Pipestone County, Minnesota severe weather history spans 334 recorded events between 1955 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 40.7% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,584 nationally and #50 in Minnesota.
334
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$9.9M
Property damage
The record
What the Pipestone County, Minnesota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Pipestone County, Minnesota severe weather history averages 4.8 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 134 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 35 events fall before 1990 and 299 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $8.1M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Pipestone County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 136 | 0 | $110K | 4.5 | 1955–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 89 | 0 | $107K | 74 | 1955–2025 |
| Flood | 77 | 0 | $1.4M | 0 | 2010–2024 |
| Tornado | 15 | 0 | $8.1M | F3 | 1966–2022 |
| Flash Flood | 10 | 0 | $200K | 0 | 2002–2021 |
| Heavy Rain | 4 | 0 | $10K | 0 | 1997–2018 |
| Lightning | 3 | 0 | $26K | 0 | 1996–2011 |
Decade by decade
Pipestone County, Minnesota severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
18 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985-04-20 | EF3 | 0 | 2 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-05-07 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1969-06-25 | EF2 | 0 | 5 | 29.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 2011-07-01 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2001-06-13 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-06-16 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1979-06-16 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1968-07-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-05-30 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2019-06-11 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Flooding resulted in damage to public infrastructure including county and township roads and culverts. State Highway 30 flooded between 110th and 100th Avenue. The property damage costs include estimates for public property losses.
Rainfall amounts across Pipestone County from June 20-22 ranged from 3 to 6 inches. Some overland flooding ensued with additional minor flooding along Pipestone Creek and North Branch Pipestone Creek. ||Some damages were reported to county and township roads and culverts. Preliminary damage assessments estimate loss to public infrastructure to be 250 thousand dollars. ||For additional information on river flooding, please see other flood entries for Pipestone County.
Runoff from occasional precipitation in late March and early April produced considerable flooding of agricultural land. Pipestone Creek at Pipestone (gage site PIPM5) crested at 3.73 feet above flood stage on April 6, the fifth highest crest on record.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
9,284
Population (ACS)
$140K
Median home value
14
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 |
| Sep 5, 2018 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jul 21, 2014 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Pipestone 136
- Ihlen 114
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Pipestone County, Minnesota?
334 events are on record between 1955 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $9.9M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Pipestone County?
Hail, with 136 recorded events — 40.7% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Pipestone County?
18 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 16 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Pipestone County?
14 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Pipestone County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Pipestone County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Pipestone County as very low risk, placing it in the 15 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Pipestone 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
- Pine County 373
- Polk County 914
- Pennington County 209
- Pope County 301
- Otter Tail County 1,051
- Ramsey County 441
Cite this page
“Pipestone County, Minnesota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/minnesota/pipestone-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.