Morrison County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jun 23, 2003Flood, Morrison$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   County wide flooding. Several periods of heavy rain produced 8 to 12 inched across Morrison county. Highway 371 was flooded between Little Falls and Randall, along with Highway 27 being closed from little Falls to Pierz when a culvert washed away and caused partial collapse of the road. Many other county and township roads were also closed due to flooding, along with numerous basements and driveways being washed out. Just North of Little Falls, two businesses were flooded and one was surrounded by water.

2. Apr 7, 2001Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The same intense low pressure system that brought high wind to southern Minnesota also dumped a large area of 3 to 4 inches rain across west central and central Minnesota, on top of melting snow and saturated ground. Drainage ditches, still clogged with snow, were unable to accept most of this rain water. About 3000 homes in Stearns County and 500 homes in Benton County sustained water damage to basements. Several homes were flooded along Hawk Creek near Clara City (Chippewa County), as were about 50 homes in Chokio and Morris (Stevens County). Dozens of people were evacuated, though no injuries were reported. Hundreds of roads were submerged and some bridges flooded.

3. Sep 18, 1997Tornado$1.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several buildings destroyed and numerous other buildings damaged. Hundreds of trees down. A number of cattle killed in barn collapse. One man injured when the tornado engulfed his car and threw it into a nearby woods. A second man critically injured when his garage collapsed. He died several weeks later.Total path length of tornado from 1 NE of Lastrup to Onamia was 17 miles.

4. Jun 23, 2022Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Nearly 30 homes were evacuated in the town of Randall due to flood waters spilling over the banks of the Little Elk River. Numerous roads and bridges were also damaged. The heaviest rainfall occurred before 4 am, but flood waters developed during the morning. Damage totals were provided by Morrison County Emergency Management.

5. Apr 22, 2001Flash Flood$1.5 million
   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).

6. Sep 7, 2016Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS storm survey concluded that an EF1 tornado with estimated winds of 90 mph, damaged several buildings and uprooted trees in Camp Ripley. One concrete block apartment style living quarters had its roof completely removed, and another one had its roof partially removed. Another high-roof garage building was mostly destroyed, with debris landing in an array of solar panels, which sustained significant damage. One car was lofted and deposited about 50 feet away. The tornado started just southeast of Randall and moved east, damaging a resort and a number of lake homes on the northwest side of Green Prairie Fish Lake. It then turned northeast and hit Camp Ripley. The core of the…

7. May 12, 2022Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees were uprooted or snapped as the tornado moved along the east side of Lake Alexander. Many trees came down on vehicles, sheds, and cabins. Maximum winds were estimated at 90 mph.

8. May 12, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Pierz city garage on the north end of town was severely damaged due to severe straight-line winds.

9. Jul 17, 2010Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several dozen trees were downed, two sheds and a barn were damaged, and minor damage occurred to a house.

10. Aug 13, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Significant straight-line wind damage occurred from near Royalton, east along and near East Nature Road for roughly 13 miles. Damage included a chicken barn roof blown off, shingles off a home, and several large trees uprooted.

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

103°F3 times, most recently Aug 10, 1947

All-time low

−43°FJan 9, 1977

Warmest night

80°FJun 22, 2025

Coldest day

−20°FFeb 2, 1996

Wettest day

4.57 inAug 3, 1956

Snowiest day

14.5 inMar 1, 1965

Hottest year

2024mean 48.3°F

Coldest year

1950mean 38.4°F

Wettest year

201941.92 in

Driest year

197614.93 in

Snowiest season

88.2 in2022-23

Station St. Cloud Regional Airport (USW00014926), 1,018 ft elevation, 33.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1939 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 USW00014926.
• 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.