NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Pequot Lakes, 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 Pequot Lakes, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 36 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 6 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 36
- EF3 or stronger
- 6
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
13 deaths in all
What the records show for Pequot Lakes
The highest rating among the 36 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on August 6, 1969, came within 13 miles. Of the 36, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 13 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 16. 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 Pequot Lakes. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 90 times since 1979, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Pequot Lakes has more hail reports within 10 miles than 53% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Pequot Lakes
By decade
- 2020s6
- 2010s3
- 2000s4
- 1990s5(1 EF3+)
- 1980s2
- 1970s10(2 EF3+)
- 1960s6(3 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 1969 | F4 | 13 mi | 32.3 mi | 12 / 70 |
| Jun 11, 1966 | F4 | 3 mi | 72.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 5, 1991 | F3 | 10 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Aug 26, 1977 | F3 | 11 mi | 26.3 mi | 0 / 11 |
| Jun 25, 1973 | F3 | 19 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Aug 6, 1969 | F3 | 18 mi | 17.3 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Jun 12, 2024 | EF2 | 15 mi | 14.66 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 12, 2024 | EF2 | 5 mi | 3.16 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 30, 2022 | EF2 | 23 mi | 10.47 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 19, 2016 | EF2 | 21 mi | 3.52 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 13, 2001 | F2 | 17 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 26, 1996 | F2 | 20 mi | 0.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 36, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Pequot Lakes
The Storm Prediction Center has 90 hail reports within 10 miles of Pequot Lakes since 1979, made on 49 separate days. Of these, 53 were 1 inch across or larger, and 11 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on June 19, 2016. The most recent report is from June 16, 2025. June has the most reports, 28.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Pequot Lakes
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Pine Rvr Dam, MN, 10 miles northeast of Pequot Lakes at 1,250 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 80°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 19°F and -1°F. June is the wettest at 4.5 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 28.8 inches over 60 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 4 days a year, almost all from July to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 178 nights a year. Snowfall averages 39.2 inches a year, most of it in December. That 28.8 inches is more than at 37 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (30%). Nisswa, 7 miles south, has its own station (Gull Lake Dam, MN): 27.0 inches a year, 1.8 less than here, and a July average high of 79°F against 80°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 19 | -1 | 0.8 | 3 | 7.3 |
| Feb | 25 | 3 | 0.7 | 2 | 8.0 |
| Mar | 38 | 16 | 1.4 | 3 | 5.9 |
| Apr | 52 | 30 | 2.1 | 5 | 3.0 |
| May | 66 | 44 | 3.7 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 75 | 54 | 4.5 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 80 | 60 | 4.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 78 | 57 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 69 | 48 | 2.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 54 | 36 | 2.9 | 6 | 1.0 |
| Nov | 38 | 22 | 1.4 | 4 | 4.1 |
| Dec | 24 | 8 | 1.0 | 3 | 9.8 |
| Year | 51 | 31 | 28.8 | 60 | 39.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Pine Rvr Dam, MN (1,250 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 Pequot Lakes
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 114 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Pequot Lakes: 109 thunderstorm wind reports, 3 lightning strikes, 1 flash flood and 1 flood. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $547,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on July 25, 1999.
July 25, 1999: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Pequot Lakes — 3 injured.
August 20, 2019: lightning strike 4 miles from the centre of Pequot Lakes — $200,000 damage.
NWS: “A house was struck by a positive bolt of lightning which caused a fire that began in the basement.”
July 28, 2015: lightning strike 9 miles from the centre of Pequot Lakes — $155,000 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
Crow Wing County, which includes Pequot Lakes, 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 Pequot Lakes
- Nisswa, MN7 mi
- Pine River, MN9 mi
- Crosslake, MN10 mi
- Merrifield, MN10 mi
- Crosby, MN16 mi
- Baxter, MN18 mi
- Backus, MN18 mi
- Pillager, MN18 mi
- Brainerd, MN18 mi
- Deerwood, MN23 mi
- Motley, MN23 mi
- Staples, MN29 mi
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