Fillmore County, Minnesota severe weather history spans 474 recorded events between 1953 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 40.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #967 nationally and #22 in Minnesota.
474
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
22
Direct injuries
$71.7M
Property damage
The record
What the Fillmore County, Minnesota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Fillmore County, Minnesota severe weather history averages 6.5 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 141 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 44 events fall before 1990 and 430 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Fillmore County, Minnesota record is tornado, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is flash flood, with $46.5M 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 Fillmore County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 194 | 0 | $1.5M | 73 | 1969–2026 |
| Hail | 175 | 0 | $226K | 2.75 | 1964–2026 |
| Flash Flood | 34 | 0 | $46.5M | 0 | 1998–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 27 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2020 |
| Tornado | 25 | 1 | $9.7M | F4 | 1953–2025 |
| Flood | 10 | 0 | $13.9M | 0 | 1997–2013 |
| Funnel Cloud | 8 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–2024 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $18K | 0 | 2000–2000 |
Decade by decade
Fillmore County, Minnesota severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
25 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 20 touched down inside it and 5 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953-05-10 | EF4 | 2 | 24 | 162.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1965-05-05 | EF3 | 0 | 7 | 65.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 2011-05-22 | EF2 | 0 | 3 | 28.7 mi | Crossed in |
| 1977-07-14 | EF2 | 0 | 10 | 9.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-05-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 23.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 2025-06-25 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 6.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-04-12 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-12-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-12-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-12-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Fillmore County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10, 1953 | Tornado | 1 | 6 | $2.5M | |
| Jul 15, 1977 | Tornado | 0 | 10 | $2.5M | |
| May 6, 1965 | Tornado | 0 | 6 | $2.5M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Heavy rain that was centered north of the county caused Rush Creek to flash flood on historic levels. In addition to Rush Creek, every other creek that leads into Rushford had tremendous accumulation that led to flood waters raging into town. The water backed up against the levees normally used to keep flood waters out from the nearby Root River and ended up flooding most of the town, including the entire downtown area.||In Rushford specifically, two thirds of the town was under water at some point. About 300 people had to be rescued. 490 of the 766 homes were flooded or had damage (79 were declared structurally unsound). 58 of the 70 businesses in town were damaged impacting nearly 500 of the 600 jobs in town. A total of 4 churches and 40 apartment buildings were also impacted.||Damage was widespread across the county, especially the northeast parts. Infrastructure was hit hard with numerous road closures and bridge damage. Numerous mud slides were reported. At least 704 homes applied for FEMA assistance.
Law enforcement officials reported some roads washed out or still under water. The town of Rushford was inundated with flood waters from Rush Creek. In addition, the Root River at Rushford reached at an all-time record crest of 28.98 feet. As a result of flood waters, numerous homes, businesses and vehicles were damaged. In fact, two-thirds of the homes in Rushford were estimated to have been extensively damaged.
Heavy rain produced widespread flash flooding across the eastern half of Fillmore County. Mahoney Creek north of Lanesboro quickly came out of its banks sending water over State Highway 250. The South Branch of the Root River also rose rapidly causing a campground in Lanesboro to be evacuated and destroyed about a dozen RV's. Rescues were needed east of Whalan as numerous small creeks in the area flooded. Bridges were washed out on County Highway 23 and State Highway 43 near Choice, where a family was also stranded by flood water. The state fish hatchery near Lanesboro was inundated by flood waters which killed several fish and allowed the different species of trout to swim together. Workers spent many hours repairing the tubs used to store the fish in along with scooping up and sorting the fish the survived.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
21,414
Population (ACS)
$221K
Median home value
18
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 |
| Nov 2, 2016 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jul 25, 2013 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Fillmore County, Minnesota?
474 events are on record between 1953 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths and $71.7M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Fillmore County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 194 recorded events — 40.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Fillmore County?
25 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 20 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Fillmore County?
18 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Fillmore County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Fillmore County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Fillmore County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 50 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Fillmore 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
- Faribault County 317
- Freeborn County 441
- Douglas County 374
- Goodhue County 412
- Dodge County 360
- Grant County 309
Cite this page
“Fillmore County, Minnesota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/minnesota/fillmore-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.