Todd County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jul 12, 2015Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado moved out of Wadena County (where it was rated EF2) and into Todd County. A barn was collapsed just south of Aldrich, with roofing material blown 1/2 mile downwind. Dozens of trees were broken or uprooted in this area. Several wooden power poles were snapped. An outbuilding was also destroyed. Farther east, an outbuilding was destroyed along with a roof partially blown off near the intersection of 500th street and 223rd Avenue, just northwest of Dower Lake. Significant tree damage was noted on the northeast side of Dower Lake, and concentrated damage continued in a path to about two miles west of Staples. Separate entries have also been made for numerous trees blown down…

2. Jun 3, 2024Flash Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Todd County had numerous culverts washed out. The heaviest rain fell north of Clarissa. Measured 5.62 in Clarissa, 6 to 8 public reports elsewhere. There was also damage to a few structures from the flood waters, with an estimated $400,000 in total damages.

3. Jun 21, 2013High Wind, Todd$260,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wide area of wind damage occurred in Long Prairie, Minnesota as an outflow boundary from previous thunderstorms developed. A business lost a roof during the height of the high winds. In addition, debris was blown to the south, landing on cars in a parking lot. Numerous trees were blown down around town. The gusts continued through 315 AM CST before decreasing to less than 40 mph.

4. Apr 7, 2001Flash Flood$200,000
   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.

5. Jun 17, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A farm was severely damaged as a concentrated area of wind damage occurred northeast of Long Prairie. The farm was located on Indigo Drive where the owner reported hundreds of trees blown down on his farm. The barn was completely destroyed with damage to a fence and home.

6. Apr 11, 2015Wildfire, Todd$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wildfire started near mile marker 88 on Highway 210 east of Aldrich in Bartlett Township around 5 PM LST, Saturday, April 11th. Two buildings were destroyed, one being a house. No one was injured in the fire. The area consumed by the fire was estimated to be three miles long and a mile wide in sections 13, 12 and 1 of Bartlett Township.

7. Jul 17, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dozens of trees were toppled in and around Staples, with some trees landing on vehicles, sheds and houses. The roof of a hardware store was partially removed.

8. Aug 4, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were blown down in Long Prairie. The most concentrated area of damage occurred on the south and northeast part of town. One tree landed on a home and damaged it. Building material from roofs was also blown off in the downtown area. The material that blew off also damaged adjacent buildings.

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

   A shed and old barn collapsed. Several dozen trees were also broken. Damage was most likely due to a downburst per the NWS survey. Time was estimated based on radar.

10. Jun 13, 2001Flash Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Highway 27 flooded in Long Prairie. Road washed out 5 E Long Prairie.

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

105°FJul 28, 1917

All-time low

−44°FFeb 2, 1996

Warmest night

80°F4 times, most recently Jul 7, 1988

Coldest day

−25°FFeb 8, 1899

Wettest day

8.90 inJul 22, 1972

Snowiest day

16.0 inJan 5, 1997

Hottest year

1987mean 48.0°F

Coldest year

1950mean 37.2°F

Wettest year

197244.57 in

Driest year

197614.01 in

Snowiest season

91.0 in2012-13

Station Long Prairie (USC00214861), 1,340 ft elevation, 7.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 92.9% 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 USC00214861.
• 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.