Dakota County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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 (56), NASA (4).

Deadly landslides

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 30, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$140 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Brick wall blown in at retail center. 2000 trees blown down. Indoor mall sustained $1 million in damage. 3 homes destroyed. Numerous trees down. Damage estimate for entire county. Estimated windspeed.

2. May 15, 1998Hail$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread damage to houses and vehicles by wind driven hail. Damage estimate for entire county.

3. May 30, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$24.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   10 homes with major structural damage. 1500 trees blown over. Estimated windspeed.

4. Jul 7, 2000Flash Flood$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flooding in Eagan and neighboring portions of Rosemount, Apple Valley, and Burnsville. Between 6 and 12 inches of rain fell during this 3 hour event. One man died of drowning after being swept into a culvert. Over 200 homes in Eagan incurred water damage. Numerous homes in Rosemount and Burnsville reported basement flooding. Minor to moderate damage to forty homes in Burnsville. Numerous roads in Eagan, Burnsville and Rosemount flooded; numerous vehicles stalled. Portions of Pilot Knob Rd. destroyed along with retaining wall.

5. Jun 20, 2007Hail$12.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail was reported to be the size of hockey pucks. Many houses and vehicles were damaged in and around Hastings. Damage amount reported by the Hastings Star-Gazette.

6. May 30, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$10.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   2000 trees blown over. 1500 homes damaged. Estimated windspeed.

7. Aug 24, 2006Hail$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail covered the ground. Observed at intersection of County Road 42 and Cedar. Vehicles, homes and businesses damaged. Damage total includes all storm reports from August 24 in Dakota County.

8. May 9, 2001Tornado$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Northfield tornado (which originated in Rice County) crossed Highway 19 into extreme southeastern Dakota County, then went into Goodhue County. Five homes sustained major damage, including one with its roof completely removed. 12 other homes received minor damage. Several motorists barely made it into nearby homes before the tornado struck.

9. May 19, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roofs torn off houses. Garages leveled. Structural damage to 50 homes...30 in Lakeville. Structural damage in neighboring Burnsville, Apple Valley and Rosemount. Estimated wind speed.Damage estimate for Lakeville and Eagan only.

10. Jun 19, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Over 100 homes and cars were damaged due to falling debris from winds up to 70 mph around Lakeville. In addition, the Lakeville airport had several planes flipped over.

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

105°FJul 31, 1988

All-time low

−34°FJan 19, 1970

Warmest night

82°FJun 22, 2025

Coldest day

−17°F2 times, most recently Feb 2, 1996

Wettest day

9.15 inJul 23, 1987

Snowiest day

18.5 inNov 1, 1991

Hottest year

2024mean 50.9°F

Coldest year

1972mean 41.3°F

Wettest year

201943.17 in

Driest year

195816.20 in

Snowiest season

98.6 in1983-84

Station Minneapolis-st Paul International Airport (USW00014922), 835 ft elevation, 9.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1938 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 USW00014922.
• 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.