NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Saint Charles, 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 Saint Charles, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 73 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 73
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Saint Charles
The highest rating among the 73 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on September 16, 1962, came within 19 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 10, 1953, killed 2 people. Of the 73, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 33 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 21. The most recent tornado was on May 21, 2024. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 62% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Saint Charles. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 94 times since 1959, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Saint Charles has more hail reports within 10 miles than 56% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
Compare Saint Charles's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Saint Charles
By decade
- 2020s18
- 2010s13
- 2000s2
- 1990s7
- 1980s10
- 1970s7
- 1960s15(1 EF3+)
- 1950s1(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10, 1953 | F4 | 7 mi | 162 mi | 2 / 24 |
| Sep 16, 1962 | F4 | 19 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 34 |
| Jul 8, 1999 | F2 | 8 mi | 3.5 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 17, 1982 | F2 | 23 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 17, 1982 | F2 | in town | 26 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 5, 1980 | F2 | 11 mi | 5.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 3, 1979 | F2 | 17 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 14, 1977 | F2 | 13 mi | 9.2 mi | 0 / 10 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F2 | 8 mi | 6.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 1965 | F2 | 20 mi | 23.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 13, 1964 | F2 | 20 mi | 3.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 16, 1962 | F2 | 16 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 73, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Saint Charles
The Storm Prediction Center has 94 hail reports within 10 miles of Saint Charles since 1959, made on 54 separate days. Of these, 51 were 1 inch across or larger, and 7 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on July 13, 2023. The most recent report is from July 31, 2024. May has the most reports, 22.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Saint Charles
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Minnesota City Dam 5, MN, 18 miles northeast of Saint Charles at 670 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 23°F and 8°F. June is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 1.1 inches; the year adds up to 35.4 inches over 69 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 14 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 140 nights a year. Snowfall averages 36.0 inches a year, most of it in February. That 35.4 inches is more than at 111 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (90%). Eyota, 9 miles west, has its own station (Rochester International Airport, MN): 34.7 inches a year, 0.7 less than here, and a July average high of 80°F against 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 23 | 8 | 1.1 | 4 | 8.8 |
| Feb | 29 | 11 | 1.1 | 3 | 9.2 |
| Mar | 42 | 25 | 2.0 | 5 | 5.6 |
| Apr | 56 | 37 | 3.7 | 7 | 1.5 |
| May | 69 | 50 | 4.6 | 9 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 79 | 59 | 5.1 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 83 | 64 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 62 | 4.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 71 | 54 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 57 | 41 | 2.5 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 41 | 28 | 1.9 | 4 | 1.7 |
| Dec | 28 | 15 | 1.2 | 4 | 9.0 |
| Year | 55 | 38 | 35.4 | 69 | 36.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Minnesota City Dam 5, MN (670 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 Saint Charles
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 118 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Saint Charles: 78 thunderstorm wind reports, 27 floods, 8 flash floods and 5 heavy rain events. They killed 5 people and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $19.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on June 27, 1998. August has had the most flash floods, 4 of 8. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 204 have had fewer than Saint Charles.
August 18, 2007: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Saint Charles — 5 killed, $425,000 damage.
August 18, 2007: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Saint Charles — $9.6 million damage.
August 18, 2007: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of Saint Charles — $6.3 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 Saint Charles's ZIP code 55972 have filed 15 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1986, and were paid $1.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2007, with 13. Of the 120 Minnesota cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 20 have fewer than Saint Charles.
Winona County, which includes Saint Charles, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 floods, 6 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 Winona County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail and inland flooding; Relatively Low for strong wind, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $30.5 million a year, the 20th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $20.0 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.