NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Waite Park, 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 Waite Park, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 70 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 70
- 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 Waite Park
The strongest of the 70 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on September 3, 1980; its path came within 1 mile, and it killed 1 person. The deadliest, an F1 on May 15, 1998, killed 1 person. Of the 70, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 26 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 22. The most recent tornado was on August 28, 2021. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 67% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Waite Park. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 180 times since 1955, with stones up to 3.5 inches. Waite Park has more hail reports within 10 miles than 79% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
Compare Waite Park's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Waite Park
By decade
- 2020s2
- 2010s13
- 2000s11
- 1990s13
- 1980s9(1 EF3+)
- 1970s7
- 1960s8
- 1950s7
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3, 1980 | F3 | 1 mi | 3.8 mi | 1 / 15 |
| Jul 22, 1967 | F2 | 6 mi | 16.4 mi | 1 / 12 |
| Mar 21, 1953 | F2 | 7 mi | 0.1 mi | 1 / 3 |
| Jul 11, 2016 | EF2 | 18 mi | 2.22 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 18, 1997 | F2 | 23 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 1, 1997 | F2 | 22 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 26, 1996 | F2 | 19 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | F2 | 16 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | F2 | 23 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 12, 1982 | F2 | 20 mi | 0.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 25, 1981 | F2 | 19 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 17, 1977 | F2 | 16 mi | 0.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 70, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Waite Park
The Storm Prediction Center has 180 hail reports within 10 miles of Waite Park since 1955, made on 90 separate days. Of these, 111 were 1 inch across or larger, and 19 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, 55.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Waite Park
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Collegeville St John'S, MN, 8 miles west of Waite Park at 1,210 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 21°F and 4°F. June is the wettest at 4.6 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.8 inches; the year adds up to 31.1 inches over 61 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 159 nights a year. Snowfall averages 57.4 inches a year, most of it in January. That 31.1 inches is more than at 68 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (55%). Saint Cloud, 2 miles east, has its own station (St Cloud Regional Airport, MN): 28.7 inches a year, 2.4 less than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 21 | 4 | 0.8 | 2 | 11.2 |
| Feb | 26 | 8 | 0.9 | 3 | 10.2 |
| Mar | 39 | 20 | 1.7 | 4 | 10.1 |
| Apr | 54 | 33 | 2.7 | 6 | 6.6 |
| May | 67 | 46 | 4.0 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 77 | 56 | 4.6 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 61 | 3.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 78 | 59 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 71 | 51 | 3.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 56 | 38 | 2.8 | 6 | 0.7 |
| Nov | 39 | 24 | 1.6 | 3 | 8.0 |
| Dec | 26 | 11 | 1.0 | 3 | 10.5 |
| Year | 53 | 34 | 31.1 | 61 | 57.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Collegeville St John'S, MN (1,210 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 Waite Park
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 140 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Waite Park: 111 thunderstorm wind reports, 15 heavy rain events, 6 lightning strikes, 5 flash floods and 3 floods. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $3.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 84 mph, on July 11, 2008. 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 Waite Park.
May 6, 2009: lightning strike 1 mile from the centre of Waite Park — 1 killed, 1 injured.
NWS: “Several thunderstorms developed across the St. Cloud area the afternoon of May 6th.”
July 1, 2011: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Waite Park — $1.5 million damage.
May 15, 1998: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Waite Park — $1.0 million 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Waite Park's ZIP code 56387 have filed 15 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1997, and were paid $579,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 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, 20 have fewer than Waite Park.
Stearns County, which includes Waite Park, has been named in 13 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on July 8, 2022. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Stearns County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $78.9 million a year, the 8th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $48.4 million (61%), 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.