Chippewa County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. May 12, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The local emergency manager for Chippewa County reported a swath of sporadic tree, shed and roof damage from farms around Granite Falls, north-northeast to the west side of Clara City.

2. Mar 17, 2010Flood$345,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous counties roads were flooded from snow melt and associated runoff along several tributaries of the Minnesota River, and the Minnesota River in Chippewa 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, water control facilities, utilities and parks.

3. Apr 7, 2001Flash Flood$300,000
   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.

4. May 16, 2015Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado produced damage at a farm. A 100' x 70' long machine shed was destroyed when it was pushed off its foundation, with metal blown 1.5 miles downwind. Much of the equipment inside the shed was destroyed. A metal fence was blown down, and dozens of trees were broken. The tornado even clipped off some of the new soybeans that had emerged and were only one or two inches out of the ground.

5. Jun 24, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Chimney blown through roof of grocery store. Trees down.

6. May 12, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was a concentrated area of wind damage from the southeast portion of Montevideo, then northeast for a few miles over rural western Chippewa County. Several trees, sheds and barns were damaged, including major damage to an apartment garage in the City of Montevideo.

7. Apr 21, 2012Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several witness and the local law enforcement confirmed that a tornado touchdown approximately 3.0 miles southwest of Big Bend City, near Highway 40, and tracked southeast, for a half mile before lifting. Based on damage from a barn and grainery, the tornado was rated an EF0 with wind speeds of 75 mph.

8. Aug 8, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were blown down on the north and northeast side of Granite Falls. There was a measured wind gust of 122 mph on a wind farm north of Granite Falls. However, this measurement was taken at 200 feet above the ground.

9. Apr 11, 2023Flood$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A combination of record setting seasonal snowfall, high snow water equivalent values, and rapid snow melt led to low lying areas, ditches, and ravines across the county to flood for a prolonged period of time. Road infrastructure such as bridges, gravel roads, and culverts experience varied degrees of damage caused by rapid runoff. Chippewa County Emergency Management reported $75,600 in damages to roads and bridges.

10. May 12, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    There was sporadic tree and shed damage to farms north of Gluek and into Louriston Township.

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

113°FJul 21, 1934

All-time low

−42°FFeb 16, 1936

Warmest night

82°FAug 14, 1938

Coldest day

−21°FFeb 2, 1917

Wettest day

9.78 inJul 4, 1995

Snowiest day

15.0 in3 times, most recently Apr 11, 2008

Hottest year

2012mean 49.7°F

Coldest year

1903mean 40.2°F

Wettest year

199539.58 in

Driest year

19767.91 in

Snowiest season

92.0 in1996-97

Station Milan 1NW (USC00215400), 1,020 ft elevation, 18.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 19, 2026; 99.1% 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 USC00215400.
• 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.