Pine County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 6, 2001Flood, Pine$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lingering snowpack with a high water content, combined with three heavy rainfall events during the month of April, led to significant flooding and flash flooding across the county, including along parts of the Snake River. Total infrastructure damage was estimated at $1.4 million.

2. Jul 1, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were blown down across Pine City and to the east. The Markville area and St. Croix State Park were hit the hardest. In Markville most trees were blown down, eleven homes received minor damage, two homes were rendered unlivable, and a a pole barn was destroyed. In a large portion of St. Croix State Park there was 75 to 100 percent tree damage. There were no visitors at the park at the time due to a state government shutdown.

3. Jun 17, 2010Tornado$283,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The severe storm that produced the tornado tracked northeast along the Saint Croix River Valley on the Minnesota-Wisconsin state border. Although the tornado crossed through mostly recreational land, residents between Rush City and Rock Creek in MN, as well as Grantsburg to Yellow Lake in WI were impacted. The maximum path width was a quarter mile, or 400 yards, with an average path width of 400 to 600 ft. The tornado exited Pine County at around 1955 CST, continuing on in Burnett County, WI, where it lifted at 2001 CST, about 3.5 miles northwest of Grantsburg, WI. The total path length was about 6.5 miles. ||The worst of the damage occurred in far southeast Pine County and was…

4. Aug 9, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was major wind damage at Sturgeon Lake. At least four homes were heavily damaged. One garage was blown down the street. Numerous trees were uprooted.

5. May 30, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several large trees were down with one landing on a camper and another that was 16 to 18 inches in diameter that fell onto a house causing significant damage to the roof on the north side of Pokegama Lake.

6. Apr 6, 1997Flood, Pine$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rapid melting of a snowpack with above normal water content and heavy rain produced flooding across parts of northeastern Minnesota. Flooding along the Snake River in southern Pine county caused damage to two permanent homes and several seasonal dwellings. Several sheds were also damaged or washed away. High water along the Grindstone River near Hinckley also flooded a public park and part of a recreational vehicle park. Total private damage was estimated between $10,000 and $15,000 and road damage at $10,000.

7. Jul 1, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The second story of a house was rotated. There was also damage to an outbuilding roof and many large trees were blown down.

8. May 30, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 28 foot camper was lifted off its foundation and destroyed. Many trees were also snapped due to the strong winds.

9. Aug 10, 2020Lightning$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a trailer home causing damage to the home.

10. Jul 4, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$5,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A video was received showing strong winds that blew over a large tree onto a truck on the southwest corner of Lake Pokegama outside Pine City.

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

105°FJul 16, 2006

All-time low

−44°FJan 14, 1965

Warmest night

78°F4 times, most recently Jul 18, 2011

Coldest day

−21°FJan 20, 1985

Wettest day

7.83 inOct 5, 2005

Snowiest day

17.0 in2 times, most recently Apr 17, 2014

Hottest year

2024mean 47.2°F

Coldest year

1951mean 38.3°F

Wettest year

196845.08 in

Driest year

197618.77 in

Snowiest season

83.3 in2022-23

Station Grantsburg (USW00014995), 990 ft elevation, 20.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1950 to March 31, 2026; 96.2% 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 USW00014995.
• 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.