Chisago County

Every recorded tornado

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

Mapped landslides

Mapped by USGS MN (2), NASA (1).

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 1, 2001Hail$2.0 million
2. Jun 20, 2007Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread hail damage to houses, barns, outbuildings, vehicles, and crops. Hail size was estimated. Some hail did not melt until the next morning.

3. Jun 24, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
4. Jul 28, 2019Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is the continuation path of the Washington County tornado that moved into Chisago County on 240th Street North, east of Morgan Avenue. This EF1 tornado continued for approximately another 3.8 miles before dissipating north of a farm that was damaged on 268th Street. Along the path in Chisago County, the tornado damaged a farm shed, uprooted numerous trees, damaged an outdoor wedding venue near Highway 25, and destroyed an outbuilding before dissipating. Maximum winds were estimated at 90 mph, with a width of 250 yards in Chisago County.

5. Jun 18, 2001Hail$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ninety percent of homes in town received damage. Hundreds of broken windows. Siding, roofs and vehicles damaged by wind driven hail.

6. Jul 1, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous large trees were blown down around Rush City, Minnesota. In addition, residents reported heavy damage to homes in the northwestern part of Chisago County.

7. Jul 1, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several trees were blown down in Stacy, Minnesota.

8. Jul 19, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The bow echo that moved across Pine County, continued to intensify. It moved from the northern part of Chisago County, southeast into Polk County in Wisconsin. The path of straight line winds was noted as it crossed interstate 35 where very large trees were uprooted or blown down. There was damage to barns, outbuildings and homes along the path. The Chisago County fair grounds was closed due to blown down trees and power lines in Rush City.

9. Jul 1, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several trees were blown down in Harris, Minnesota.

10. Sep 19, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Scattered large trees were blown down across the northern half of Chisago County, including a tree falling on a house west of Rush City.

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 15, 1988

All-time low

−38°FJan 9, 1977

Warmest night

80°F2 times, most recently Jun 29, 1996

Coldest day

−17°FDec 23, 1983

Wettest day

6.50 inJun 1, 1965

Snowiest day

16.2 inNov 1, 1991

Hottest year

1998mean 50.4°F

Coldest year

1972mean 40.7°F

Wettest year

197544.44 in

Driest year

197614.74 in

Snowiest season

93.5 in2013-14

Station Forest Lake 5NE (USC00212881), 905 ft elevation, 8.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1958 to October 23, 2026; 93.5% 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 USC00212881.
• 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.