Faribault County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (107).

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$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   20 to 40 homes damaged. Estimated windspeed. Damage estimate for entire county.

2. May 19, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees down. Roofs off. Windows and garage doors blown in. Damage area covered seven city blocks.

3. Sep 14, 2004Flood, Faribault$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Five to 13 inches of rain fell across South Central Minnesota between 5 PM on the 14th and 5 AM on the 15th. This amount of rainfall caused widespread major flooding in Freeborn, Steele, Faribault, and Martin counties. Over $6 million dollars in property damage and nearly $22 million dollars in crop damage were attributed to high water in these counties. Areas of minor flooding were also reported in southern Waseca and Goodhue counties.In Freeborn County $2.1 million in property damage was reported. FEMA reported 1 home was destroyed by flood waters, major flood damage to 13 homes, minor damage to 84 homes, and 292 homes affected by flood waters across the county. The hardest hit…

4. Sep 23, 2010Flood$402,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were closed due to excessive rainfall that fell on September 22nd and 23th.

5. Sep 20, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS storm survey concluded that a severe downburst caused significant structural damage in the town of Easton. A local church steeple was toppled, plus a few dozen trees were uprooted. Damage was consistent with winds up to 80-85 mph.

6. May 4, 2012Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The emergency manager of Faribault County survey damage associated with a tornado that touched down in the southeast part of the county on May 4th. ||The survey indicated that the tornado touchdown approximately 1.7 miles east of Kiester, and tracked east-northeast along County Road 2, and then turned northeast, to 2.4 miles northeast of Kiester before dissipating. The tornado was rated an EF0, with winds of 75 mph. It damaged trees, took down three barns, and destroyed a number of sheds and other outbuildings. In addition, a few windows were blown out, along with several power poles blown down.

7. Jun 18, 2014Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple local and county roads were closed and there were some impacts to wastewater treatment plants and drinking water systems.

8. Dec 23, 2020Blizzard, Faribault$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A mixture of rain and freezing rain started Wednesday afternoon across the county. As much colder air arrived, temperatures dropped quickly which changed the mixture of precipitation over to snow. The snow became heavy by the late afternoon. By early evening, blizzard conditions developed and continued through the evening. Wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph were frequently achieved during the height of the storm.||Due to the ice, snow, and high winds, several jurisdictions lost electricity due to downed power poles and lines. Faribault County���s electrical infrastructure experienced significant damage. Estimated costs were around 120k.

9. Jul 13, 1997Tornado$100,000
10. Jun 12, 2013Hail$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Baseball size hail caused damage to area roofs in Wells, Minnesota.

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

107°FJul 14, 1936

All-time low

−35°FJan 12, 1912

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Jul 19, 2011

Coldest day

−18°F2 times, most recently Jan 20, 1985

Wettest day

8.64 inSep 25, 2005

Snowiest day

18.0 inFeb 2, 1915

Hottest year

1931mean 51.2°F

Coldest year

1950mean 41.0°F

Wettest year

200546.34 in

Driest year

191015.49 in

Snowiest season

99.7 in2017-18

Station Winnebago (USC00219046), 1,110 ft elevation, 11.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1898 to October 27, 2026; 98.5% 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 USC00219046.
• 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.