Brown County, Minnesota severe weather history spans 314 recorded events between 1952 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 44.3% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,702 nationally and #55 in Minnesota.
314
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
25
Direct injuries
$59.5M
Property damage
The record
What the Brown County, Minnesota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Brown County, Minnesota severe weather history averages 4.2 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 84 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 49 events fall before 1990 and 265 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Brown County, Minnesota record is tornado, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $48.8M 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 Brown County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 139 | 0 | $8.6M | 83 | 1956–2025 |
| Hail | 115 | 0 | $532K | 3 | 1965–2026 |
| Tornado | 32 | 1 | $48.8M | F4 | 1952–2024 |
| Flood | 10 | 0 | $1.4M | 0 | 2007–2023 |
| Funnel Cloud | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2012–2025 |
| Lightning | 4 | 0 | $55K | 0 | 1997–2004 |
| Flash Flood | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2007–2016 |
Decade by decade
Brown County, Minnesota severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
33 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 29 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998-03-29 | EF4 | 1 | 19 | 73.5 mi | Crossed in |
| 2010-06-25 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1981-06-21 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 54.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 1952-06-23 | EF2 | 0 | 10 | 104.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 2008-06-11 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2008-06-11 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1995-07-27 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-06-16 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-06-05 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1957-06-13 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Brown County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 29, 1998 | Tornado | COMFREY | 1 | 16 | $45.0M |
| Jun 24, 1952 | Tornado | 0 | 5 | $2.5M | |
| Aug 24, 2006 | Tornado | SEARLES | 0 | 2 | $200K |
| Jul 25, 1990 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 2 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Tornado began 7 miles east of Avoca in Murray county, continued through Cottonwood, Brown, extreme Northwest Watonwan, Northwest Blue Earth, and finally lifted off 4 miles east of Courtland in Nicollet county. Total storm track was 67 miles. The tornado ripped through the village of Comfrey destroying a grain elevator and damaging 75% of the town. Much of downtown Comfrey destroyed including the town hall. School heavily damaged. 100 people made homeless. 50 homes destroyed. 130 farmsteads damaged or destroyed in Brown county. 500 dairy cows killed. One man critically injured in collapse of farmstead northwest of the town of Hanska. He died the next day. 35 buildings destroyed or damaged in far Northwest Blue Earth county. Damage estimate estimated. Property damage to extreme northwest Blue Earth county across Cambria township estimated at 2 million. Property damage to extreme northwest Watonwan county estimated at 245 thousand.
4,000 trees blown down. 10 businesses lost portions of their roof. Mobile home destroyed. Maintenance hangar at airport destroyed, damaging several airplanes. 400 ft TV tower blown down. Poultry bldg levelled at fairgrounds. Reception hall lost its roof. Large trees blown down at local cemeteries. The statue of Hermann the German damaged. Estimated 5% of crops or about 50,000 acres in county destroyed. Damage estimate for entire county.
A 75 mph wind gust was measured at the New Ulm airport. In addition, several buildings east and northeast of the airport were damaged, with damage to parts of the New Ulm Airport terminal building roof. The buildings that were damaged outside of the airport grounds were a car dealership where 50-60 cars were damaged or destroyed, an international trucking company, a cabinet machine shop and a local department store. Each of these companies had mainly roof damage.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
25,800
Population (ACS)
$191K
Median home value
20
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 28, 2024 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS 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 |
| Jul 21, 2014 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Brown County, Minnesota?
314 events are on record between 1952 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths and $59.5M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Brown County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 139 recorded events — 44.3% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Brown County?
33 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 29 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Brown County?
20 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Brown County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Brown County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Brown County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 50 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Brown 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
- Blue Earth County 466
- Carlton County 267
- Big Stone County 250
- Carver County 480
- Benton County 196
- Cass County 557
Cite this page
“Brown County, Minnesota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/minnesota/brown-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.