405
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$14.1M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Otter Tail County, Minnesota: 405 recorded events between 1955 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 126. That places the county #203 nationally and #3 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Otter Tail County, Minnesota: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Otter Tail County is the 2010s, when 103 of the county's 405 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Otter Tail County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 38.5% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #203 for this hazard and #3 within Minnesota, putting it in the 93.6 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Otter Tail County with 149 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 2005 | RICHVILLE | 78 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 22, 2025 | PERHAM | 50 | $0 |
| Jun 22, 2025 | (FFM)FERGUS FALLS AR | 50 | $0 |
| Jun 22, 2025 | FERGUS FALLS | 50 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 2025 | OTTERTAIL | 61 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 2025 | (FFM)FERGUS FALLS AR | 51 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 2025 | FRENCH | 54 | $0 |
| Jun 2, 2025 | PARKERS PRAIRIE | 52 | $0 |
| May 15, 2025 | UNDERWOOD | 52 | $0 |
| May 15, 2025 | GRAND VIEW HGTS | 52 | $0 |
| May 15, 2025 | NEW YORK MILLS | 52 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Otter Tail County
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The strong winds hit New York Mills quite hard. 1,600 customers in the area lost power, with 50 power poles snapped in half. The city garage lost parts of its roof, as did the school gym and the school storage shed. A garage in the town was ripped in two, sending a portion of the roof into two vehicles parked two lots away. Numerous trees and signs were blown down.
An 85,000 bushel grain bin was flattened against the Ottertail elevator. Another 90,000 bushel bin crumpled to the ground, and two other 45,000 bushel bins were damaged by the strong wind. Around the town, a storage shed was blown apart, a marine business was damaged, several irrigation systems were twisted, trees were uprooted, and many signs were damaged. A pontoon was picked up by the wind and thrown 150 feet into a spruce tree.
A detached garage was destroyed, house roofing torn off, trees snapped, and a center pivot irrigation system flipped over along or near the south shore of Ten Mile Lake. Numerous large ash and spruce trees were also snapped or uprooted on east and northeast edges of the lake, and across much of Tumuli and St. Olaf Townships. Information augmented by NWS Storm Damage Survey. Winds gusts estimated from 70 to 90 mph. Time estimated based on radar.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Otter Tail County, Minnesota?
405 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Otter Tail County between 1955 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Otter Tail County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Otter Tail County measured 126.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Otter Tail County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Thunderstorm Wind in Otter Tail County, Minnesota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/minnesota/otter-tail-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.