Mille Lacs County

Every recorded tornado

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

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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. Apr 22, 2001Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two to four inches rain fell on saturated ground. The most severe damage occured in Santiago (Sherburne County), where a dike along County Road 11 gave way and allowed water to come crashing into town. About one dozen homes and businesses were flooded and evacuations were necessary. Other damage included flooded basements in Foley (Benton County) and Milaca (Mille Lacs County). County officials reported roads closed in portions of Benton, Meeker, Redwood, Renville and Stearns Counties, with some roads washed out. Intersections were flooded in Willmar (Kandiyohi County).

2. Aug 14, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two large barns had their roof structure uplifted and blown off south of Onamia.

3. Aug 26, 2019Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS storm survey indicated that an EF-1 tornado touched down in a field just east of Mille Lacs County Road 4, and tracked to the southeast. EF-1 damage occurred along 70th Avenue where a large pole barn was completely destroyed. A nearby home also saw about half of its roof decking lifted off. Dozens of trees were broken or uprooted. The maximum winds were estimated at 90 mph.

4. Jul 17, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Swath of damage along the south side of Mille Lacs Lake. Many boats and docks turned over. Numerous trees down, some onto houses and vehicles.

5. May 1, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several street lights and large trees blew down across Princeton, Minnesota, some knotted down several power poles on the east side of the city.

6. May 29, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The local emergency manager reported that several large 100 year old trees were blown down along the 3000 block of View Point Road, in Isle, Minnesota. One home was severely damaged by a tree, and another smaller building was damaged.

7. Jul 10, 2002Flash Flood$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Four to nine inches rain resulted in several creeks out of their banks, and approximately two dozen county and township roads were closed across the entire county. State Highway 95 was closed west of Princeton. Several dozen basements were reported flooded with several feet of water.

8. Jul 27, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight-line winds blew down numerous trees and power lines from near Foreston, northeast to Borgholm Township, and Bock in Mille Lacs County.

9. Aug 7, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe straight-line winds caused a patio awning to blow away, a port-a-potty to blow over, and several 2-3 inch diameter tree limbs to be torn off a large tree. In addition, the northern portion of Milaca, Minnesota, lost power.

10. Jul 12, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A tin roof blew off a business in Princeton. The roof came off in three large pieces and landed in an adjacent parking lot. It appears to have been tin sheets placed over the shingles. The shingle roof was still in place. The tin landed on an SUV in the parking lot and caused damage to the vehicle. A few power poles, and power lines were also blown down in Princeton.

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

108°FJul 14, 1936

All-time low

−48°F2 times, most recently Feb 1, 1996

Warmest night

83°FJul 14, 1901

Coldest day

−22°FJan 29, 1951

Wettest day

5.38 inAug 26, 1955

Snowiest day

16.0 inFeb 23, 1922

Hottest year

1931mean 48.4°F

Coldest year

1917mean 37.7°F

Wettest year

195444.52 in

Driest year

197613.09 in

Snowiest season

94.2 in2022-23

Station Milaca (USC00215392), 1,064 ft elevation, 3.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1897 to October 27, 2026; 86.3% 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 USC00215392.
• 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.