Benton County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Benton County: 0.
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.

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.

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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 20, 2007Hail$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail damaged many houses and vehicles, and area crops. The hail fell when winds were not too strong, so crop damage was limited.

2. Apr 7, 2001Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The same intense low pressure system that brought high wind to southern Minnesota also dumped a large area of 3 to 4 inches rain across west central and central Minnesota, on top of melting snow and saturated ground. Drainage ditches, still clogged with snow, were unable to accept most of this rain water. About 3000 homes in Stearns County and 500 homes in Benton County sustained water damage to basements. Several homes were flooded along Hawk Creek near Clara City (Chippewa County), as were about 50 homes in Chokio and Morris (Stevens County). Dozens of people were evacuated, though no injuries were reported. Hundreds of roads were submerged and some bridges flooded.

3. Jul 1, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe downburst wind event occurred from Sauk Rapids, north and northeast across a large swath of central and northern Benton County. Hundreds of trees were toppled, broken or pushed over. Many trees landed on houses, sheds and vehicles.

4. Apr 22, 2001Flash Flood$500,000
   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).

5. Aug 28, 2021Hail$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were multiple vehicles damaged with windows broken. In addition, siding on houses was damaged and numerous windows were broken to houses and outbuildings in and around Popple Creek.

6. Jul 27, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roof off house. House was also moved 5 feet off its foundation. Trees down. Sheds and pole barns down.

7. Jun 21, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A barn was blown down near Gilman. In addition, numerous trees were blown down around the area.

8. Aug 28, 2021Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms that developed across South Dakota early Saturday morning, August 28th, quickly moved into west central Minnesota and produced up to 3 diameter hail in Swift County. These storms congealed into a fast moving bow-echo that surged across parts of central Minnesota, between Willmar, St. Cloud and Mora. Several areas received very large hail, severe wind gusts and straight-line winds, and there was one tornado south of Albany. As the storms moved over east-central Minnesota, the severity of the storms lessened and only produced isolated wind damage around Milaca. The worst damaged areas were near Glenwood, Sauk Centre, and north and east of St. Cloud where…

9. Jul 10, 2002Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Seven to ten inches of rain was common across a large swath of Benton County, from the northwest corner to the southeast. About 30 roads were closed, including State Highway 23 in Foley. A few township roads were washed out. About 3500 sandbags were used in the Foley area. Some basements were flooded. Local agriculture officials estimate that about 10% of the sellable crops in Benton County were destroyed. Numerous creeks in Alberta township (Gilman to Rum River area) rose out of their banks.

10. Aug 13, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Many hundreds, perhaps thousands of trees were uprooted, snapped or broken in an eight mile wide swath that extended from the western edge of the county, near Rice to Watab, to just north of Sartell, to north central Benton County, in Graham Township, centered near State Highway 25 and County Road 77. In addition, a local Minnesota Department of Transportation Weather Station near Rice, measured a wind gust of 64 knots. A semi-truck was blown over near Rice along Highway 10, resulting in one injury. Plus, a spotter on the northeast shore of Little Rock Lake measured a wind gust of 81 mph before his tower collapsed and the anemometer ceased to function. The intense wind blew from…

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, 6.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1939 to October 26, 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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.