NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Stillwater, 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 Stillwater, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 99 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 99
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
22 deaths in all
What the records show for Stillwater
The highest rating among the 99 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 6, 1965, came within 20 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 6, 1965, killed 6 people. Of the 99, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 53 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 35. The most recent tornado was on May 15, 2025. Stillwater has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 67% of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 146 times since 1962, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Stillwater has more hail reports within 10 miles than 72% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
Compare Stillwater's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Stillwater
By decade
- 2020s12
- 2010s20
- 2000s21(1 EF3+)
- 1990s12
- 1980s10(3 EF3+)
- 1970s5
- 1960s11(2 EF3+)
- 1950s8(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 15 mi | 17.3 mi | 6 / 158 |
| May 6, 1965 | F4 | 20 mi | 6.8 mi | 3 / 175 |
| Jul 20, 1951 | F3 | 25 mi | 11.6 mi | 5 / 40 |
| May 25, 2008 | EF3 | 9 mi | 5.96 mi | 1 / 17 |
| Apr 26, 1984 | F3 | 19 mi | 5.5 mi | 1 / 52 |
| Jun 14, 1981 | F3 | 11 mi | 16.2 mi | 1 / 83 |
| Jul 23, 1987 | F3 | 25 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 24, 1958 | F3 | 1 mi | 59.4 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 10, 1953 | F2 | 13 mi | 105.7 mi | 4 / 27 |
| May 15, 2025 | EF2 | 17 mi | 3.94 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 14, 2010 | EF2 | 23 mi | 15.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 21, 2005 | F2 | 21 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 99, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Stillwater
The Storm Prediction Center has 146 hail reports within 10 miles of Stillwater since 1962, made on 63 separate days. Of these, 96 were 1 inch across or larger, and 9 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on May 25, 2008. The most recent report is from September 21, 2025. May has the most reports, 54.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Stillwater
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Stillwater 1 SE, MN, 2 miles southeast of Stillwater at 710 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 27°F and 9°F. June is the wettest at 5.4 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 35.2 inches over 65 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 18 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 147 nights a year. That 35.2 inches is more than at 109 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (88%). Mahtomedi, 6 miles west, has its own station (Vadnais Lake, MN): 33.1 inches a year, 2.1 less than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27 | 9 | 1.0 | 3 |
| Feb | 32 | 14 | 0.9 | 3 |
| Mar | 45 | 25 | 1.5 | 4 |
| Apr | 60 | 38 | 3.1 | 7 |
| May | 73 | 50 | 4.2 | 8 |
| Jun | 81 | 60 | 5.4 | 9 |
| Jul | 85 | 64 | 4.5 | 7 |
| Aug | 84 | 62 | 5.3 | 6 |
| Sep | 76 | 55 | 3.2 | 6 |
| Oct | 62 | 42 | 3.2 | 6 |
| Nov | 45 | 28 | 1.7 | 4 |
| Dec | 32 | 16 | 1.2 | 3 |
| Year | 58 | 38 | 35.2 | 65 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Stillwater 1 SE, MN (710 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 Stillwater
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 120 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Stillwater: 101 thunderstorm wind reports, 8 lightning strikes, 6 heavy rain events and 5 flash floods. They killed 1 person and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $8.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 98 mph, on May 19, 1996. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 132 have had fewer than Stillwater.
July 21, 2009: lightning strike in Stillwater — 1 killed.
NWS: “A 14 year old girl was struck by lightning as she played under a tree during a thunderstorm. She later died at a hospital from her injuries.”
April 14, 2017: lightning strike 10 miles from the centre of Stillwater — 2 injured.
August 5, 2021: lightning strike 8 miles from the centre of Stillwater — 1 injured.
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 Stillwater's ZIP code 55082 have filed 47 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $705,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 26% 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, 83 have fewer than Stillwater.
Washington County, which includes Stillwater, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 12 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 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 Washington County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for strong wind; Relatively High for tornadoes, hail and lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $92.7 million a year, the 7th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $41.5 million (45%), 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.