NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sauk Centre, 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 Sauk Centre, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 69 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 69
- 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 Sauk Centre
The highest rating among the 69 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on June 18, 1964, came within 19 miles. The deadliest, an F1 on May 15, 1998, killed 1 person. Of the 69, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 39 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 18. The most recent tornado was on May 15, 2025. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 67% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Sauk Centre. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 61 times since 1965, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 341 Minnesota cities, 71% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Sauk Centre.
Compare Sauk Centre's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Sauk Centre
By decade
- 2020s10
- 2010s18
- 2000s11
- 1990s10
- 1980s4
- 1970s1
- 1960s9(2 EF3+)
- 1950s6
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 18, 1964 | F3 | 19 mi | 6.2 mi | 0 / 13 |
| May 5, 1964 | F3 | 13 mi | 4.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 30, 2022 | EF2 | 18 mi | 19.63 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 26, 1996 | F2 | 19 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 1, 1990 | F2 | 23 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 3, 1980 | F2 | 8 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 1965 | F2 | 25 mi | 24.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 7, 1959 | F2 | 15 mi | 13 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 4, 1958 | F2 | 21 mi | 13.3 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 15, 1998 | F1 | 19 mi | 9 mi | 1 / 30 |
| Aug 3, 2024 | EF1 | 8 mi | 5.36 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 12, 2022 | EF1 | 24 mi | 2.52 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 69, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Sauk Centre
The Storm Prediction Center has 61 hail reports within 10 miles of Sauk Centre since 1965, made on 44 separate days. Of these, 35 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest size, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), was reported on 11 days, most recently May 18, 2012. The most recent report is from August 8, 2025. July has the most reports, 18.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Sauk Centre
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Melrose, MN, 9 miles southeast of Sauk Centre at 1,195 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 20°F and 0°F. July is the wettest at 4.3 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 29.0 inches over 58 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 9 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 175 nights a year. Snowfall averages 39.0 inches a year, most of it in February. That 29.0 inches is more than at 43 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (35%). Osakis, 12 miles northwest, has its own station (Long Prairie, MN): 31.0 inches a year, 2.0 more than here, and a July average high of 79°F against 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 20 | 0 | 0.7 | 2 | 5.0 |
| Feb | 25 | 3 | 0.7 | 2 | 9.0 |
| Mar | 37 | 17 | 1.4 | 4 | 7.2 |
| Apr | 53 | 31 | 2.6 | 6 | 5.1 |
| May | 67 | 45 | 3.6 | 7 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 77 | 56 | 4.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 60 | 4.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 58 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 70 | 48 | 2.8 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 56 | 35 | 2.8 | 6 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 39 | 21 | 1.2 | 3 | 4.0 |
| Dec | 25 | 8 | 0.9 | 3 | 8.1 |
| Year | 52 | 32 | 29.0 | 58 | 39.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Melrose, MN (1,195 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 Sauk Centre
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 39 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sauk Centre: 33 thunderstorm wind reports, 4 flash floods and 2 heavy rain events. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $1.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 78 mph, on September 19, 2017.
June 6, 2015: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Sauk Centre — 1 injured, $1,000 damage.
September 19, 2017: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Sauk Centre — $1.0 million damage.
July 10, 2011: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Sauk Centre — $500,000 damage.
NWS: “The Sauk Centre City Officials noted that power was lost in the town at 1908 CST, which is when emergency sirens lost power. Several residents noted that the strong straight line winds lasted for 10 minutes.”
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
Stearns County, which includes Sauk Centre, has been named in 13 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on July 8, 2022. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Stearns County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $78.9 million a year, the 8th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $48.4 million (61%), 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.