NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Rochester, 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 Rochester, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 93 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 93
- 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 Rochester
The strongest of the 93 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on September 16, 1962; its path came within 4 miles. Of the 93, 10 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 29 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 33. The most recent tornado was on June 25, 2025. Rochester has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 57% of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 219 times since 1961, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Rochester has more hail reports within 10 miles than 85% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
Compare Rochester's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Rochester
By decade
- 2020s10
- 2010s14
- 2000s5
- 1990s15
- 1980s13
- 1970s12
- 1960s23(1 EF3+)
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16, 1962 | F4 | 4 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 34 |
| May 17, 1982 | F2 | 3 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 17, 1982 | F2 | 20 mi | 26 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Apr 29, 1981 | F2 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jul 3, 1979 | F2 | 6 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 14, 1977 | F2 | 23 mi | 9.2 mi | 0 / 10 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F2 | 9 mi | 6.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 1965 | F2 | 17 mi | 23.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 28, 1964 | F2 | 19 mi | 2.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 13, 1964 | F2 | 2 mi | 3.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 16, 1962 | F2 | 12 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 1962 | F2 | 10 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 93, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Rochester
The Storm Prediction Center has 219 hail reports within 10 miles of Rochester since 1961, made on 100 separate days. Of these, 123 were 1 inch across or larger, and 8 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on August 16, 1963. The most recent report is from August 27, 2025. May has the most reports, 70.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Rochester
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Rochester International Airport, MN, 9 miles south of Rochester at 1,304 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 80°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 23°F and 7°F. June is the wettest at 5.4 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 34.7 inches over 65 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 5 days a year, almost all from June to July. Lows fall below freezing on about 156 nights a year. Snowfall averages 53.1 inches a year, most of it in December. That 34.7 inches is more than at 106 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (85%). Byron, 8 miles west, has its own station (Byron 4north, MN): 35.9 inches a year, 1.2 more than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 80°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 23 | 7 | 1.0 | 3 | 12.2 |
| Feb | 27 | 11 | 1.0 | 3 | 10.7 |
| Mar | 40 | 23 | 2.0 | 5 | 8.6 |
| Apr | 55 | 35 | 3.5 | 7 | 3.3 |
| May | 68 | 47 | 4.4 | 8 | 0.5 |
| Jun | 78 | 58 | 5.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 80 | 61 | 4.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 78 | 58 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 50 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 58 | 38 | 2.4 | 5 | 0.9 |
| Nov | 42 | 26 | 1.8 | 4 | 4.5 |
| Dec | 28 | 14 | 1.3 | 4 | 12.4 |
| Year | 54 | 36 | 34.7 | 65 | 53.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Rochester International Airport, MN (1,304 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 Rochester
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 200 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Rochester: 135 thunderstorm wind reports, 22 heavy rain events, 21 floods, 17 lightning strikes and 5 flash floods. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $47.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on May 19, 1996. September has had the most flash floods, 3 of 5. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 132 have had fewer than Rochester.
December 15, 2021: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Rochester — 1 killed, $10,000 damage.
NWS: “One person was killed east of Rochester when a 40 foot pine tree was snapped off, fell and landed on the individual and his pickup truck.”
August 18, 2007: flash flood in Rochester — $35.1 million damage.
NWS: “Heavy thunderstorm rains caused widespread flash flooding in Rochester and surrounding areas across the county. Highway 14 was closed east of Rochester due to wash outs and flash flooding.”
September 24, 2010: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of Rochester — $7.0 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 Rochester's 4 ZIP codes have filed 682 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $4.7 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1978: 432 claims (63% of all) and $3.9 million. 64% 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, 116 have fewer than Rochester.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1978 | 432 | $3.9 million |
Olmsted County, which includes Rochester, 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.