NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Zumbrota, 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 Zumbrota, Minnesota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 85 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 85
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Zumbrota
The highest rating among the 85 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on July 27, 1987, came within 18 miles. Of the 85, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 35 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 25. The most recent tornado was on August 29, 2025. Of the 341 Minnesota cities on this site, 50% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Zumbrota. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 68 times since 1968, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Of the 341 Minnesota cities, 64% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Zumbrota.
Compare Zumbrota's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Zumbrota
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s21
- 2000s5
- 1990s17
- 1980s13(2 EF3+)
- 1970s6
- 1960s14
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 27, 1987 | F3 | 18 mi | 30 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 17, 1982 | F3 | 20 mi | 46 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 2001 | F2 | 21 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 17, 1982 | F2 | 17 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 29, 1981 | F2 | 7 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 15, 1968 | F2 | 23 mi | 15.4 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Aug 28, 1964 | F2 | 17 mi | 2.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 13, 1964 | F2 | 23 mi | 3.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 25, 2025 | EF1 | 14 mi | 1.77 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 28, 2025 | EF1 | 19 mi | 3.26 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF1 | 11 mi | 4.39 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 15, 2021 | EF1 | 9 mi | 4.33 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 85, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Zumbrota
The Storm Prediction Center has 68 hail reports within 10 miles of Zumbrota since 1968, made on 37 separate days. Of these, 40 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on May 8, 2002. The most recent report is from April 28, 2025. May has the most reports, 22.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Zumbrota
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Zumbrota, MN, in Zumbrota at 970 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 23°F and 4°F. June is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 35.2 inches over 67 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 163 nights a year. Snowfall averages 43.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 35.2 inches is more than at 108 of the 124 Minnesota stations used on this site (87%). Oronoco, 12 miles southeast, has its own station (Byron 4north, MN): 35.9 inches a year, 0.7 more than here, and the same July average high, 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 23 | 4 | 1.0 | 3 | 10.5 |
| Feb | 27 | 7 | 1.0 | 3 | 9.5 |
| Mar | 40 | 21 | 1.9 | 5 | 6.2 |
| Apr | 55 | 34 | 3.3 | 7 | 3.3 |
| May | 67 | 46 | 4.2 | 8 | 0.5 |
| Jun | 77 | 56 | 5.3 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 60 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 79 | 58 | 4.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 72 | 49 | 3.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 59 | 36 | 2.6 | 5 | 0.6 |
| Nov | 42 | 24 | 1.8 | 4 | 3.0 |
| Dec | 28 | 12 | 1.2 | 4 | 9.9 |
| Year | 54 | 34 | 35.2 | 67 | 43.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Zumbrota, MN (970 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 Zumbrota
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 73 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Zumbrota: 61 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 flash floods, 4 heavy rain events, 2 floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $4.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on July 18, 2015. Of the 312 Minnesota cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 132 have had fewer than Zumbrota.
July 23, 2011: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Zumbrota — 2 injured, $35,000 damage.
NWS: “The town of Zumbrota was hit quite hard with many trees uprooted, twisted in half and broken branches throughout the town. In addition, five houses were damaged.”
June 28, 2019: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Zumbrota — $2.0 million damage.
September 23, 2010: flood 7 miles from the centre of Zumbrota — $540,000 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
Goodhue County, which includes Zumbrota, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 floods, 5 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 Goodhue County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for inland flooding and lightning; Very Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $26.2 million a year, the 24th highest of 87 Minnesota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $13.9 million (53%), 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.