Fairmont

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.

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.

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

The drought index is for Martin County, the county that contains Fairmont.

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.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Landslides mapped in Martin County.

Mapped by USGS MN (29).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 20, 2018Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS Storm survey confirmed an EF1 tornado developed just west of the City of Granada, and tracked eastward for 5.3 miles as it moved into Faribault County. The average width was 220 yards and damaged several homes in Granada, before moving across farmland to the east. Numerous large trees were uprooted or blown down. The damage in Granada was consistent with EF1 damage as large sections of roof structures were removed, and one house was shifted from its foundation. Highest winds were estimated at 105 mph.

2. May 15, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Grain bin blown over. Estimated windspeed. Vehicle damage due to hail.

3. Sep 23, 2010Flood$915,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were closed due to excessive rainfall that fell on September 22nd and 23th.

4. May 19, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several old barns and grain bins blown off foundations. Several silos damaged. Large tree fell onto house. Many large trees blown over.

5. Sep 15, 2004Flood, Martin$570,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Five to 13 inches of rain fell across South Central Minnesota between 5 PM on the 14th and 5 AM on the 15th. This amount of rainfall caused widespread major flooding in Freeborn, Steele, Faribault, and Martin counties. Over $6 million dollars in property damage and nearly $22 million dollars in crop damage were attributed to high water in these counties. Areas of minor flooding were also reported in southern Waseca and Goodhue counties.In Freeborn County $2.1 million in property damage was reported. FEMA reported 1 home was destroyed by flood waters, major flood damage to 13 homes, minor damage to 84 homes, and 292 homes affected by flood waters across the county. The hardest hit…

6. Jun 22, 2015High Wind, Martin$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Outflow from a decaying thunderstorm caused a large grain silo to be ripped off its foundation and crushed near Ceylon. In addition, a large tree blew down near Sherburn and destroyed a small shed.

7. Jun 22, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tree was uprooted and fell onto a car and building causing significant damage in Sherburn.

8. Jun 22, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tree was blown down and landed on a house in Fairmont.

9. Apr 6, 2014Lightning$45,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A lightning bolt struck a sign and blew a hole in the ground, at the Fairmont Municipal Airport. Multiple bulbs were blown out, and the underground transformers and wiring were damaged.

10. Jun 16, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous large trees were blown down, plus a home's roof was blown off near East Chain.

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

107°FJul 14, 1936

All-time low

−35°FJan 12, 1912

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Jul 19, 2011

Coldest day

−18°F2 times, most recently Jan 20, 1985

Wettest day

8.64 inSep 25, 2005

Snowiest day

18.0 inFeb 2, 1915

Hottest year

1931mean 51.2°F

Coldest year

1950mean 41.0°F

Wettest year

200546.34 in

Driest year

191015.49 in

Snowiest season

99.7 in2017-18

Station Winnebago (USC00219046), 1,110 ft elevation, 17.0 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1898 to October 27, 2026; 98.5% 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 Martin 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 USC00219046.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.