Watonwan County

Every recorded tornado

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

Mapped landslides

Mapped by USGS MN (18).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 7, 2001High Wind, Watonwan$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong surface low pressure system moved out of the southwestern US and into north central Minnesota by the early afternoon on the 7th. This system produced numerous wind gusts in the 50 to 75 mph range across portions of southern Minnesota. The highest measured wind to be reported was 79 mph at Fairmont (Martin County). Other strong gusts that were measured include 71 mph at St. Clair (Blue Earth County), 69 mph at Waseca (Waseca County), 64 mph at Owatonna (Steele County), and 61 mph at Faribault (Rice County). Some damages of note include 30 homes with shingle damage in Mankato (Blue Earth Co.), Semi trailers blown over near Eagle Lake (Blue Earth County) and Goodhue (Goodhue…

2. Sep 23, 2010Flood$3.9 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.

3. Aug 1, 2006Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Initial damage occurred at farmstead just east of the Watonwan/Cottonwood line. Damage included the partial removal of roofs off two large sheds, along with scattered downed trees. The tornado then moved across corn and bean fields. Another farmstead was hit just southwest of the intersection of County Roads 10 and 2. This was the location of the F3 damage. A house was leveled, a 60 foot concrete base silo was toppled and rolled. Virtually all barns, sheds and outbuildings were completely destroyed.

4. Aug 1, 2006Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Shortly after another tornado dissipated at 1842 CST four miles south of St. James, another tornado quickly developed about 1/4 mile away. It moved across corn and bean fields until it struck a farm just southwest of County Roads 110 and 122, where it destroyed machine sheds and removed the roof of the barn. It continued moving northeast before veering to the north, where it dissipated as it hit an abandoned farmhouse.

5. Jun 20, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   St. James regional airport measured a wind gust of 78 mph. A storm survey team from the NWS determined the damage from surrounding areas was due to a downburst, with a classic fanning out pattern. Part of a roof from a turkey barn was blown off, several vehicles were blown off Highway 60, and hundreds of trees were broken or uprooted southwest to southeast of the airport. There was also significant damage to the airport's hanger.

6. Aug 1, 2006Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado developed near Mary's Lake and moved across corn and bean fields before striking a farmstead just northwest of County Roads 10 and 27. Nearly empty grain bins were dented, sheds demolished, and a 32 foot camper was destroyed. A house lost its garage, part of its roof, and was pushed off its foundation. A large vehicle was also pushed a couple of hundred feet. Shortly after hitting the farmstead, it veered southeast into some fields, where it dissipated.

7. Jul 24, 2015Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A landspout-type tornado briefly occurred north of Ormsby. A storage building and some piles of tiling were damaged as the tornado hit a construction business. The tornado was photographed or recorded on video by several people.

8. Aug 11, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Garage complex at apartment building partially collapsed; four cars damaged. Roof came off a home that was under construction. Numerous trees down.

9. May 11, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous large branches were blown down, a few structures were damaged, including a building under construction that had its roof blown off. Power poles were also blown down near the same area, east of Madelia.

10. Jun 22, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A large tree was blown down and landed on a house in St. James.

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 31, 1988

All-time low

−30°F2 times, most recently Feb 2, 1996

Warmest night

80°F3 times, most recently Jun 29, 1996

Coldest day

−16°F2 times, most recently Jan 31, 2019

Wettest day

7.50 inSep 23, 2010

Snowiest day

18.0 inJan 19, 1988

Hottest year

2012mean 50.6°F

Coldest year

1996mean 41.3°F

Wettest year

201652.59 in

Driest year

197615.86 in

Snowiest season

90.8 in2017-18

Station St. James Wwtp (USC00217326), 1,070 ft elevation, 1.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1958 to October 27, 2026; 95.5% 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 USC00217326.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.