NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Silver Lake, 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 Silver Lake, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 103 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 5 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 103
- EF3 or stronger
- 5
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
5 deaths in all
What the records show for Silver Lake
The highest rating among the 103 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 6, 1965, came within 22 miles. Of the 103, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 49 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 34. The most recent tornado was on June 28, 2025. Silver Lake has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 72% of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 153 times since 1977, with stones up to 3.75 inches. Silver Lake has more hail reports within 10 miles than 73% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Silver Lake
By decade
- 2020s14
- 2010s18
- 2000s17
- 1990s26(2 EF3+)
- 1980s14
- 1970s5
- 1960s6(2 EF3+)
- 1950s3(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 22 mi | 12.3 mi | 3 / 175 |
| Jun 19, 1951 | F4 | 2 mi | 52.6 mi | 1 / 20 |
| Jul 1, 1997 | F3 | 17 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | F3 | 8 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 8 |
| May 6, 1965 | F3 | 6 mi | 15.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 6, 1965 | F2 | 16 mi | 11.2 mi | 1 / 175 |
| Jul 11, 2016 | EF2 | 23 mi | 3.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 24, 2003 | F2 | 24 mi | 5.5 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | F2 | 23 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 13, 1983 | F2 | 9 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 14, 1981 | F2 | 24 mi | 2.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 27, 1977 | F2 | 14 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 103, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Silver Lake
The Storm Prediction Center has 153 hail reports within 10 miles of Silver Lake since 1977, made on 84 separate days. Of these, 80 were 1 inch across or larger, and 12 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.75 inches, fell on August 11, 2023. The most recent report is from August 26, 2024. June has the most reports, 39.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Silver Lake
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Hutchinson 1 N, MN, 9 miles west of Silver Lake at 1,095 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 22°F and 5°F. August is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.6 inches; the year adds up to 29.9 inches over 55 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 10 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 162 nights a year. That 29.9 inches is more than at 54 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (44%). Winsted, 8 miles northeast, has its own station (Dassel 3SE, MN): 28.9 inches a year, 1.0 less than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22 | 5 | 0.6 | 2 |
| Feb | 27 | 9 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Mar | 40 | 23 | 1.3 | 4 |
| Apr | 56 | 36 | 2.2 | 5 |
| May | 69 | 48 | 4.0 | 8 |
| Jun | 79 | 59 | 4.5 | 8 |
| Jul | 83 | 63 | 3.9 | 6 |
| Aug | 81 | 60 | 4.8 | 6 |
| Sep | 74 | 52 | 3.0 | 5 |
| Oct | 58 | 38 | 2.5 | 5 |
| Nov | 41 | 25 | 1.5 | 3 |
| Dec | 27 | 12 | 0.9 | 3 |
| Year | 55 | 36 | 29.9 | 55 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Hutchinson 1 N, MN (1,095 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 Silver Lake
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 173 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Silver Lake: 145 thunderstorm wind reports, 16 heavy rain events, 9 flash floods and 3 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $1.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on July 1, 1997. June has had the most flash floods, 5 of 9. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 218 have had fewer than Silver Lake.
September 19, 2013: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Silver Lake — 1 injured.
September 4, 2005: lightning strike 9 miles from the centre of Silver Lake — $604,000 damage.
June 17, 2012: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Silver Lake — $300,000 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
McLeod County, which includes Silver Lake, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 floods, 5 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms and Flooding, on June 28, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives McLeod 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 and heat waves; Very Low for lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $17.4 million a year, the 36th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $7.1 million (41%), 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 Silver Lake
- Lester Prairie, MN7 mi
- Winsted, MN8 mi
- Glencoe, MN9 mi
- Hutchinson, MN10 mi
- Howard Lake, MN12 mi
- Cokato, MN12 mi
- Mayer, MN14 mi
- Dassel, MN14 mi
- Norwood Young America, MN15 mi
- Waverly, MN15 mi
- Montrose, MN16 mi
- Watertown, MN17 mi
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