NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Windom, 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 Windom, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 68 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 68
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Windom
The strongest of the 68 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on March 29, 1998; its path came within 12 miles, and it killed 1 person. Of the 68, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 41 have come since 2000. May and August have had the most tornadoes, 19 each. The most recent tornado was on April 28, 2025. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 69% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Windom. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 64 times since 1956, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 341 Minnesota cities, 68% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Windom.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Windom
By decade
- 2020s12
- 2010s14
- 2000s15(1 EF3+)
- 1990s5(1 EF3+)
- 1980s6
- 1970s9(1 EF3+)
- 1960s5
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 29, 1998 | F4 | 12 mi | 73.5 mi | 1 / 19 |
| Aug 1, 2006 | F3 | 21 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1971 | F3 | 17 mi | 46.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 16, 1992 | F2 | 16 mi | 7.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 1977 | F2 | 23 mi | 5.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 14, 1976 | F2 | 3 mi | 13.5 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Jul 16, 1963 | F2 | 22 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 18, 1962 | F2 | 22 mi | 42.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 23, 1952 | F2 | 12 mi | 104.8 mi | 0 / 10 |
| Aug 5, 2024 | EF1 | 24 mi | 2.26 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 11, 2022 | EF1 | 15 mi | 0.88 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 11, 2022 | EF1 | 17 mi | 3.47 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 68, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Windom
The Storm Prediction Center has 64 hail reports within 10 miles of Windom since 1956, made on 35 separate days. Of these, 44 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently May 29, 1980. The most recent report is from September 21, 2025. May has the most reports, 27.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Windom
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Windom, MN, 1 mile northeast of Windom at 1,384 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 25°F and 8°F. June is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.8 inches; the year adds up to 31.8 inches over 62 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 13 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 162 nights a year. Snowfall averages 43.5 inches a year, most of it in February. That 31.8 inches is more than at 76 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (61%). Lakefield, 16 miles south, has its own station (Lakefield 2NE, MN): 30.5 inches a year, 1.3 less than here, and a July average high of 81°F against 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 25 | 8 | 0.9 | 3 | 8.4 |
| Feb | 30 | 12 | 0.8 | 3 | 9.0 |
| Mar | 43 | 24 | 1.8 | 4 | 7.3 |
| Apr | 58 | 36 | 3.2 | 7 | 4.2 |
| May | 71 | 48 | 4.5 | 9 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 81 | 59 | 4.7 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 84 | 63 | 3.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 61 | 3.7 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 75 | 52 | 3.2 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 61 | 39 | 2.5 | 5 | 0.9 |
| Nov | 44 | 25 | 1.5 | 3 | 5.2 |
| Dec | 30 | 14 | 1.1 | 4 | 8.4 |
| Year | 57 | 37 | 31.8 | 62 | 43.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Windom, MN (1,384 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 Windom
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 86 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Windom: 47 thunderstorm wind reports, 34 floods, 4 flash floods and 1 heavy rain event. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on June 8, 2023.
July 1, 2018: flood 3 miles from the centre of Windom — $750,000 damage.
NWS: “Rainfall of 3 to 5 inches (locally 5 to 10 inches upstream) during the first three days of July exacerbated flooding through the Des Moines River basin. A state of emergency was declared in the City of Windom with water breaching Island Park, the golf course, and several homes.”
June 13, 2001: thunderstorm wind in Windom — $500,000 damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds blew the roof and wall of a large lumber yard building onto a nearby bowling alley. Widespread tree damage included large trees blown down, about a dozen of which fell onto houses and caused further damage.”
April 1, 2019: flood 3 miles from the centre of Windom — $388,000 damage.
NWS: “Runoff from occasional precipitation in late March and April maintained significant flooding of agricultural and pasture lands near the Des Moines River. 99 feet above flood stage on April 1.”
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 Windom's ZIP code 56101 have filed 43 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1993, and were paid $470,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from June Midwest Flooding in 2024: 22 claims (51% of all) and $280,000. 53% 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, 81 have fewer than Windom.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| June Midwest Flooding2024 | 22 | $280,000 |
Cottonwood County, which includes Windom, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 floods, 6 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 Cottonwood County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes and heat waves; Very Low for inland flooding and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $8.7 million a year, the 65th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $3.4 million (39%), 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 Windom
- Mountain Lake, MN11 mi
- Lakefield, MN16 mi
- Jackson, MN18 mi
- Fulda, MN23 mi
- Saint James, MN26 mi
- Springfield, MN27 mi
- Worthington, MN29 mi
- Spirit Lake, IA31 mi
- Slayton, MN33 mi
- Truman, MN34 mi
- Sleepy Eye, MN36 mi
- Estherville, IA36 mi
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