Stevens County, Minnesota severe weather history spans 259 recorded events between 1952 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 49.8% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,050 nationally and #67 in Minnesota.
259
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$12.3M
Property damage
The record
What the Stevens County, Minnesota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Stevens County, Minnesota severe weather history averages 3.5 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 72 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 36 events fall before 1990 and 223 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 $6.1M 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 Stevens County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 129 | 0 | $150K | 6 | 1955–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 95 | 0 | $6.1M | 78 | 1960–2025 |
| Tornado | 18 | 0 | $5.6M | F2 | 1952–2022 |
| Funnel Cloud | 7 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–2016 |
| Flash Flood | 5 | 0 | $300K | 0 | 2001–2025 |
| Flood | 3 | 0 | $186K | 0 | 2009–2023 |
| Heavy Rain | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2013–2023 |
Decade by decade
Stevens County, Minnesota severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
19 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 18 touched down inside it and 1 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953-05-10 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 17.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-05-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 18.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 2017-06-13 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1984-04-26 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1973-08-31 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 13.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 1970-04-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1966-08-07 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1952-08-27 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 13.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-06-13 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2013-08-06 | 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
A combination of record setting seasonal snowfall, high snow water equivalent values, and rapid snow melt led to low lying areas, ditches, and ravines across the county to flood for a prolonged period of time. Road infrastructure such as bridges, gravel roads, and culverts experience varied degrees of damage caused by rapid runoff. Stevens County Emergency Management reported $145,700 in damages to roads and bridges.
A storm survey that was conducted by the local emergency manager, and storm chasers, concluded that a downburst caused wind damage from 4 miles southwest of Donnelly, to 2 miles northeast of Donnelly. The damage field was 1/2 mile wide and all the damage was to the east/northeast. All the damage outside of Donnelly was scattered trees blown down and some crop damage. There were multiple buildings in the town of Donnelly that had damage. Some siding and many shingles were blown off downtown structures. Some trees fell onto houses and buildings. Two metal buildings had their tin roofs partially removed and one had a steel garage door blown in.
A swath of large hail, up to golf ball size, occurred from northwest of Chokio, to Donnelly. There were reports of larger hail, but no pictures were available. Damage occurred to vehicles, buildings (siding, rain gutters & shingles), and crops.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
9,739
Population (ACS)
$203K
Median home value
19
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 |
| 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 Stevens County, Minnesota?
259 events are on record between 1952 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $12.3M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Stevens County?
Hail, with 129 recorded events — 49.8% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Stevens County?
19 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 18 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Stevens County?
19 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Stevens County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Stevens County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Stevens County as very low risk, placing it in the 7 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Stevens 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
- Steele County 238
- Swift County 272
- Stearns County 866
- Todd County 286
- Sibley County 319
- Traverse County 197
Cite this page
“Stevens County, Minnesota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/minnesota/stevens-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.