Cass County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Cass County: 13.
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.

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, 2012Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were washed out due to flooding of streams due to heavy rain of 3 to 5 inches that fell June 19th and 20th. The worse area was from Longville to Remer and points east.

2. Jul 28, 2015Lightning$155,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a house east of Pine River, MN the morning of July 28th. The lightning caused extensive damage. It hit three large white pines and the house. It scorched outlets and wires, and blew out sheet rock and light fixtures. There was also some fire damage.

3. May 30, 2022Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado crossed into Cass County from Wadena County along County Road 30 just south of 84th Street Southwest and tracked northeast for about half a mile before lifting just after crossing 84th Street Southwest. The tornado blew a center pivot irrigation system across 84th Street Southwest, snapping power poles in the process. No other damage was observed. The time of the tornado was estimated by radar and peak winds were around 100 mph.

4. Apr 22, 2025Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A positive bolt of lightning struck a large red pine tree on a cul-de-sac on the south side of Loon Lake just southeast of the town of Pequot Lakes. The bolt caused extensive damage to one of the homes on the cul-de-sac including blowing out two well systems, burning the electric lines into the home, damaged a water line along with a water heater and water softener, blew off multiple tongue and groove boards, insulation and soffit on the house and a shed, destroyed internet and phone lines and all equipment connected to it, and had several wires burn and melt, leading to a smoky haze in the home. All of the homes on the cul-de-sac had some degree of damage, ranging from blown…

5. May 30, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extensive damage was reported to several farms and homes in the area.

6. Jun 17, 2010Hail$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Most of the hail that fell was golf ball size. A few larger stones up to baseball size were observed. The hail was reported at the new Leech Lake Campground. There was hail damage to vehicles, awnings, and buildings in Bena.

7. Jun 17, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Substantial wind damage was reported. The wind blew hard enough to blow water through seals around windows of the campground lodge. A 100 pound access cover on the roof was thrown the entire length of the roof. Siding and shingles were damaged and thrown about. Covers were taken off the boat lift. Trees were downed, and a few were uprooted and sheared off.

8. Jul 17, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$8,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many trees were blown down, and power outages occurred. Some shingles were blown off a roof.

9. Jun 17, 2010Tornado$2,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado continued from Wadena County. Trees were snapped along its path, including County Road 2 and 64 up to the west side of Deer Lake.

10. Aug 7, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$1,500
    National Weather Service narrative

    A few thunderstorms became severe, producing damaging winds in the Brainerd Lakes region and some flash flooding in West Duluth.

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°FJul 28, 1917

All-time low

−53°FJan 12, 1912

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Aug 18, 1916

Coldest day

−24°F2 times, most recently Jan 24, 1904

Wettest day

7.10 inJun 3, 1898

Snowiest day

17.0 inJan 11, 1975

Hottest year

2025mean 46.8°F

Coldest year

1925mean 36.0°F

Wettest year

190245.86 in

Driest year

192913.85 in

Snowiest season

93.0 in1970-71

Station Pine Rvr Dam (USC00216547), 1,250 ft elevation, 17.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1897 to October 26, 2026; 96.4% 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 USC00216547.
• 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.