Pine County, Minnesota severe weather history spans 373 recorded events between 1956 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 50.7% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,371 nationally and #40 in Minnesota.
373
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
3
Direct injuries
$1.1M
Property damage
The record
What the Pine County, Minnesota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Pine County, Minnesota severe weather history averages 5.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 127 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 39 events fall before 1990 and 334 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Pine County, Minnesota record is lightning, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is thunderstorm wind, with $784K in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Pine County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 189 | 0 | $0 | 5 | 1956–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 147 | 0 | $784K | 75 | 1965–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 19 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2019 |
| Tornado | 13 | 0 | $333K | F2 | 1968–2022 |
| Lightning | 2 | 1 | $5K | 0 | 2013–2020 |
| Flood | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2012–2017 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2011–2011 |
Decade by decade
Pine County, Minnesota severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
15 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 11 touched down inside it and 4 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-06-17 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 7.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 1970-07-07 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 22.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-05-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-07-11 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2005-06-11 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2010-07-14 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2005-06-11 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2005-06-11 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2005-06-11 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1997-07-01 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Pine County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 27, 2013 | Lightning | STURGEON LAKE | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 18, 2010 | Tornado | ROCK CREEK | 0 | 2 | $283K |
| Apr 26, 1986 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The Pine County Sheriff reported that a male was struck by lightning about 4 miles east-southeast of Sturgeon Lake, MN on Alder Loop in a development called Hogan's Acres. The individual passed away from his injuries after being taken by ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Moose Lake, MN. The investigation showed that the 53 year old male victim was standing in a large puddle of water near a tree when the tree and victim were struck by lightning.
Numerous trees were blown down across Pine City and to the east. The Markville area and St. Croix State Park were hit the hardest. In Markville most trees were blown down, eleven homes received minor damage, two homes were rendered unlivable, and a a pole barn was destroyed. In a large portion of St. Croix State Park there was 75 to 100 percent tree damage. There were no visitors at the park at the time due to a state government shutdown.
The severe storm that produced the tornado tracked northeast along the Saint Croix River Valley on the Minnesota-Wisconsin state border. Although the tornado crossed through mostly recreational land, residents between Rush City and Rock Creek in MN, as well as Grantsburg to Yellow Lake in WI were impacted. The maximum path width was a quarter mile, or 400 yards, with an average path width of 400 to 600 ft. The tornado exited Pine County at around 1955 CST, continuing on in Burnett County, WI, where it lifted at 2001 CST, about 3.5 miles northwest of Grantsburg, WI. The total path length was about 6.5 miles. ||The worst of the damage occurred in far southeast Pine County and was evidence of a strong EF2 tornado with estimated winds of 110-135 mph. This rating was based on the total destruction of a strapped down mobile home and the extensive uprooting/snapping of trees where the tornado crossed Minnesota State Highway 70. Two people in a mobile home were injured. Multiple homes sustained significant damage.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
29,640
Population (ACS)
$239K
Median home value
15
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 19, 2023 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Aug 9, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 7, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Sep 5, 2018 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jul 6, 2012 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Pine County, Minnesota?
373 events are on record between 1956 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $1.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Pine County?
Hail, with 189 recorded events — 50.7% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Pine County?
15 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 11 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Pine County?
15 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Pine County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Pine County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Pine County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 62 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Pine County, Minnesota severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Pennington County 209
- Pipestone County 334
- Otter Tail County 1,051
- Polk County 914
- Olmsted County 838
- Pope County 301
Cite this page
“Pine County, Minnesota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/minnesota/pine-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.