Freeborn County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Freeborn County: 14.
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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 1, 2001Tornado$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado first touched down on the western fringe of Glenville, and produced major damage, especially on the northwest side of Glenville. There were 25 homes that sustained major damage, and 70 with minor damage. Damage survey indicated F2 damage on northwest side of Glenville, with F1 damage along rest of path.

2. Sep 14, 2004Flood, Freeborn$2.1 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…

3. May 1, 2001Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Shortly after the Glenville tornado dissipated, another tornado formed 4 miles southwest of Oakland and dissipated about 1/2 mile before it would have crossed Interstate 90, which law enforcement had barricaded. Major damage to 3 farmsteads, minor damage to 8 others per damage survey.

4. Jun 18, 2014Flood$625,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Albert Lea, West Main Street between Garfield Avenue and Newton Avenue were|closed due to flooding. Of the local lakes; flood waters submerged several islands. Boat docks were submerged along Fountain Lake, and six holes at Oak Island Disc Golf Course were unplayable due to flood waters.

5. Jun 11, 2008Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Approximately three to five inches of heavy rain in three hours resulted in flash flooding. Water was reported over Highway 65 three miles southeast of Albert Lea, and over Interstate 90 five miles east and one mile north of Hayward. Heavy rain washed out a section of County Road 34 between County Roads 19 and 21, or about three miles south of Oakland. One man died when he drove into the washed out roadbed and the vehicle submerged. The first call to 911 came at 0005 CST June 12, alerting law enforcement that the road had washed out. Shortly thereafter, another call to 911 was placed when a vehicle with two occupants drove into the washed out roadbed. The two occupants were…

6. Aug 18, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A local broadcast Meteorologist storm survey indicated downburst wind damage on the west and south side of a tornado that formed briefly near Highway 251 and Zuyder Zee Avenue North. The damage was concentrated on the southern part of town between 830th Avenue and Highway 28th.

7. Jul 5, 2022Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused flooding across much of western, southern, and central Freeborn County, with significant damage to numerous roads, bridges, and ditches in multiple townships, affecting areas in and near Shell Rock Watershed. Flooding caused major damage to two homes in Alden and two in Albert Lea, with walls collapsed. One more home in Albert Lea sustained minor damage. Local media also showed two vehicles fully submerged at the intersection of Franks Avenue and East 8th Street in Albert Lea. There were also cars submerged in a parking lot on Main Street and South Washington Avenue.

8. Sep 22, 2016Flood$280,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Runoff from torrential rainfall that occurred across most of northern Freeborn County Wednesday night, September 21st, caused numerous roads to remain impassable and closed. Local officials indicated that nearly 300 properties in Freeborn County had reported flood damage. Repair work for regrading and re-rocking gravel roads, replacing riprap and reimbursing cost were estimated at $280,000.

9. Apr 10, 2019Winter Storm, Freeborn$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several waves of precipitation occurred across the county with heavy snow at the start, with a mixture of sleet, rain and snow during the overnight hours before transitioning to mainly light snow, drizzle Wednesday, and Thursday. Snowfall totals averaged 2 to 4 inches across the county. The most significant weather factor was the combination of high winds and ice coated trees and power lines. This led to widespread downed tree limbs, and power poles. The local emergency manager indicated that up to 300 power poles were blown down during the height of the storm.

10. Jun 18, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A severe downburst produced considerable damage to a home residence. Damage included the loss of the roof, and structure damage throughout the home, including total destruction of their garage.

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°F4 times, most recently Jul 24, 1940

All-time low

−35°FJan 12, 1912

Warmest night

88°FJul 23, 1934

Coldest day

−22°F2 times, most recently Jan 12, 1912

Wettest day

7.50 inJun 15, 1978

Snowiest day

20.0 inMar 18, 1933

Hottest year

1931mean 51.6°F

Coldest year

1907mean 41.4°F

Wettest year

199350.67 in

Driest year

191015.26 in

Snowiest season

68.9 in2018-19

Station Albert Lea 3SE (USC00210075), 1,230 ft elevation, 4.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 99.7% 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 USC00210075.
• 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.