Stevens County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jul 25, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were several trees down in town and areas without power. An apartment building in town had a window blown out. There were also reports of trees down across other parts of the county.

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

   Several airport hangers with blown in and some had walls collapsed at the Morris airport.

3. Apr 7, 2001Flash Flood$300,000
   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.

4. May 12, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant infrastructure was either damaged or destroyed in the city of Chokio. This included power poles and trees snapped at their base. Some of the trees landed on houses.

5. Apr 11, 2023Flood$146,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A combination of record setting seasonal snowfall, high snow water equivalent values, and rapid snow melt led to low lying areas, ditches, and ravines across the county to flood for a prolonged period of time. Road infrastructure such as bridges, gravel roads, and culverts experience varied degrees of damage caused by rapid runoff. Stevens County Emergency Management reported $145,700 in damages to roads and bridges.

6. Jul 1, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm survey that was conducted by the local emergency manager, and storm chasers, concluded that a downburst caused wind damage from 4 miles southwest of Donnelly, to 2 miles northeast of Donnelly. The damage field was 1/2 mile wide and all the damage was to the east/northeast. All the damage outside of Donnelly was scattered trees blown down and some crop damage. There were multiple buildings in the town of Donnelly that had damage. Some siding and many shingles were blown off downtown structures. Some trees fell onto houses and buildings. Two metal buildings had their tin roofs partially removed and one had a steel garage door blown in.

7. Jul 19, 2019Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A swath of large hail, up to golf ball size, occurred from northwest of Chokio, to Donnelly. There were reports of larger hail, but no pictures were available. Damage occurred to vehicles, buildings (siding, rain gutters & shingles), and crops.

8. Jul 21, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ten mile long path of wind damage. Numerous trees down, one on a van. Silos, several sheds, and grain bins down. Maximum wind gust of 78 knots measured at Morris Airport.

9. May 12, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A grain silo was destroyed south of Alberta.

10. Jul 17, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A swath of wind damage extended 3/4 of a mile to the southeast of Chokio, including parts of Chokio. The damage area was about 1/4 of a mile wide, with many trees snapped off just above the base, while others were uprooted. A light tower of a local baseball field was blown over.

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

109°FJul 18, 1940

All-time low

−41°FFeb 16, 1936

Warmest night

86°FJun 27, 1890

Coldest day

−28°FJan 22, 1886

Wettest day

6.90 inApr 26, 1954

Snowiest day

19.0 inMar 4, 1985

Hottest year

1931mean 48.2°F

Coldest year

1978mean 38.0°F

Wettest year

202541.18 in

Driest year

19768.32 in

Snowiest season

79.1 in1996-97

Station Morris W Cntrl Rsch & Outreach (USC00215638), 1,140 ft elevation, 2.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1886 to August 31, 2026; 98.7% 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 USC00215638.
• 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.