Pipestone County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Nov 14, 1996Ice Storm, Pipestone$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An ice storm consisting of several periods of freezing rain caused widespread damage to power lines and poles, and to trees. Power lines snapped, cable wires were ripped down, and tree debris littered and blocked some roads. Thousands lost power, some for 5 days. Travel was curtailed by icy surfaces and there were numerous accidents, although no serious injuries were reported. The ice storm was described as the worst in 40 years in the Worthington area. Many small farm structures were damaged. A 600 foot radio tower in Worthington was toppled. Schools and business were forced to close. Damage continued after the ice storm ended, including some damage occurring when ice melted…

2. Apr 9, 2013Winter Storm, Pipestone$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An extended period of precipitation began with freezing rain producing light to moderate ice accumulations, then changing to sleet and then snow, with sleet and snow accumulations reaching 13.7 inches at Pipestone. The combination of ice accumulations and wind brought down several branches, limbs, and power lines, blocking some roads and causing a few power outages. The winter precipitation made travel very difficult, resulting in schools and businesses being forced to close.

3. Mar 13, 2019Flood$769,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding resulted in damage to public infrastructure including county and township roads and culverts. State Highway 30 flooded between 110th and 100th Avenue. The property damage costs include estimates for public property losses.

4. Apr 11, 2019Blizzard, Pipestone$485,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Blizzard conditions and ice accumulations led to a shutdown of government offices and schools, and travel was not recommended with many roads closed due to the widespread whiteout conditions. Storm-total snowfall from 4 to 10 inches occurred, with 6.0 inches near Edgerton and 5.5 inches at Pipestone. With winds gusting at times from 45 to 55 mph, many areas had snow drifts of several feet, making roads impassable. Ice accumulation from a tenth to a third of an inch occurred, and helped to produce scattered power outages as wind increased. Damage costs are rough estimates due to utility costs.

5. Jun 21, 2024Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall amounts across Pipestone County from June 20-22 ranged from 3 to 6 inches. Some overland flooding ensued with additional minor flooding along Pipestone Creek and North Branch Pipestone Creek. ||Some damages were reported to county and township roads and culverts. Preliminary damage assessments estimate loss to public infrastructure to be 250 thousand dollars. ||For additional information on river flooding, please see other flood entries for Pipestone County.

6. Apr 1, 2011Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding of lakes and lowlands, including some farmland, continued in the county through April. While flooding of small streams abated, lake and lowland flooding continued with very slow improvement. Several roads remained flooded. High water and groundwater levels resulting from record precipitation in the previous year was the main reason that the flooding either grew worse or improved so slowly.

7. Apr 6, 2019Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Runoff from occasional precipitation in late March and early April produced considerable flooding of agricultural land. Pipestone Creek at Pipestone (gage site PIPM5) crested at 3.73 feet above flood stage on April 6, the fifth highest crest on record.

8. Jun 16, 2014Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused flash flooding of numerous roads, including U.S. Highway 75. Many secondary roads were reported to be under water, and major roads suffered damage.

9. Jun 22, 1997Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail devastated crops with an estimated 63 thousand acres totally or partially wiped out, mostly in the northwestern quarter of Pipestone County.

10. Sep 11, 2019Flash Flood$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Within three hours of the start of heavy rainfall, the river gage on Pipestone Creek at Pipestone rose quickly over flood stage. Several homes on the northeast side of Pipestone were inundated with flood water.

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°F4 times, most recently Jul 16, 1936

All-time low

−44°FDec 24, 1983

Warmest night

82°FSep 5, 1913

Coldest day

−19°FJan 23, 1936

Wettest day

6.18 inJun 17, 1957

Snowiest day

17.0 inFeb 2, 2011

Hottest year

1931mean 50.3°F

Coldest year

1951mean 39.2°F

Wettest year

201939.66 in

Driest year

19769.25 in

Snowiest season

87.7 in2010-11

Station Pipestone (USC00216565), 1,658 ft elevation, 3.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1877 to October 27, 2026; 98.4% 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 USC00216565.
• 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.