McLeod County, Minnesota severe weather history spans 570 recorded events between 1951 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 43.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #664 nationally and #13 in Minnesota.
570
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
16
Direct injuries
$10.5M
Property damage
The record
What the McLeod County, Minnesota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, McLeod County, Minnesota severe weather history averages 7.7 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 243 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 33 events fall before 1990 and 537 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $8.7M 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 McLeod County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 250 | 0 | $0 | 3 | 1965–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 239 | 0 | $651K | 80 | 1965–2025 |
| Tornado | 25 | 0 | $8.7M | F4 | 1951–2022 |
| Heavy Rain | 19 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2005–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 18 | 0 | $915K | 0 | 1997–2016 |
| Funnel Cloud | 14 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2025 |
| Flood | 3 | 0 | $209K | 0 | 2010–2023 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $30K | 0 | 2010–2011 |
Decade by decade
McLeod County, Minnesota severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
28 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 26 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951-06-19 | EF4 | 1 | 20 | 52.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-05-06 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 15.5 mi | Crossed in |
| 1983-06-13 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1977-07-27 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 2022-05-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 18.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2020-08-14 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2019-07-28 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1998-05-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1986-05-12 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1983-06-13 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in McLeod County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 19, 1951 | Tornado | 0 | 11 | $2.5M | |
| Jun 30, 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | HUTCHINSON | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Sep 19, 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | HUTCHINSON | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 1, 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | BROWNTON | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 1, 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | BROWNTON | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Four to six inches rain flooded much of northern and eastern McLeod County, mainly along and northeast of a line from Hutchinson to 4 S Glencoe. Ten roads were covered with water. Ditches and creeks overflowed near Winsted and Lester Prairie. One home in Lester Prairie was flooded. A few homes required sandbagging, and nearly 300 houses had their basements flooded. Thousands of acres of farmland were flooded. Water damaged much of the school in Silver Lake.
An NWS survey found damage consistent with an EF-1 tornado in Mcleod County between Biscay and Glencoe. Maximum wind speeds of 95 MPH snapped and uprooted several trees and damaged outbuildings. There were numerous photos and videos of this tornado shared on social media.
An ice jam along the Buffalo Creek in Mcleod County caused flooding on Division Street in Brownton. In addition, county officials reported 16 partially blocked county roads throughout Mcleod County due to flooding along Buffalo Creek. At least one home had basement flooding due to flood waters. By the 18th of March, the flood waters from the Buffalo Creek reached Glencoe which flooded 100th Street.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
36,798
Population (ACS)
$246K
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 |
| Jul 21, 2014 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
| Jul 25, 2013 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Hutchinson 145
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in McLeod County, Minnesota?
570 events are on record between 1951 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $10.5M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in McLeod County?
Hail, with 250 recorded events — 43.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed McLeod County?
28 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 26 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover McLeod County?
18 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include McLeod County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is McLeod County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates McLeod County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 47 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the McLeod 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
- Lyon County 496
- Mahnomen County 216
- Lincoln County 254
- Marshall County 447
- Le Sueur County 266
- Martin County 332
Cite this page
“McLeod County, Minnesota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/minnesota/mcleod-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.