Blue Earth County

Every recorded tornado

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

River crests

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.

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 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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by USGS MN (2,217), NASA (4).

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, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees down. Roof damage. Estimated windspeed. Damage estimate for entire county.

2. Jun 18, 2014Flood$2.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were multiple reports of road closures due to high water and debris along the Minnesota River. Flood waters caused around 70 people to move out of their apartment complex in Mankato.

3. Sep 23, 2010Flood$2.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were closed due to excessive rainfall that fell on September 22nd and 23th. The major areal flooding didn't recede until late Saturday when most of the small streams and creeks had crested and only mainstem rivers remained flooded.

4. Jul 14, 2003Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The sixth tornado in a series was the last of five to hit Blue Earth County. This one took direct aim on four farmsteads. Barns, sheds and outbuildings were downed. A roof was taken off a house and numerous trees were snapped. Law Enforcement video showed this to be a multiple vortex tornado.

5. Jul 18, 2025Flash Flood$835,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Delayed report of widespread damage to public infrastructure throughout portions of Blue Earth County due to heavy rainfall and flooding. There was damage to several roads, culverts, and trails, as well as severe erosion to bridge R0410.

6. Jul 14, 2003Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The fourth tornado in a series formed atop a bluff on the west side of the Le Sueur River valley, struck two homes down in the river valley, then moved back up the bluffs on the east side of the valley, where it snapped many trees and produced minor damage to some more houses, sheds and outbuildings. Videotaped by storm chasers.

7. Jun 16, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm survey concluded that severe straight-line winds caused damage to half of a metal building system north of Minnesota Lake. The building's metal wall and roof panels were peeled off with most of the northern half of the building collapsed. Empty grain bins nearby were bent or tipped. Two homes nearby sustained minor wind damage to shingles.

8. Mar 17, 2010Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were flooded between Minnesota 22, and Minnesota 83, plus County Road 14 near Highway 30. Monetary costs were based on FEMA, State, and Local assistance which includes the following categories; debris removal, emergency protective measures, road systems and bridges, water control facilities, utilities and parks.

9. Jun 25, 2010Hail$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail varied from golf ball to softball size, breaking vehicle windows. The large hail also caused small branches to come down.

10. Aug 19, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A newly constructed grain bin blew down, and landed on a machine shed and another bin.

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, 13.1 miles from the population 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.

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 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.