Steele County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Sep 23, 2010Flood$28.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were closed due to excessive rainfall that fell on September 22nd and 23th. The major areal flooding didn't recede until late Saturday when most of the small streams and creeks had crested and only mainstem rivers remained flooded. Residents in Owatonna, Minnesota, were fighting to save their homes along the flooded Maple Creek. 70 homes were evacuated in Owatonna due to the rising flood waters. Friday morning was the first time that I-35 was closed due to flood waters south of Owatonna. It re-opened during the afternoon as waters started to recede.

2. May 19, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sheds and barn blown down. 2 farms completely destroyed near Hope and Ellendale. Estimated wind speed. Damage estimate for entire county.

3. Oct 1, 2007Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Three to five inches of rain fell over Owatonna, resulting in flooding of roads, homes and businesses. A city storm sewer also backed up, causing basements to flood in about 40 homes. This event began September 30, 2007 at 2200 CST (see September 2007 Storm Data).

4. Sep 14, 2004Flood, Steele$2.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Five to 13 inches of rain fell across South Central Minnesota between 5 PM on the 14th and 5 AM on the 15th. This amount of rainfall caused widespread major flooding in Freeborn, Steele, Faribault, and Martin counties. Over $6 million dollars in property damage and nearly $22 million dollars in crop damage were attributed to high water in these counties. Areas of minor flooding were also reported in southern Waseca and Goodhue counties.In Freeborn County $2.1 million in property damage was reported. FEMA reported 1 home was destroyed by flood waters, major flood damage to 13 homes, minor damage to 84 homes, and 292 homes affected by flood waters across the county. The hardest hit…

5. Aug 18, 2007Flash Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A Presidential Disaster Declaration was signed for Steele County in the wake of major flooding and damage. Large areas of Owatonna were reported under two to three feet of water. Water completely covered a few roads, and was above car doors in some areas. Maple Creek at Dartt's Park was reported three times as wide as normal, and spread out into the parking lot. Some basement walls were reported to have collapsed. Two hotels in Owatonna were evacuated. The Steele County emergency manager reported 274 homes and 8 businesses were damaged. Seven homes were considered destroyed. The cooperative observer in Owatonna measured 6.47 inches as of 0700 CST August 19. Some information…

6. Jun 18, 2014Flood$2.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flood waters from the Straight River impacted businesses in Owatonna.

7. Jun 6, 2006Lightning$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Church burned to the ground after lighting hit. One fire fighter was injured while fighting the fire.

8. Jun 9, 2006Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall was reported to vary from 4.4 to 6.3 inches over a narrow area of Steele County. Significant localized flooding occurred, most of which was contained in the industrial park on the western edge of Owatonna. Several of the local factories had flooding in their parking lots. Railroad tracks washed out on North Street. The Microtel hotel, located in this area, had approximately 35 cars submerged in 3 to 4 feet of water. One hundred and eighty people were evacuated from 63 rooms of the hotel by Emergency Services. Some guests of the hotel reported they had water up to their knees in the lower level rooms. Owatonna fire chief Mike Johnson mentioned that 15 homes, mostly in the…

9. Dec 15, 2021Tornado$105,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A narrow path of mostly tree damage was found just to the west of SE 89th Ave. An irrigation system was overturned, some farm outbuildings were damaged, and a small shed was tossed.

10. Aug 13, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A roof was blown off a grainery and a large tree was uprooted west of Ellendale, Minnesota.

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

102°F7 times, most recently Jul 14, 1995

All-time low

−35°FJan 9, 1977

Warmest night

80°F6 times, most recently Jul 27, 2026

Coldest day

−19°FJan 18, 1994

Wettest day

6.47 inAug 19, 2007

Snowiest day

15.0 inMay 2, 2013

Hottest year

1987mean 50.2°F

Coldest year

1996mean 41.4°F

Wettest year

201953.08 in

Driest year

197619.71 in

Snowiest season

85.1 in1983-84

Station Owatonna (USC00216287), 1,140 ft elevation, 2.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1961 to October 27, 2026; 96.1% 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 USC00216287.
• 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.