Stearns County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Stearns County: 3.
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. Jun 20, 2007Hail$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   More then a thousand vehicles and many homes in Sartell were damaged by the storm. Hail measured by trained spotter. All injuries were minor. The hail fell when winds were not too strong, so crop damage in the area was limited.

2. Apr 7, 2001Flash Flood$6.0 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. May 15, 1998Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado struck outdoor flea market in Albany, blowing numerous recreational vehicles over. One man was killed when a recreational vehicle was blown on top of him. 30 others were injured. A farmstead was severely damaged northeast of St. Francis just before liftoff of the tornado.

4. Aug 3, 2024Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado moved south-southeast through the west side of Melrose. The worst structural damage took place in the northwest side of town. The tornado destroyed a large metal building system and peeled the roof off of several other buildings. Portions of the roof were torn off some townhomes. Hundreds of trees were uprooted or broken. The tornado moved across a golf course, taking down many dozens of trees. In the far southern part of Melrose, more homes sustained damage and the tornado completely destroyed a large machine shed at a farm. After exiting town, the tornado moved across fields and damaged a few more farms. One turkey barn had much of its roof removed and the roof was…

5. Apr 22, 2001Flash Flood$1.0 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. May 15, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roof damage. Trees down. Estimated windspeed.

7. Sep 19, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees, possibly over one thousand, were blown down across a broadening swath from northeast of Elrosa to Melrose. Numerous corn fields and other crops were also damaged. A storm survey determined this was due to downburst winds associated with a dissipating tornado and then downstream from the dissipated tornado. A building that was under construction was completely blown apart, and a commercial building lost part of its roof. Other sheds and outbuildings at farms also had some damage.

8. Aug 12, 2010Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service Storm Survey determined that an EF-1 tornado touched down approximately two miles north of Brooten, and tracked to the northeast to approximately 2.5 miles west of Elrosa, Minnesota. Hundreds of trees were snapped or uprooted. Several farmsteads were damaged. Roofs were blown off of barns, and several sheds and outbuildings, including grain bins were blown down.

9. May 1, 2012Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Golf ball size hail lasted for several minutes and caused extensive damage across the city, including numerous cars and home windows shattered.

10. Jul 10, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The Sauk Centre City Officials noted that power was lost in the town at 1908 CST, which is when emergency sirens lost power. Several residents noted that the strong straight line winds lasted for 10 minutes. ||Damage occurred to approximately 200 trees in Sauk Centre which were either uprooted or snapped off with the line of storms. Tree damage was noted from Interstate 94, in the south, to the Sauk Centre Country Club to the north. ||The survey noted that all of the trees were laying toward the east, which was indicative of damage caused by straight line winds. Dozens of structures were also damaged in the town, though almost all of the structural damage was caused by falling…

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

106°FJul 10, 1936

All-time low

−39°FJan 22, 1936

Warmest night

80°FJul 31, 2006

Coldest day

−23°FJan 29, 1951

Wettest day

5.84 inMay 22, 1962

Snowiest day

23.6 inMar 17, 1965

Hottest year

2005mean 49.5°F

Coldest year

1917mean 38.5°F

Wettest year

197744.95 in

Driest year

191011.46 in

Snowiest season

109.2 in1964-65

Station Collegeville St. John's (USC00211691), 1,210 ft elevation, 2.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to July 31, 2026; 98.1% 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 USC00211691.
• 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.