 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on September 16, 1962; its path came within 13 miles. Of the 82, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 28 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 27. The most recent tornado was on August 29, 2025. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 53% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Oronoco. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 181 times since 1962, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Oronoco has more hail reports within 10 miles than 79% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Oronoco
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s17
- 2000s2
- 1990s13
- 1980s11
- 1970s9
- 1960s20(1 EF3+)
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16, 1962 | F4 | 13 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 34 |
| May 17, 1982 | F2 | 7 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 29, 1981 | F2 | 5 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 3, 1979 | F2 | 16 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F2 | 18 mi | 6.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 28, 1964 | F2 | 13 mi | 2.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 13, 1964 | F2 | 11 mi | 3.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 16, 1962 | F2 | 21 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 1962 | F2 | 19 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 25, 2025 | EF1 | 13 mi | 1.77 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF1 | 20 mi | 4.03 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF1 | 19 mi | 4.39 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 82, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Oronoco
The Storm Prediction Center has 181 hail reports within 10 miles of Oronoco since 1962, made on 76 separate days. Of these, 106 were 1 inch across or larger, and 7 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently June 29, 1996. The most recent report is from May 15, 2025. May has the most reports, 53.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Oronoco
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Byron 4north, MN, 7 miles southwest of Oronoco at 1,041 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 58°F; January is the coolest, at 23°F and 4°F. June is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 35.9 inches over 63 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 8 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 176 nights a year. Snowfall averages 44.4 inches a year, most of it in December. That 35.9 inches is more than at 116 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (94%). Pine Island, 7 miles northwest, has its own station (Zumbrota, MN): 35.2 inches a year, 0.7 less than here, and the same July average high, 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 23 | 4 | 1.0 | 3 | 8.8 |
| Feb | 27 | 6 | 1.1 | 2 | 9.6 |
| Mar | 40 | 20 | 2.1 | 5 | 8.8 |
| Apr | 55 | 32 | 3.6 | 6 | 1.2 |
| May | 68 | 44 | 4.3 | 8 | 0.6 |
| Jun | 78 | 55 | 5.3 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 58 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 55 | 4.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 47 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 58 | 34 | 2.4 | 5 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 42 | 23 | 1.9 | 3 | 2.8 |
| Dec | 28 | 11 | 1.3 | 3 | 12.5 |
| Year | 54 | 32 | 35.9 | 63 | 44.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Byron 4north, MN (1,041 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 Oronoco
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 144 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Oronoco: 99 thunderstorm wind reports, 20 floods, 11 heavy rain events, 7 flash floods and 7 lightning strikes. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $51.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on May 19, 1996. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 190 have had fewer than Oronoco.
August 18, 2007: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Oronoco — $35.1 million damage.
September 24, 2010: flash flood in Oronoco — $7.0 million damage.
NWS: “The approach on the north side of the County Road 18 bridge going through Oronoco washed out as the Middle Fork of the Zumbro River flooded. The Lake Shady Dam was also damaged.”
September 23, 2010: flood 9 miles from the centre of Oronoco — $4.6 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 Oronoco's ZIP code 55960 have filed 19 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $309,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 42% 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, 39 have fewer than Oronoco.
Olmsted County, which includes Oronoco, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 tornadoes). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 7, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Olmsted County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and strong wind; Relatively Low for lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $93.6 million a year, the 6th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $55.8 million (60%), 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 Oronoco
- Pine Island, MN7 mi
- Mazeppa, MN8 mi
- Rochester, MN9 mi
- Byron, MN10 mi
- Zumbrota, MN12 mi
- Mantorville, MN12 mi
- Elgin, MN13 mi
- Kasson, MN13 mi
- Eyota, MN18 mi
- Plainview, MN18 mi
- Goodhue, MN18 mi
- Dodge Center, MN19 mi
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