NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Winona, 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 Winona, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 61 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 61
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Winona
The strongest of the 61 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on May 10, 1953; its path came within 8 miles, and it killed 2 people. Of the 61, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 35 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 16. The most recent tornado was on June 25, 2025. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 76% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Winona. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 135 times since 1964, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Winona has more hail reports within 10 miles than 70% of the 341 Minnesota cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Winona
By decade
- 2020s20
- 2010s11
- 2000s4
- 1990s5
- 1980s7
- 1970s2
- 1960s8(1 EF3+)
- 1950s4(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10, 1953 | F4 | 8 mi | 162 mi | 2 / 24 |
| May 5, 1965 | F3 | 19 mi | 65.2 mi | 0 / 7 |
| May 26, 1959 | F3 | 12 mi | 34.3 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 22, 2011 | EF2 | 22 mi | 13.79 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 8, 1999 | F2 | 11 mi | 3.5 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 17, 1982 | F2 | 17 mi | 26 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 5, 1980 | F2 | 11 mi | 5.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 27, 1968 | F2 | 24 mi | 5.7 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 19, 1957 | F2 | 24 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 25, 2025 | EF1 | 24 mi | 6.53 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF1 | 19 mi | 0.84 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 21, 2024 | EF1 | 19 mi | 2.69 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 61, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Winona
The Storm Prediction Center has 135 hail reports within 10 miles of Winona since 1964, made on 65 separate days. Of these, 81 were 1 inch across or larger, and 14 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently June 17, 2021. The most recent report is from May 15, 2025. June has the most reports, 33.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Winona
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Winona Dam 5 A, MN, 4 miles north of Winona at 663 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 25°F and 8°F. June is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 34.5 inches over 68 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 11 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 148 nights a year. Snowfall averages 37.6 inches a year, most of it in January. That 34.5 inches is more than at 104 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (84%). Trempealeau, WI, 10 miles east, has its own station (Trempealeau Dam 6, WI): 34.6 inches a year, the same as here, and a July average high of 82°F against 83°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 25 | 8 | 1.1 | 4 | 9.8 |
| Feb | 30 | 11 | 1.0 | 3 | 9.3 |
| Mar | 42 | 24 | 1.9 | 5 | 5.7 |
| Apr | 56 | 37 | 3.7 | 7 | 1.6 |
| May | 69 | 48 | 4.1 | 9 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 78 | 59 | 4.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 83 | 63 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 61 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 54 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 59 | 41 | 2.5 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 44 | 29 | 1.9 | 4 | 1.4 |
| Dec | 31 | 16 | 1.2 | 4 | 9.5 |
| Year | 56 | 38 | 34.5 | 68 | 37.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Winona Dam 5 A, MN (663 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 Winona
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 219 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Winona: 106 thunderstorm wind reports, 71 floods, 20 heavy rain events, 15 flash floods and 7 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 0, and the NWS estimated $40.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on June 27, 1998. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 260 have had fewer than Winona.
May 3, 2015: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Winona — 1 killed, $10,000 damage.
NWS: “The driver of a pickup truck was killed in Goodview when sub-severe thunderstorms winds uprooted a tree from the side of a bluff. The tree fell into the roadway and landed on the truck the man was driving.”
August 18, 2007: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Winona — $22.2 million damage.
NWS: “Flash flooding hit all the creeks and drainage areas hard that begin near the Interstate 90 area in Winona County. Erosion problems were also noted south of Interstate 90 in the Hart area.”
August 18, 2007: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Winona — $12.4 million damage.
NWS: “All drainage areas leading into communities in eastern Winona County experienced tremendous flash flooding. State Highway 43 was washed out just south of Winona.”
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 Winona's ZIP code 55987 have filed 60 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $1.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2007, with 31. 18% 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, 93 have fewer than Winona.
Winona County, which includes Winona, 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 Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 7, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Winona County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail and inland flooding; Relatively Low for strong wind, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $30.5 million a year, the 20th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $20.0 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 Winona
- Fountain City, WI7 mi
- Trempealeau, WI10 mi
- Lewiston, MN11 mi
- Galesville, WI15 mi
- Rushford, MN16 mi
- Arcadia, WI17 mi
- Cochrane, WI17 mi
- Houston, MN19 mi
- Holmen, WI20 mi
- Saint Charles, MN21 mi
- La Crescent, MN21 mi
- Ettrick, WI22 mi
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