NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Sauk Rapids, 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 Rapids, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 72 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 72
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
4 deaths in all
What the records show for Sauk Rapids
The strongest of the 72 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on September 3, 1980; its path came within 2 miles, and it killed 1 person. The deadliest, an F1 on May 15, 1998, killed 1 person. Of the 72, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 29 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 21. The most recent tornado was on August 29, 2024. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 64% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Sauk Rapids. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 181 times since 1962, with stones up to 3.5 inches. Sauk Rapids has more hail reports within 10 miles than 79% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
Compare Sauk Rapids's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Sauk Rapids
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2010s14
- 2000s12
- 1990s14
- 1980s10(1 EF3+)
- 1970s7
- 1960s8
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3, 1980 | F3 | 2 mi | 3.8 mi | 1 / 15 |
| Jul 22, 1967 | F2 | 10 mi | 16.4 mi | 1 / 12 |
| Mar 21, 1953 | F2 | 3 mi | 0.1 mi | 1 / 3 |
| Jul 11, 2016 | EF2 | 23 mi | 2.22 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 18, 1997 | F2 | 19 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 1, 1997 | F2 | 24 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 26, 1996 | F2 | 22 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jul 21, 1995 | F2 | 25 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | F2 | 11 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | F2 | 24 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 12, 1982 | F2 | 14 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 25, 1981 | F2 | 15 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 72, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Sauk Rapids
The Storm Prediction Center has 181 hail reports within 10 miles of Sauk Rapids since 1962, made on 90 separate days. Of these, 115 were 1 inch across or larger, and 18 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.5 inches, fell on June 20, 2007. The most recent report is from July 18, 2025. May has the most reports, 54.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Sauk Rapids
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is St Cloud Regional Airport, MN, 6 miles southeast of Sauk Rapids at 1,018 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 59°F; January is the coolest, at 21°F and 3°F. August is the wettest at 4.0 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 28.7 inches over 57 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 172 nights a year. Snowfall averages 47.9 inches a year, most of it in December. That 28.7 inches is more than at 36 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (29%). Sartell, 4 miles west, has its own station (Collegeville St John'S, MN): 31.1 inches a year, 2.4 more than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 21 | 3 | 0.7 | 2 | 8.8 |
| Feb | 26 | 7 | 0.8 | 3 | 8.9 |
| Mar | 39 | 20 | 1.6 | 4 | 8.2 |
| Apr | 54 | 32 | 2.6 | 6 | 4.7 |
| May | 68 | 45 | 3.7 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 77 | 55 | 3.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 82 | 59 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 56 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 71 | 48 | 3.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 56 | 36 | 2.6 | 5 | 1.0 |
| Nov | 39 | 23 | 1.4 | 3 | 6.9 |
| Dec | 26 | 10 | 0.9 | 3 | 9.3 |
| Year | 53 | 33 | 28.7 | 57 | 47.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at St Cloud Regional Airport, MN (1,018 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 Rapids
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 134 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Sauk Rapids: 104 thunderstorm wind reports, 16 heavy rain events, 6 lightning strikes, 5 flash floods and 3 floods. They killed 1 person and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $2.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on July 27, 2002. June 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 Sauk Rapids.
May 6, 2009: lightning strike 5 miles from the centre of Sauk Rapids — 1 killed, 1 injured.
August 13, 2010: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Sauk Rapids — 1 injured, $50,000 damage.
July 1, 2011: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Sauk Rapids — $1.5 million damage.
NWS: “A severe downburst wind event occurred from Sauk Rapids, north and northeast across a large swath of central and northern Benton County. Hundreds of trees were toppled, broken or pushed over.”
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
Benton County, which includes Sauk Rapids, has been named in 13 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 floods, 3 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 Benton County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for inland flooding, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $18.1 million a year, the 31st highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $10.3 million (57%), 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.