White Bear 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 Ramsey County, the county that contains White Bear 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 Ramsey County, the county that contains White Bear 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 Ramsey County, the county that contains White Bear 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.

Mapped landslides

Landslides mapped in Ramsey County.

Mapped by USGS MN (62), NASA (5).

Deadly landslides

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. May 15, 1998Tornado$150 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado touched down in Roseville, and travelled straight north through Shoreview, North Oaks, Lino Lakes, eventually lifting off in Blaine in Anoka County. 7 houses destroyed, 102 severely damaged. Damaged estimate for entire county including widespread wind driven hail.

2. Sep 21, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe storm moved out of Anoka County and across northern Ramsey County, from Moundsview and New Brighton to White Bear Lake and North St Paul, knocking down tens of thousands of trees in those cities, as well as in Little Canada, Arden Hills, Maplewood, Vadnais Heights, Roseville, and St. Anthony. An NWS damage survey indicated damage from both the inflow and the rear flank downdraft as the mesocyclone moved through New Brighton. The St. Paul ASOS (Holman Field) measured 62 mph at 1837 CST. Several cities declared a state of emergency. Numerous roads were blocked. One child was injured in New Brighton from a tree limb crashing down. One person died in Moundsview while clearing…

3. Sep 21, 2010Hail$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several reports of large hail, up to the size of half dollars, occurred from the Highland Park area of St. Paul, northeast across the north side of the city.

4. Mar 20, 2010Flood$2.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several communities along the Mississippi River from Mendota Bridge to Hastings had flooding problems related to the flood crest on the Mississippi River in Ramsey County. Monetary costs were based on FEMA, State, and Local assistance which includes the following categories; debris removal, emergency protective measures, road systems and bridges, buildings, utilities and parks.

5. May 1, 2001Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Observed at the Univeristy of Minnesota St. Paul campus. Damage estimate pertains to all the hail reports from Ramsey County. Numerous vehicles and buildings damaged.

6. Jun 18, 2014Flood$1.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several sources in Ramsey County compiled a summary of flood related damages and locations for the flood of June 2014.||Due to the flood waters affecting downtown St. Paul, and covering Harriet Island, the Taste of Minnesota and the 4th of July Fireworks were moved to a different location. In addition, the St. Paul Airport deployed a flood wall, which closed two of their shorter runways.||High water on the Mississippi River had forced the Minnesota Centennial Showboat to postpone a week of shows.

7. Aug 27, 2022Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down just southeast of the intersection of I-94 and Highways 10/61 and moved north-northeast. It tracked just east of Harding High School, crossing White Bear Avenue near Case Avenue, and continuing beyond Larpenteur Avenue, then dissipated near Goodrich Park in Maplewood. The tornado uprooted or broke dozens of trees, with some falling on sheds, houses, and a few vehicles.

8. Jul 16, 2011Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several main highways, and secondary roads had significant flooding, with up to four feet of standing water in northern Ramsey County.

9. Jul 18, 2015Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm survey indicated that an EF-0 tornado touch downed in the northwest portion of North Oaks, near Charley Lake, and moved east-northeast to the southern side of Deep Lake, where the greatest number of trees were toppled and snapped. Some of the trees fell on houses, vehicles and other structures. The tornado had a path length of 1.9 miles with maximum winds of 80 mph.

10. May 9, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$330,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A wind gust of 72 MPH was recorded by an automated sensor at Holman Field at 6:00 PM CDT. Numerous trees and power lines were downed from St. Anthony Park to the State Fairgrounds to the State Capitol including the southern portion of Como Park and the Midway area. A handful of buildings and signs at the fairgrounds were damaged. Four homes, a large porch, a fence, and a car near Como Park were significantly damaged by felled trees. In downtown about 60 windows were broken on buildings and skyways and a large billboard was downed onto power lines. Two of four clock faces were damaged on top of Landmark Center. The high winds also caused two barges to break loose on the Mississippi…

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

104°F2 times, most recently Aug 10, 1947

All-time low

−32°FJan 30, 1951

Warmest night

85°FAug 16, 1937

Coldest day

−13°F2 times, most recently Jan 30, 2019

Wettest day

5.57 inMay 29, 1942

Snowiest day

11.9 inMar 22, 1952

Hottest year

2024mean 50.7°F

Coldest year

1950mean 42.0°F

Wettest year

194237.72 in

Driest year

200114.69 in

Station St. Paul Dwtn Airport (USW00014927), 700 ft elevation, 9.4 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1937 to October 27, 2026; 97.8% 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 Ramsey 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 USW00014927.
• 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.