86
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$5.1M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Steele County, Minnesota: 86 recorded events between 1957 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 70. That places the county #2,388 nationally and #76 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Steele County, Minnesota: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Steele County is the 2010s, when 27 of the county's 86 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Steele County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 36.1% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #2,388 for this hazard and #76 within Minnesota, putting it in the 24.2 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Steele County with 28 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2025 | OWATONNA ARPT | 61 | $0 |
| May 21, 2024 | STEELE CENTER | 56 | $0 |
| Jul 24, 2022 | BIXBY | 56 | $0 |
| May 12, 2022 | OWATONNA ARPT | 53 | $0 |
| Dec 16, 2021 | STEELE CENTER | 65 | $0 |
| Sep 25, 2019 | HOPE | 57 | $0 |
| Jul 20, 2019 | ELLENDALE | 52 | $0 |
| Jul 20, 2019 | OWATONNA | 52 | $0 |
| Aug 20, 2018 | ELLENDALE | 50 | $0 |
| Sep 4, 2017 | OWATONNA | 56 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Steele County
- Hail 80
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A highway sign and an electronic message sign along Interstate 35 were blown down. Just to the southwest, new power poles were noted to have been erected. Damage was too scant to determine whether this had been from a tornado.
Reported by the Owatonna police department. Damage was incurred to outside merchandise at a local Cabela's store. A tent pole was also snapped at this location. The store manager also reported a portable toilet was flung about 100 yards due to the strong winds.
A wind gust of 66 MPH was recorded at the Owatonna Airport. A wind gust of 61 MPH was reported in town by emergency management. Trees and limbs were downed onto homes and vehicles across town. Five trees were downed and garbage cans and portable toilets were blown over in city parks. A large industrial sized garbage container was blown into the street behind the Fire Department.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Steele County, Minnesota?
86 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Steele County between 1957 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Steele County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Steele County measured 70.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Steele County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Thunderstorm Wind in Steele County, Minnesota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/minnesota/steele-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.