Goodhue County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (49).

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 9, 2001Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Northfield tornado (which originated in Rice County) dissipated on the south side of Lake Byllesby, but not before destroying several sheds and causing minor damage to 12 homes.

2. Jun 17, 2021Hail$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hailstone was measured and emailed to the weather service. The hail stone was 3 inches in diameter and fell east of Stanton.

3. Jun 26, 1998Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Slow moving thunderstorms dumped 4 to 6 inches of rain in threes hours over portions of Goodhue county. Zumbrota received 6.46", Sogn 4.38", Wanamingo 5.49". Flash flooding resulted in many road closures. The Shades of Sherwood Campground was evacuated where some campers were washed into the Zumbro River. Several people were rescued when they were carried into the river along with their camper. Over 100 campers were destroyed. Two deaths occurred along the Zumbro River between Wanamingo and Zumbrota. An elderly couple evacuating the campground drove into a washed out section of road, or the road gave way under the weight of their vehicle. It is presumed the couple escaped from…

4. May 15, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roof blown off auto body shop. Estimated windspeed. Damage estimate for entire county.

5. Jun 7, 2005Flood, Goodhue$545,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to 6 inches of rain fell in the North Fork Zumbro River watershed on the evening of the 7th and widespread flooding resulted. The Sheriff's department reported that flood waters from the North Fork Zumbro River forced the closure of Highway 58 just north of Zumbrota at Covered Bridge Park around 3 AM on the 8th. The highway remained closed for much of the day. Covered Bridge Park along the river sustained $20,000 damage to electrical equipment in the campground area, and a softball tournament had to be cancelled at the park after the flood damaged ball fields. The wastewater treatment plant in Wanamingo had to be evacuated shortly after midnight after the Zumbro River became…

6. Sep 23, 2010Flood$540,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were closed in Goodhue County, around the streams and creeks that flow into the Cannon and Zumbro Rivers due to excessive rainfall that fell on September 22nd and 23th. The major areal flooding didn't recede until Sunday when most of the small streams and creeks had crested and only mainstem rivers remained flooded.

7. Jun 10, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The town of Bellechester was hit the hardest and sustained the most visible and impactful damage. Damage consisted of some structure damage including a barn/shed on County Road 16 just west of Bellechester. Debris was blown across County Road 16. There were also lots of trees on sheds and rooftops in this area as well. Some of the damage seemed to result from strong winds, however most damage to roofs, structures, and other property was caused from falling trees and other debris.

8. Jul 18, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm survey indicated a significant downburst caused damage west of Goodhue. Severe downburst winds initially caused damage to a barn and outbuildings at a farm about 9 miles west of Goodhue. Farther east, about 7.5 miles west of Goodhue, there were numerous trees blown down, an empty grain bin was destroyed, tin was blown off some outbuildings, doors were blown off a machine shed, and some corn was destroyed. These were the two hardest hit locations. Between the two locations, there were just a few trees or large branches taken down. Both locations exhibited divergent damage patterns indicative of a downburst. Based on the survey damage, the highest winds were around 80 to 85 mph.

9. Aug 27, 2018Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down just west of a farm, where a definite path was evident in the corn field. It took the tin roof off of much of a turkey barn. An empty grain bin was blown several hundred yards. The southern half of a large machine shed was collapsed. Two windows were blown in at a nearby school, which also had a small portion of its roof torn back. Numerous trees were broken.

10. May 16, 2017Hail$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several reports of very large hail, up to 2.5 inches in diameter, fell from west of Dennison, to near Cannon Falls. There were reports of hail damage to siding, cars and roofs in this swath of large hail.

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

109°FJul 14, 1936

All-time low

−45°FJan 30, 1951

Warmest night

83°FAug 13, 1995

Coldest day

−18°FJan 5, 1924

Wettest day

6.46 inJun 27, 1998

Snowiest day

16.0 inDec 12, 2010

Hottest year

1931mean 51.6°F

Coldest year

1917mean 40.2°F

Wettest year

201948.60 in

Driest year

195517.32 in

Station Zumbrota (USC00219249), 980 ft elevation, 10.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1895 to October 26, 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 USC00219249.
• 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.