NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Thief River Falls, 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 Thief River Falls, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 49 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 49
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Thief River Falls
The strongest of the 49 tornadoes within 25 miles was an EF3 on June 17, 2010; its path came within 19 miles, and it killed 1 person. Of the 49, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 30 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 18. The most recent tornado was on June 24, 2022. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 81% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Thief River Falls. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 73 times since 1956, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Of the 341 Minnesota cities, 60% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Thief River Falls.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Thief River Falls
By decade
- 2020s5
- 2010s12(1 EF3+)
- 2000s13
- 1990s8
- 1980s3
- 1970s5
- 1960s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 17, 2010 | EF3 | 19 mi | 15 mi | 1 / 2 |
| Jul 21, 2014 | EF2 | 18 mi | 37.92 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 25, 1983 | F2 | 9 mi | 1.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 11, 1980 | F2 | 10 mi | 6.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 26, 1978 | F2 | 17 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 13, 1977 | F2 | 21 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 12, 2022 | EF1 | 20 mi | 2.66 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 13, 2020 | EF1 | 7 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 2020 | EF1 | 4 mi | 22 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 8, 2020 | EF1 | 18 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 19, 2016 | EF1 | 18 mi | 4.83 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 24, 2011 | EF1 | 20 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 49, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Thief River Falls
The Storm Prediction Center has 73 hail reports within 10 miles of Thief River Falls since 1956, made on 45 separate days. Of these, 40 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2 inches (hen egg size), was reported on 2 days, most recently May 15, 2001. The most recent report is from June 24, 2024. August has the most reports, 24.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Thief River Falls
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Agassiz Refuge, MN, 16 miles northeast of Thief River Falls at 1,142 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 59°F; January is the coolest, at 16°F and -3°F. July is the wettest at 4.0 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 24.6 inches over 50 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 4 days a year, almost all from July to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 183 nights a year. That 24.6 inches is more than at 7 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (6%). Red Lake Falls, 17 miles south, has its own station (Red Lake Falls, MN): 24.5 inches a year, the same as here, and a July average high of 79°F against 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 16 | -3 | 0.6 | 2 |
| Feb | 22 | 0 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Mar | 36 | 15 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Apr | 53 | 31 | 1.4 | 3 |
| May | 67 | 44 | 3.2 | 6 |
| Jun | 77 | 55 | 3.9 | 7 |
| Jul | 81 | 59 | 4.0 | 7 |
| Aug | 80 | 57 | 3.3 | 6 |
| Sep | 70 | 48 | 2.7 | 6 |
| Oct | 54 | 34 | 2.2 | 5 |
| Nov | 36 | 19 | 1.1 | 3 |
| Dec | 21 | 5 | 0.9 | 3 |
| Year | 51 | 30 | 24.6 | 50 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Agassiz Refuge, MN (1,142 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 Thief River Falls
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 48 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Thief River Falls: 44 thunderstorm wind reports, 3 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $10.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 121 mph, on July 12, 2013.
September 20, 2019: flash flood 4 miles from the centre of Thief River Falls — $10.3 million damage.
NWS: “Streets, low spots, rivers, and basements were flooded by 4 to 9 inches of rain over a short duration of time. Cars that got stuck in the flood waters were abandoned where they stalled.”
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 Thief River Falls's ZIP code 56701 have filed 22 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $625,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1997: 12 claims (55% of all) and $605,000. 55% 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, 48 have fewer than Thief River Falls.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1997 | 12 | $605,000 |
Pennington County, which includes Thief River Falls, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1966, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding, on July 13, 2022. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Pennington County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and strong wind; Very Low for lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $17.8 million a year, the 33rd highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $14.4 million (81%), 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 Thief River Falls
- Red Lake Falls, MN17 mi
- Warren, MN26 mi
- Crookston, MN31 mi
- East Grand Forks, MN39 mi
- Fosston, MN43 mi
- Grand Forks, ND43 mi
- Thompson, ND49 mi
- Red Lake, MN51 mi
- Roseau, MN52 mi
- Mahnomen, MN56 mi
- Ada, MN57 mi
- Bagley, MN59 mi
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