NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Princeton, 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 Princeton, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 56 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 56
- EF3 or stronger
- 0
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
5 deaths in all
What the records show for Princeton
The highest rating among the 56 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 11 times; the most recent, on September 16, 2006, came within 24 miles. Of the 56, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 23 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 19. The most recent tornado was on August 29, 2024. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 77% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Princeton. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 84 times since 1965, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Of the 341 Minnesota cities, 50% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Princeton.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Princeton
By decade
- 2020s4
- 2010s10
- 2000s9
- 1990s13
- 1980s10
- 1970s3
- 1960s5
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16, 2006 | F2 | 24 mi | 8 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Jul 22, 1967 | F2 | 16 mi | 16.4 mi | 1 / 12 |
| Mar 21, 1953 | F2 | 24 mi | 0.1 mi | 1 / 3 |
| Jul 1, 1997 | F2 | 22 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 1, 1997 | F2 | 24 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 21, 1995 | F2 | 5 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | F2 | 18 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | F2 | 22 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 12, 1982 | F2 | 21 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 13, 1981 | F2 | 5 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 17, 1977 | F2 | 21 mi | 0.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 10, 1968 | F1 | 16 mi | 0.3 mi | 1 / 2 |
The strongest 12 of 56, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Princeton
The Storm Prediction Center has 84 hail reports within 10 miles of Princeton since 1965, made on 52 separate days. Of these, 52 were 1 inch across or larger, and 9 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on August 27, 1990. The most recent report is from June 12, 2024. May has the most reports, 28.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Princeton
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Santiago 3 E, MN, 9 miles west of Princeton at 1,010 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 59°F; January is the coolest, at 22°F and 4°F. June is the wettest at 4.2 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.8 inches; the year adds up to 30.7 inches over 59 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 7 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 170 nights a year. Snowfall averages 49.4 inches a year, most of it in December. That 30.7 inches is more than at 61 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (49%). Zimmerman, 8 miles south, has its own station (Elk Rvr, MN): 32.9 inches a year, 2.2 more than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22 | 4 | 0.8 | 2 | 9.8 |
| Feb | 27 | 8 | 0.9 | 2 | 9.5 |
| Mar | 40 | 21 | 1.7 | 4 | 8.7 |
| Apr | 56 | 33 | 2.8 | 6 | 3.5 |
| May | 69 | 45 | 3.9 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 77 | 55 | 4.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 59 | 4.0 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 57 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 49 | 2.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 57 | 36 | 2.7 | 5 | 0.8 |
| Nov | 40 | 24 | 1.6 | 4 | 6.5 |
| Dec | 27 | 11 | 1.1 | 3 | 10.5 |
| Year | 54 | 33 | 30.7 | 59 | 49.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Santiago 3 E, MN (1,010 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 Princeton
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 47 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Princeton: 43 thunderstorm wind reports, 3 heavy rain events and 1 flash flood. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $330,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on July 2, 2003.
July 30, 2011: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Princeton — $150,000 damage.
NWS: “Scattered downburst wind damage occurred in much of Dalbo Township, northwest of the town of Dalbo. Damage was confined to trees and crops.”
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 Princeton's ZIP code 55371 have filed 19 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $83,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 21% 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 Princeton.
Mille Lacs County, which includes Princeton, has been named in 10 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 7 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms and Flooding, on July 19, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Mille Lacs County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Very Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $11.3 million a year, the 54th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $7.1 million (63%), 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 Princeton
- Zimmerman, MN8 mi
- Milaca, MN13 mi
- Foreston, MN13 mi
- Saint Francis, MN16 mi
- Cambridge, MN16 mi
- Isanti, MN16 mi
- Becker, MN17 mi
- Big Lake, MN17 mi
- Foley, MN18 mi
- Elk River, MN18 mi
- Stanchfield, MN18 mi
- Clear Lake, MN19 mi
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