Morrison County, Minnesota severe weather history spans 376 recorded events between 1954 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 45.2% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,351 nationally and #37 in Minnesota.
376
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
26
Direct injuries
$11.1M
Property damage
The record
What the Morrison County, Minnesota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Morrison County, Minnesota severe weather history averages 5.3 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 117 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 54 events fall before 1990 and 322 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Morrison County, Minnesota record is tornado, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is flash flood, with $5.1M 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 Morrison County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 170 | 0 | $52K | 3 | 1962–2024 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 145 | 0 | $1.2M | 86 | 1958–2025 |
| Tornado | 30 | 1 | $4.6M | F3 | 1954–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 11 | 0 | $5.1M | 0 | 2001–2022 |
| Funnel Cloud | 8 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 8 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2005–2022 |
| Flood | 3 | 0 | $149K | 0 | 2000–2023 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2001–2001 |
Decade by decade
Morrison County, Minnesota severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
27 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997-09-18 | EF3 | 1 | 1 | 17.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2001-06-13 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1997-09-18 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1981-03-25 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1961-06-30 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1998-05-15 | EF1 | 1 | 30 | 9.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2024-08-29 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-05-12 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2020-08-14 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 2016-09-07 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.3 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Morrison County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 18, 1997 | Tornado | LASTRUP | 1 | 1 | $1.7M |
| Jul 18, 2001 | Lightning | CAMP RIPLEY | 0 | 25 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Several buildings destroyed and numerous other buildings damaged. Hundreds of trees down. A number of cattle killed in barn collapse. One man injured when the tornado engulfed his car and threw it into a nearby woods. A second man critically injured when his garage collapsed. He died several weeks later.Total path length of tornado from 1 NE of Lastrup to Onamia was 17 miles.
Nearly 30 homes were evacuated in the town of Randall due to flood waters spilling over the banks of the Little Elk River. Numerous roads and bridges were also damaged. The heaviest rainfall occurred before 4 am, but flood waters developed during the morning. Damage totals were provided by Morrison County Emergency Management.
A NWS storm survey concluded that an EF1 tornado with estimated winds of 90 mph, damaged several buildings and uprooted trees in Camp Ripley. One concrete block apartment style living quarters had its roof completely removed, and another one had its roof partially removed. Another high-roof garage building was mostly destroyed, with debris landing in an array of solar panels, which sustained significant damage. One car was lofted and deposited about 50 feet away. The tornado started just southeast of Randall and moved east, damaging a resort and a number of lake homes on the northwest side of Green Prairie Fish Lake. It then turned northeast and hit Camp Ripley. The core of the tornado tracked just north of the KRYM AWOS at the Camp Ripley airfield, which measured a peak gust of 56 knots. Specific wind measurements (in knots) were 14016G24 at 0333Z, 19034G56 at 0334Z, 24048G56 at 0335Z, 28048G56 at 0336Z, 33036G56 at 0337Z, and 30018G56 at 0338Z. The tornado intensified shortly thereafter, taking the roof off the buildings, lofting a car, and bending six metal light poles in half.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
34,249
Population (ACS)
$249K
Median home value
14
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 19, 2023 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jul 8, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 7, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jul 25, 2013 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Sep 13, 2005 | Hurricane | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Morrison County, Minnesota?
376 events are on record between 1954 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $11.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Morrison County?
Hail, with 170 recorded events — 45.2% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Morrison County?
27 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 24 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Morrison County?
14 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Morrison County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Morrison County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Morrison County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 67 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Morrison 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
- Mille Lacs County 251
- Mower County 501
- Meeker County 373
- Murray County 296
- Martin County 332
- Nicollet County 269
Cite this page
“Morrison County, Minnesota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/minnesota/morrison-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.