Roseau County, Minnesota severe weather history spans 452 recorded events between 1966 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 55.5% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,056 nationally and #25 in Minnesota.
452
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$24.9M
Property damage
The record
What the Roseau County, Minnesota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Roseau County, Minnesota severe weather history averages 7.7 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 147 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 41 events fall before 1990 and 411 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $21.6M 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 Roseau County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 251 | 0 | $110K | 4.25 | 1973–2024 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 133 | 0 | $1.2M | 81 | 1973–2025 |
| Tornado | 38 | 0 | $21.6M | F3 | 1966–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 12 | 0 | $684K | 0 | 1996–2019 |
| Funnel Cloud | 9 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2009–2020 |
| Flood | 6 | 0 | $1.3M | 0 | 2006–2023 |
| Heavy Rain | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2017–2017 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $5K | 0 | 2011–2011 |
Decade by decade
Roseau County, Minnesota severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
41 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 38 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-08-05 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1997-06-27 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 11.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1983-07-13 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2020-06-17 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2020-06-17 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2014-09-19 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2010-06-17 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2007-06-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2006-08-05 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2006-08-05 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Roseau County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 27, 1997 | Tornado | GREENBUSH | 0 | 1 | $250K |
| Jul 5, 1982 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $25K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Due to the quick snowmelt, water quickly drained into low areas, damaging around 46 different road and bridge sites around the county. The fifth highest modern-day river stage of 19.71 feet (unofficial) was recorded on the Roseau River in Roseau on April 2nd. In the city of Roseau, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers put fill in 3 different low areas. State Highway 310 at the Canadian border was closed due to flooding. Roseau County received a Presidential Disaster Declaration for damages caused by spring flooding.
Numerous large tree limbs were broken down around Greenbush. Trees were blown down on cars and roofs of homes. Power lines were also downed. Large commercial scale steel grain bins were dented or collapsed inward at the elevator complex. Smaller farm scale steel bins nearby were torn from their foundations and rolled.
The tornado snapped or uprooted numerous trees along its path, destroyed two steel grain bins at one farmstead, and severely damaged three more at subsequent farmsteads. Steel roofing panels and doors were town off of pole sheds and flung dozens of yards. Peak winds were estimated at 100 mph.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
15,302
Population (ACS)
$184K
Median home value
28
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 19, 2023 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jul 13, 2022 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 7, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | 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 |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Roseau County, Minnesota?
452 events are on record between 1966 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $24.9M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Roseau County?
Hail, with 251 recorded events — 55.5% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Roseau County?
41 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 38 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Roseau County?
28 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Roseau County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Roseau County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Roseau County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 44 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Roseau 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
- Rock County 353
- St. Louis County 1,335
- Rice County 405
- Scott County 495
- Renville County 427
- Sherburne County 355
Cite this page
“Roseau County, Minnesota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/minnesota/roseau-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.