Red Lake County, Minnesota severe weather history spans 216 recorded events between 1967 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 51.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,343 nationally and #79 in Minnesota.
216
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$4.0M
Property damage
The record
What the Red Lake County, Minnesota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Red Lake County, Minnesota severe weather history averages 3.7 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 109 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 18 events fall before 1990 and 198 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $2.6M 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 Red Lake County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 112 | 0 | $20K | 2.75 | 1980–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 63 | 0 | $966K | 87 | 1977–2025 |
| Tornado | 20 | 0 | $2.6M | F2 | 1967–2016 |
| Flash Flood | 13 | 0 | $268K | 0 | 1997–2022 |
| Flood | 5 | 0 | $119K | 0 | 2006–2009 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2006–2015 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $100K | 0 | 2002–2002 |
Decade by decade
Red Lake County, Minnesota severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
20 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 15 touched down inside it and 5 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-06-17 | EF3 | 1 | 2 | 15.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2014-07-21 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 37.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 1980-07-11 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 6.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1978-06-26 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2016-07-19 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 2010-06-17 | EF1 | 0 | 1 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2005-06-23 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1967-07-25 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2016-05-27 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2006-07-27 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 2.5 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Red Lake County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 17, 2010 | Tornado | DOROTHY | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The roof was torn off a new apartment building and blown into a field. Many trees were blown down, some into homes and powerlines. The roof was torn off of one mobile home while another was flipped over. 13 grain bins were damaged, 6 completely destroyed. The county highway department building was reduced to rubble and one truck inside was damaged.
Portions of County Road 92, between Plummer and Red Lake Falls were closed off due to debris jams and flooding along the Clearwater River. The Clearwater River at Plummer rose over 6 feet by the evening of the 23rd, due to the combination of a rapid snowmelt and from 1 to 2 inches of rainfall in the river basin.
A tornado touched down intermittently along a 2.5 mile track to the south, which began in Red Lake county and ended in Polk county. The tornado swirled swaths of grain and flipped a shed door up onto the shed roof. It also broke off numerous large tree branches in shelterbelts along its path. Peak wind speeds were estimated at 65 mph.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
3,915
Population (ACS)
$162K
Median home value
23
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 13, 2022 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, 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 |
| May 10, 2011 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 19, 2010 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Red Lake County, Minnesota?
216 events are on record between 1967 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $4.0M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Red Lake County?
Hail, with 112 recorded events — 51.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Red Lake County?
20 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 15 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Red Lake County?
23 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Red Lake County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Red Lake County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Red Lake County as very low risk, placing it in the 2 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Red Lake 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
- Ramsey County 441
- Redwood County 378
- Pope County 301
- Renville County 427
- Polk County 914
- Rice County 405
Cite this page
“Red Lake County, Minnesota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/minnesota/red-lake-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.