NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Perham, 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 Perham, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 71 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 71
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Perham
The highest rating among the 71 tornadoes within 25 miles is EF4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on June 17, 2010, came within 14 miles. Of the 71, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 43 have come since 2000. June and July have had the most tornadoes, 23 each. The most recent tornado was on June 16, 2025. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 65% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Perham. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 48 times since 1956, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Of the 341 Minnesota cities, 86% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Perham.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Perham
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s13(2 EF3+)
- 2000s21
- 1990s4
- 1980s1
- 1970s9
- 1960s10
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 17, 2010 | EF4 | 14 mi | 39.56 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Jun 17, 2010 | EF4 | 23 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Jun 24, 2022 | EF2 | 15 mi | 30.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 8, 2020 | EF2 | 22 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 6, 2008 | EF2 | 25 mi | 14.11 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 7, 2007 | EF2 | 16 mi | 7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 29, 2005 | F2 | 24 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 20, 2005 | F2 | 20 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 20, 2005 | F2 | 11 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 5, 2004 | F2 | 4 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 26, 1996 | F2 | 22 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 26, 1996 | F2 | 9 mi | 17 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 71, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Perham
The Storm Prediction Center has 48 hail reports within 10 miles of Perham since 1956, made on 40 separate days. Of these, 27 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on July 8, 2000. The most recent report is from May 30, 2023. July has the most reports, 15.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Perham
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is New York Mills, MN, 10 miles southeast of Perham at 1,406 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 79°F and low of 58°F; January is the coolest, at 17°F and -2°F. July is the wettest at 4.9 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.4 inches; the year adds up to 26.8 inches over 57 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 3 days a year, almost all from July. Lows fall below freezing on about 184 nights a year. Snowfall averages 45.6 inches a year, most of it in December. That 26.8 inches is more than at 20 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (16%). Frazee, 10 miles north, has its own station (Detroit Lakes 1 NNE, MN): 29.6 inches a year, 2.8 more than here, and the same July average high, 79°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 17 | -2 | 0.4 | 2 | 9.6 |
| Feb | 22 | 1 | 0.6 | 2 | 8.0 |
| Mar | 35 | 16 | 0.9 | 3 | 7.8 |
| Apr | 51 | 29 | 2.0 | 4 | 3.3 |
| May | 64 | 42 | 3.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 74 | 53 | 4.5 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 79 | 58 | 4.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 76 | 55 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 69 | 47 | 2.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 52 | 33 | 2.5 | 6 | 1.2 |
| Nov | 36 | 20 | 0.8 | 2 | 5.3 |
| Dec | 23 | 7 | 0.8 | 3 | 10.4 |
| Year | 50 | 30 | 26.8 | 57 | 45.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at New York Mills, MN (1,406 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 Perham
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 46 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Perham: 38 thunderstorm wind reports, 6 flash floods and 2 floods. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $306,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on June 20, 2005. July has had the most flash floods, 3 of 6. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 168 have had fewer than Perham.
June 20, 2005: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Perham — 1 injured.
NWS: “A 3-foot diameter tree fell on a mobile home, injuring the man inside. The mobile home was destroyed, and it took an hour to free the man.”
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 Perham's ZIP code 56573 have filed 47 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1998, and were paid $805,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2011, with 25. 2% 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, 83 have fewer than Perham.
Otter Tail County, which includes Perham, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 floods, 5 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 7, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Otter Tail County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail and inland flooding; Relatively Low for lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $37.7 million a year, the 14th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $21.2 million (56%), 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 Perham
- New York Mills, MN10 mi
- Frazee, MN10 mi
- Detroit Lakes, MN20 mi
- Henning, MN21 mi
- Wadena, MN23 mi
- Battle Lake, MN23 mi
- Pelican Rapids, MN24 mi
- Menahga, MN25 mi
- Sebeka, MN26 mi
- Verndale, MN31 mi
- Lake Park, MN31 mi
- Parkers Prairie, MN33 mi
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