NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Wabasha, 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 Wabasha, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 52 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 52
- EF3 or stronger
- 4
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Wabasha
The strongest of the 52 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on May 10, 1953; its path came within 22 miles, and it killed 2 people. Of the 52, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 22 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 15. The most recent tornado was on June 25, 2025. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 80% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Wabasha. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 96 times since 1972, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Wabasha has more hail reports within 10 miles than 57% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Wabasha
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s12
- 2000s1
- 1990s9(1 EF3+)
- 1980s7
- 1970s3
- 1960s6
- 1950s5(3 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10, 1953 | F4 | 22 mi | 162 mi | 2 / 24 |
| May 15, 1998 | F3 | 17 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 6 |
| May 24, 1958 | F3 | 17 mi | 59.4 mi | 0 / 12 |
| Sep 12, 1951 | F3 | 18 mi | 24.4 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 17, 1982 | F2 | 11 mi | 26 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Aug 28, 1964 | F2 | 15 mi | 2.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 29, 1954 | F2 | 23 mi | 6.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 25, 2025 | EF1 | 17 mi | 1.77 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 28, 2025 | EF1 | 24 mi | 5.56 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF1 | 12 mi | 2.69 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF1 | 15 mi | 3.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF1 | 20 mi | 19.74 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 52, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Wabasha
The Storm Prediction Center has 96 hail reports within 10 miles of Wabasha since 1972, made on 56 separate days. Of these, 43 were 1 inch across or larger, and 8 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on July 3, 1973. The most recent report is from June 19, 2025. May has the most reports, 34.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Wabasha
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Alma Dam 4, WI, 7 miles southeast of Wabasha at 670 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 62°F; January is the coolest, at 24°F and 8°F. June is the wettest at 5.7 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 37.2 inches over 70 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 7 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 138 nights a year. Snowfall averages 37.4 inches a year, most of it in January. That 37.2 inches is more than at 120 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (97%). Lake City, 13 miles west, has its own station (Theilman 1SSW, MN): 35.7 inches a year, 1.5 less than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 24 | 8 | 1.0 | 3 | 9.9 |
| Feb | 29 | 12 | 1.0 | 3 | 8.6 |
| Mar | 41 | 24 | 1.9 | 5 | 6.6 |
| Apr | 56 | 36 | 3.5 | 7 | 1.6 |
| May | 68 | 48 | 4.8 | 9 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 77 | 58 | 5.7 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 62 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 61 | 5.0 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 71 | 53 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 58 | 41 | 2.6 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 42 | 28 | 1.9 | 4 | 1.8 |
| Dec | 29 | 15 | 1.1 | 3 | 8.6 |
| Year | 55 | 37 | 37.2 | 70 | 37.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Alma Dam 4, WI (670 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 Wabasha
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 131 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Wabasha: 71 thunderstorm wind reports, 32 floods, 18 heavy rain events and 10 flash floods. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $1.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on May 19, 1996. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 223 have had fewer than Wabasha.
May 19, 1996: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Wabasha — 2 injured, $85,000 damage.
June 25, 2010: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Wabasha — $150,000 damage.
NWS: “Heavy rain produced a mud slide in the city of Alma that did major damage to one residence, three business, roads and utilities. Significant erosion occurred in Alma as a result of the mud slide.”
August 11, 2016: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Wabasha — $150,000 damage.
NWS: “Near Theilman, County Road 86 had a washout and debris over the road and a mudslide covered a portion of County Road 4. Flood waters from West Indian Creek rushed through a campground, damaging several campers and took out a snowmobile bridge.”
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 Wabasha's ZIP code 55981 have filed 77 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $708,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Severe flooding in 2001: 24 claims (31% of all) and $288,000, then Flooding in 1997 with 21. 60% 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, 100 have fewer than Wabasha.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Severe flooding2001 | 24 | $288,000 |
| Flooding1997 | 21 | $143,000 |
Wabasha County, which includes Wabasha, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms and Flooding, on June 28, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Wabasha County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes, inland flooding and lightning; Very Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $17.5 million a year, the 35th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $11.3 million (65%), 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 Wabasha
- Lake City, MN13 mi
- Cochrane, WI14 mi
- Plainview, MN16 mi
- Durand, WI18 mi
- Elgin, MN20 mi
- Mondovi, WI23 mi
- Fountain City, WI25 mi
- Mazeppa, MN25 mi
- Red Wing, MN27 mi
- Eyota, MN27 mi
- Saint Charles, MN27 mi
- Independence, WI28 mi
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