NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Waterville, 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 Waterville, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 122 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 122
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
16 deaths in all
What the records show for Waterville
The highest rating among the 122 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on April 30, 1967, came within 20 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on April 30, 1967, killed 6 people. Of the 122, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 59 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 31. The most recent tornado was on April 28, 2025. Waterville has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 94% of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 76 times since 1958, with stones up to 3.5 inches. Of the 341 Minnesota cities, 57% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Waterville.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Waterville
By decade
- 2020s14
- 2010s33(1 EF3+)
- 2000s12(1 EF3+)
- 1990s22(2 EF3+)
- 1980s14(1 EF3+)
- 1970s10
- 1960s13(3 EF3+)
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 30, 1967 | F4 | 10 mi | 20.1 mi | 6 / 22 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F4 | 20 mi | 38.7 mi | 5 / 35 |
| Apr 30, 1967 | F3 | 21 mi | 18.4 mi | 2 / 23 |
| Aug 24, 2006 | F3 | 2 mi | 33 mi | 1 / 37 |
| Mar 29, 1998 | F3 | 19 mi | 12 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Jun 17, 2010 | EF3 | 23 mi | 18.15 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 29, 1998 | F3 | 17 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 27, 1987 | F3 | 21 mi | 30 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 14, 1976 | F2 | 14 mi | 24.6 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Sep 20, 2018 | EF2 | 13 mi | 2.95 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 20, 2018 | EF2 | 7 mi | 4.94 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 14, 2003 | F2 | 12 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 122, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Waterville
The Storm Prediction Center has 76 hail reports within 10 miles of Waterville since 1958, made on 53 separate days. Of these, 39 were 1 inch across or larger, and 6 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.5 inches, fell on May 12, 1962. The most recent report is from July 28, 2025. May has the most reports, 27.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Waterville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Waseca S Rsch & Outreach Ctr, MN, 12 miles south of Waterville at 1,153 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 61°F; January is the coolest, at 22°F and 5°F. June is the wettest at 5.4 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.2 inches; the year adds up to 38.0 inches over 69 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 10 days a year, almost all from May to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 162 nights a year. Snowfall averages 52.3 inches a year, most of it in December. That 38.0 inches is more than at 122 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (98%). Madison Lake, 12 miles west, has its own station (Mankato, MN): 33.9 inches a year, 4.1 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 | 22 | 5 | 1.3 | 4 | 10.7 |
| Feb | 26 | 9 | 1.2 | 3 | 10.8 |
| Mar | 39 | 22 | 2.3 | 5 | 9.0 |
| Apr | 55 | 35 | 3.3 | 7 | 3.0 |
| May | 68 | 48 | 4.5 | 9 | 0.4 |
| Jun | 78 | 59 | 5.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 61 | 4.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 59 | 4.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 50 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 59 | 37 | 2.8 | 5 | 0.7 |
| Nov | 41 | 24 | 1.9 | 4 | 5.8 |
| Dec | 28 | 12 | 1.5 | 4 | 11.9 |
| Year | 54 | 35 | 38.0 | 69 | 52.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Waseca S Rsch & Outreach Ctr, MN (1,153 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 Waterville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 62 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Waterville: 52 thunderstorm wind reports, 6 flash floods, 3 heavy rain events and 1 flood. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $11.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on September 20, 2018. July has had the most flash floods, 3 of 6. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 168 have had fewer than Waterville.
April 12, 2022: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Waterville — $10.0 million damage.
September 22, 2016: flood 4 miles from the centre of Waterville — $700,000 damage.
NWS: “Runoff from torrential rainfall that occurred across most of southern Rice County Wednesday night, September 21st, caused numerous roads to remain impassable and closed. The flooding incident created over $700,000 in property damage amounts, according to Rice County Emergency Management.”
May 2, 2012: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of Waterville — $100,000 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Waterville's ZIP code 56096 have filed 64 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1983, and were paid $1.9 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from June Midwest Flooding in 2024: 21 claims (33% of all) and $1.5 million. 34% 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, 97 have fewer than Waterville.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| June Midwest Flooding2024 | 21 | $1.5 million |
Le Sueur County, which includes Waterville, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 floods, 3 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 Le Sueur County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail and heat waves; Very Low for inland flooding and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $14.0 million a year, the 43rd highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $7.2 million (51%), 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 Waterville
- Janesville, MN11 mi
- Madison Lake, MN12 mi
- Waseca, MN12 mi
- Le Center, MN13 mi
- Montgomery, MN14 mi
- Eagle Lake, MN15 mi
- Faribault, MN15 mi
- Medford, MN18 mi
- Lonsdale, MN18 mi
- Mankato, MN21 mi
- Owatonna, MN21 mi
- Saint Peter, MN21 mi
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