St. Peter

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.

Flood insurance figures are for Nicollet County, the county that contains St. Peter.

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.

The drought index is for Nicollet County, the county that contains St. Peter.

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 Nicollet County.

Mapped by USGS MN (1,411).

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. Mar 29, 1998Tornado$120 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado made a direct hit on the city of St. Peter and Gustavius Adolphus College. All major buildings on campus suffered varying degrees of damage. The spire on Christ Chapel snapped in half. 70% of the windows on campus were broken. 500 homes were destroyed in St. Peter, 1,700 were damaged. Over 1,000 trees uprooted. One person killed just outside St. Peter when the tornado struck a vehicle. St. Peter Catholic Church destroyed. Hospital severely damaged. Roof ripped off library. 25% of books lost. Debris from St. Peter found 50 miles away in southern suburbs of the Twin Cities. 60 rural homes and farms damaged or destroyed from Courtland to St. Peter. Rural damage estimated at 6.5 million.

2. Jul 20, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roof torn off high school gymnasium resulting in water damage to floor. Garage walls blown down at pair of houses in northwestern part of town. High winds affected 100,000 to 115,000 acres across Nicollet county. 50,000 acres of crops severely damaged. Damage estimate for entire county. Estimated windspeed.

3. Aug 24, 2006Tornado$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado began with a very narrow path and gradually expanded to a half mile wide multiple vortex tornado. One home in Nicollet lost much of its upper floor, and other homes suffered major damage, including some bring shifted off their foundation. The tornado continued east along Highway 99, producing major damage to houses, farm buildings, and a power substation. It did its most severe damage on the southern outskirts of St. Peter, where a house was completely leveled. A total of 57 homes properties in Nicollet County were damaged, and several homes had to be totaled out. A spokesmen from the St. Peter Community Hospital said several persons were admitted with severe wounds,…

4. May 15, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees and power lines blown over. Estimated windspeed. Vehicle damage from wind-driven hail.

5. Jun 18, 2014Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several county roads were closed along the Minnesota River where flood waters and resultant mudslides and debris occurred.

6. May 2, 2012Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several spotters and local law enforcement officials reports a swath of very large hail from just west of North Mankato, to approximately 2 miles north of North Mankato. Most of the hail was quarter to half dollar size, but a few reports of tennis ball size hail was noted.

7. Jun 9, 2004Flash Flood$85,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several roads, including Highway 169 between Mankato and St. Peter, were deluged by mudslides and rushing water after up to 6 inches of rain fell. Numerous basements and low lying areas were also flooded.

8. Jun 23, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tin roof was blown off a shed, a small shed was blown 300' downwind, and a door was blown off a machine shed. The damage was localized to one part of the barn.

9. Jul 9, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of severe thunderstorms moved southward across Nicollet County causing damage to a machine shed, and roof damage to a hog barn. A local small wind turbine registered a wind gust of 80 mph. Hundreds of crop acres were damaged by hail throughout the central portion of the county. The largest hail reported was in the Lafayette area, and the city reported the worst tree damage.

10. Jun 10, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A wind sensor on top of the Gustavus Adolphus College science building had a gust of 66 mph. In addition, the St. Peter Catholic Church had their solid brick outside message display knocked down.

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

109°FJul 14, 1936

All-time low

−40°FJan 12, 1912

Warmest night

87°FJun 30, 1921

Coldest day

−19°FFeb 8, 1899

Wettest day

8.62 inAug 7, 1968

Snowiest day

15.0 in2 times, most recently Nov 12, 1940

Hottest year

1931mean 50.8°F

Coldest year

1979mean 41.2°F

Wettest year

201644.15 in

Driest year

19109.92 in

Snowiest season

89.2 in1950-51

Station St. Peter (USC00217405), 795 ft elevation, 0.5 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 12, 2026; 91.9% 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 Nicollet 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 USC00217405.
• 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.