Pope County, Minnesota severe weather history spans 301 recorded events between 1953 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 43.5% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,779 nationally and #58 in Minnesota.
301
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
15
Direct injuries
$4.7M
Property damage
The record
What the Pope County, Minnesota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Pope County, Minnesota severe weather history averages 4.2 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 91 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 33 events fall before 1990 and 268 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is thunderstorm wind, with $2.5M 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 Pope County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 131 | 0 | $0 | 2.75 | 1956–2024 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 109 | 0 | $2.5M | 104 | 1973–2025 |
| Tornado | 30 | 0 | $1.8M | F3 | 1953–2022 |
| Funnel Cloud | 16 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2016 |
| Flash Flood | 11 | 0 | $326K | 0 | 1997–2013 |
| Flood | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2023 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $50K | 0 | 1999–1999 |
Decade by decade
Pope County, Minnesota severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
34 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 27 touched down inside it and 7 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964-06-18 | EF3 | 0 | 13 | 6.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-05-30 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 19.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-07-14 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 7.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 1959-07-07 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 13.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1954-08-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 7.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 1953-05-10 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 17.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2022-05-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 18.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 2022-05-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-05-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-09-19 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 9.2 mi | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Pope County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 18, 1964 | Tornado | 0 | 13 | $250K | |
| Jul 4, 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | STARBUCK | 0 | 2 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Numerous trees and power lines were blown down along a sixteen mile long path of damage with a swath about six to eight miles wide that occurred from Farwell and northern Starbuck, to the southern side of Lake Minnewaska and the southeast side of Glenwood. An electric transmission company had three metal truss towers collapse about 2.5 miles east of Lowry. The towers were 187 feet tall, with 1700 feet of spacing between each tower. Using the enhanced Fujita scale, damage indicator 24 (ETL) applies very well; its lower bound for a degree of damage 6 is 116 mph (101 knots). The towers were rated for 120 mph. Eight miles to the southeast of the towers, on the southern fringe of the swath, an observer with a home weather station two miles south of Glenwood measured 91 mph before the power went out. The anemometer was mounted ten feet above the top of the house, and was above the tree tops. Windows were blown in and shingles ripped off. The roof of an adjacent house was blown away, and numerous trees were toppled or broken.
A tornado touched down near Camp Lake in Swift County and then moved into Pope County, where it destroyed two machine sheds and several other outbuildings. The tornado tore through many fields, damaging or destroying much corn. It finally dissipated just after crossing State Highway 104, just before reaching Johanna Lake.
A National Weather Service storm survey and visual reports confirmed that a tornado moved through portions of Swift and Pope Counties in west central Minnesota where two turkey barns and several outbuildings were destroyed, with extensive tree damage throughout the entire path. Maximum damage was EF-2 with estimated winds of 111-119 mph. In the town of Swift Falls, two residences were damaged along with two garages that were destroyed. The tornado was produced minor crop damage northeast of Swift Falls.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
11,418
Population (ACS)
$255K
Median home value
16
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 19, 2023 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Aug 9, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, 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 |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Pope County, Minnesota?
301 events are on record between 1953 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $4.7M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Pope County?
Hail, with 131 recorded events — 43.5% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Pope County?
34 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 27 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Pope County?
16 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Pope County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Pope County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Pope County as very low risk, placing it in the 21 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Pope 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
- Polk County 914
- Ramsey County 441
- Pipestone County 334
- Red Lake County 216
- Pine County 373
- Redwood County 378
Cite this page
“Pope County, Minnesota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/minnesota/pope-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.