Redwood County, Minnesota severe weather history spans 378 recorded events between 1956 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 40.5% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,342 nationally and #36 in Minnesota.
378
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
4
Direct injuries
$11.8M
Property damage
The record
What the Redwood County, Minnesota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Redwood County, Minnesota severe weather history averages 5.5 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 96 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 84 events fall before 1990 and 294 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Redwood County, Minnesota record is tornado, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $7.2M in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Redwood County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 153 | 0 | $250K | 4.5 | 1958–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 153 | 0 | $1.8M | 87 | 1956–2025 |
| Tornado | 29 | 1 | $7.2M | F5 | 1958–2019 |
| Heavy Rain | 12 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2014–2024 |
| Funnel Cloud | 11 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 11 | 0 | $950K | 0 | 1997–2025 |
| Flood | 8 | 1 | $1.6M | 0 | 2007–2023 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2002–2002 |
Decade by decade
Redwood County, Minnesota severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
29 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 27 touched down inside it and 2 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992-06-16 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 16.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-06-16 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 13.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-06-16 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-06-16 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-06-16 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1981-06-21 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 54.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 1981-06-23 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1958-08-04 | EF1 | 1 | 2 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2019-06-20 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-07-01 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 19.8 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Redwood County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 1958 | Tornado | 1 | 2 | $250 | |
| Sep 15, 2019 | Flood | REDWOOD FALLS | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 2002 | Lightning | VESTA | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 28, 1979 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $25K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A long-lived and complex storm moved into western Redwood County around 322 PM CST, and moved northeast across mainly the northern 1/3 of the county before moving into portions of far southeast Yellow Medicine County and western Renville County. ||Several hundred trees were either snapped or uprooted along with damage to several outbuildings and large grain storage bins. There were also reported areas of crops destroyed but either the wind or hail. Based on the damage reports and radar imagery, wind speeds were likely sustained above 70 to 90 mph, (isolated 100 mph wind gusts) for 10 to 15 minutes in any given location as the storm traversed the county.
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. Redwood County Emergency Management reported $1.3 Million in damages to roads and bridges.
Numerous reports of flash flooding occurred across Redwood County from Belview in the far north, to Walnut Grove and Lamberton in the far south. The town of Wabasso had so much water that baseball fields were covered in a few inches of water. Over 50 township and county roads were impassable during the height of the flood waters. Once the flash flooding part of the storm abated, river flooding took over with river cresting to near or record levels.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
15,350
Population (ACS)
$158K
Median home value
21
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 28, 2024 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jul 8, 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 |
| Jun 12, 2019 | Flood | SEVERE WINTER STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Sep 5, 2018 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Redwood County, Minnesota?
378 events are on record between 1956 and 2025, causing 2 direct deaths and $11.8M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Redwood County?
Hail, with 153 recorded events — 40.5% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Redwood County?
29 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 27 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Redwood County?
21 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Redwood County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Redwood County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Redwood County as very low risk, placing it in the 35 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Redwood 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
- Red Lake County 216
- Renville County 427
- Ramsey County 441
- Rice County 405
- Pope County 301
- Rock County 353
Cite this page
“Redwood County, Minnesota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/minnesota/redwood-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.