Houston County, Minnesota severe weather history spans 258 recorded events between 1955 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 37.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,055 nationally and #68 in Minnesota.
258
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
34
Direct injuries
$65.5M
Property damage
The record
What the Houston County, Minnesota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Houston County, Minnesota severe weather history averages 3.7 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 110 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 24 events fall before 1990 and 234 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Houston County, Minnesota record is flash flood, responsible for 2 direct deaths. The costliest is flash flood, with $48.6M 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 Houston County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 97 | 0 | $833K | 82 | 1955–2025 |
| Hail | 79 | 0 | $1.8M | 3 | 1967–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 23 | 2 | $48.6M | 0 | 1998–2019 |
| Heavy Rain | 20 | 0 | $308K | 0 | 2007–2023 |
| Flood | 17 | 0 | $9.1M | 0 | 2007–2024 |
| Tornado | 14 | 0 | $3.3M | F3 | 1960–2025 |
| Lightning | 6 | 0 | $1.6M | 0 | 2000–2021 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2017–2020 |
Decade by decade
Houston County, Minnesota severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
13 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 10 touched down inside it and 3 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965-05-05 | EF3 | 0 | 7 | 65.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 2011-05-22 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 13.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-06-25 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 6.5 mi | Crossed in |
| 2021-12-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1991-04-08 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1978-05-29 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-08-25 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1960-06-10 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-06-25 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-06-25 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 3.6 mi | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Houston County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 19, 2007 | Flash Flood | LA CRESCENT | 1 | 2 | $3.0M |
| Aug 19, 2007 | Flash Flood | HOUSTON | 1 | 0 | $600K |
| Aug 19, 2007 | Flash Flood | HOKAH | 0 | 30 | $27.0M |
| May 18, 1996 | Hail | EITZEN | 0 | 2 | $1.0M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A man was killed when he attempted to cross flood waters with two others in his vehicle. The car was washed away on County Road 6 near Pine Creek. His two female companions were rescued but the victim's legs were pinned under a part of the car and rescue workers could not save him. Several rescue workers also became caught in flood waters which swamped at least two rescue boats. This all occurred during the early morning hours of Sunday, August 19th in darkness.||Highway 26 from La Crescent to the Iowa border, Highway 16 from La Crescent to Hokah, and Highway 61 north of La Crescent were all closed by flood waters and damage.
A 55-year old man was killed near Storer Creek when his mobile home was swept away by flash flooding. The man had been asked to evacuate twice before flood waters swept him and his home away. The normally tranquil trout stream was about 80 yards wide and 7 to 8 feet above nearby bridges.
At least 50 mudslides were reported across the county with four state highways and eight county roads closed. At one point 20 roads were closed across the county. Some homes collapsed or were carried away by mudslides. Numerous railroad tracks and bridges washed out. There were numerous reports of injuries. Hardest hit communities included Houston, Hokah, La Crescent and Brownsville. A 25 foot earthen dam near Hokah, which was built in 1921, collapsed. This caused significant damage to a portion of the town, including the main park and an automobile dealership. First calls of flooding began around 9:30 p.m. Saturday August 18 to dispatch center, with flooding problems becoming exceedingly worse afterwards.||4,200 homes were reportedly damaged or destroyed.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
18,653
Population (ACS)
$239K
Median home value
21
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 28, 2024 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jul 19, 2023 | 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 |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Houston County, Minnesota?
258 events are on record between 1955 and 2025, causing 2 direct deaths and $65.5M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Houston County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 97 recorded events — 37.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Houston County?
13 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 10 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Houston County?
21 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Houston County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Houston County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Houston County as very low risk, placing it in the 30 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Houston 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
- Hennepin County 1,242
- Hubbard County 355
- Grant County 309
- Isanti County 225
- Goodhue County 412
- Itasca County 620
Cite this page
“Houston County, Minnesota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/minnesota/houston-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.