Swift County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 11, 2001Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   After several brief tornadoes around Danvers, a much larger tornado struck the east side of Benson and travelled southeast along Highway 212. 71 structures were damaged, including 4 homes and 7 businesses that had to be demolished. The tornado lifted off in DeGraff, but not before damaging one last grain bin, taking the roof off a grain elevator, and knocking several sheds down in DeGraff. Seven people were injured when they fled a van just as the tornado was hitting the vehicle on the eastern edge of Benson. One boy was critically injured but survived and was discharged from the hospital two weeks later. Damage listed encompasses damages from all tornadoes and wind events in Swift County.

2. Sep 19, 2017Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down in a corn field northwest of Murdock and moved northeast. The first structure that was hit was a church, which lost part of its roof. Along the way, the tornado destroyed corn fields, knocked down or broke many trees, and blew apart six empty grain bins that were ready for harvest. Three machine or equipment storage sheds were also destroyed and the roof of a restaurant was partially torn off. The tornado then moved into Kandiyohi County (see separate entry).

3. Sep 19, 2017Tornado$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down southwest of Camp Lake, where it hit some trees at a farmstead. It then moved across fields, damaging or destroying corn fields. It partially tore the roof off a turkey barn before hitting homes along the east side of Camp Lake. It was here that an observer reported his flag was blowing hard from the northwest as tennis ball size hail hit, then the flag suddenly switched and was blowing from the southeast while the hail continued, then from the southwest when the tornado moved in. One modular home had windows blown in, a porch blown away, and its roof was uplifted to the point where driving rain got into much of the house. The tornado then hit an abandoned…

4. Jul 1, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Three 50,000 bushel grain bins blown onto highway. Wall collapse at ethanol plant. Damage estimate for entire county.

5. Apr 7, 2001Flash Flood$500,000
   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.

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

   Social media pictures and video of a dairy farm damaged near Murdock.

7. Jul 14, 2009Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service storm survey and visual reports confirmed that a tornado moved through portions of Swift and Pope Counties in west central Minnesota where two turkey barns and several outbuildings were destroyed, with extensive tree damage throughout the entire path. Maximum damage was EF-2 with estimated winds of 111-119 mph. In the town of Swift Falls, two residences were damaged along with two garages that were destroyed. The tornado was produced minor crop damage northeast of Swift Falls.

8. Jun 21, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 74 knot wind gust was measured at the Benson Airport. In addition, numerous trees were blown down in Benson, including some on houses and vehicles.

9. Jun 21, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were blown down in Danvers, including downed trees on homes and vehicles.

10. May 12, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An empty grain bin was lofted and blown about 300 feet into a field. Several trees were uprooted or broken. Shingles were removed from a house. A brand new and large metal building system was completely ripped off its foundation and destroyed.

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

104°FJun 24, 1988

All-time low

−35°F5 times, most recently Jan 16, 2009

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Jun 22, 2025

Coldest day

−23°FJan 18, 1994

Wettest day

5.57 inAug 18, 1990

Snowiest day

18.7 inMar 3, 1985

Hottest year

1983mean 48.6°F

Coldest year

1979mean 39.1°F

Wettest year

199538.12 in

Driest year

197613.25 in

Snowiest season

79.5 in1968-69

Station Benson (USC00210667), 1,030 ft elevation, 3.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1952 to October 22, 2026; 96.9% 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 USC00210667.
• 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.