Big Lake

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Sherburne County, the county that contains Big Lake.

Claims by ZIP code

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).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Sherburne County, the county that contains Big Lake.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Sherburne County, the county that contains Big Lake.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 21, 2005Hail$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roof damage reported to hundreds of homes, and golf ball size hail punched through some home siding. Numerous vehicles damaged. A newspaper reported that two insurance companies totaled over 1500 claims in this area. Property damage total is for all of Sherburne County on 9-21-05.

2. May 15, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Garage destroyed. Roof ripped off nursery. Estimated windspeed. Many trees blown over. Damage estimate for entire county.

3. Apr 22, 2001Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two to four inches rain fell on saturated ground. The most severe damage occured in Santiago (Sherburne County), where a dike along County Road 11 gave way and allowed water to come crashing into town. About one dozen homes and businesses were flooded and evacuations were necessary. Other damage included flooded basements in Foley (Benton County) and Milaca (Mille Lacs County). County officials reported roads closed in portions of Benton, Meeker, Redwood, Renville and Stearns Counties, with some roads washed out. Intersections were flooded in Willmar (Kandiyohi County).

4. Jul 17, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several large 13-15 inch diameter trees were uprooted near Becker, Minnesota. In addition, a farm irrigation system was destroyed.

5. Jul 17, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were blown down, along with damage to a farm's fence. Extensive damage occurred in the town of Elk River Minnesota, including the Sherburne County Fair where tents and sheds were blown over.

6. Sep 16, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A used car sales trailer at Elk River Ford-Dodge-Jeep dealership was rolled; the dealership also incurred damage to a sign and some vehicles. Part of a townhome roof was blown off in the Kliever Lake Fields subdivision along County Road 12, just west of Fillmore Street. Some garage doors in the subdivision were pushed in, and one garage was damaged. An area along Yale Street, behind Broadway Bar, saw some damage, as did Park Pointe development. A garage door was blown in at the Furniture and Things warehouse on Ulysses Street. A semi-trailer outside a restaurant was blown over. Trees were blown down and signs were bent. Most information provided by the Annandale Advocate and the…

7. Jul 1, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several spotters reported large trees blown down, along with damage to an antenna in Zimmerman, Minnesota. Several of the trees blown down had diameters of 30 inches from Orrock, to Zimmerman, Minnesota.

8. Jul 1, 2011Hail$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several reports of very large hail occurred from Big Lake, to approximately 5 miles north of Big Lake, Minnesota.

9. Aug 2, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple trees and power lines were blown down near Elk River.

10. Jul 10, 2002Flash Flood$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Four to seven inches of rain fell, producing water over numerous roads. State highway 169 was closed between Princeton and Zimmerman, and County Road 31 was closed west of Santiago. Several dozen basements were flooded.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

103°F3 times, most recently Aug 10, 1947

All-time low

−43°FJan 9, 1977

Warmest night

80°FJun 22, 2025

Coldest day

−20°FFeb 2, 1996

Wettest day

4.57 inAug 3, 1956

Snowiest day

14.5 inMar 1, 1965

Hottest year

2024mean 48.3°F

Coldest year

1950mean 38.4°F

Wettest year

201941.92 in

Driest year

197614.93 in

Snowiest season

88.2 in2022-23

Station St. Cloud Regional Airport (USW00014926), 1,018 ft elevation, 20.5 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1939 to October 27, 2026; 100.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Sherburne County.

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).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00014926.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.