Swift County, Minnesota severe weather history spans 272 recorded events between 1952 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 38.2% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,950 nationally and #62 in Minnesota.
272
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
8
Direct injuries
$17.3M
Property damage
The record
What the Swift County, Minnesota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Swift County, Minnesota severe weather history averages 3.7 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 84 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 31 events fall before 1990 and 241 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $15.3M in reported property damage. In total, 6 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Swift County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 104 | 0 | $1.5M | 83 | 1960–2025 |
| Hail | 96 | 0 | $0 | 3 | 1959–2024 |
| Tornado | 51 | 0 | $15.3M | F2 | 1952–2025 |
| Funnel Cloud | 15 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1999–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 3 | 0 | $500K | 0 | 2001–2006 |
| Flood | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2010 |
Decade by decade
Swift County, Minnesota severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
50 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 48 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-07-14 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 7.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2001-06-11 | EF2 | 0 | 7 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-06-16 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1952-06-23 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 8.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-05-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-06-28 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-05-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 2022-05-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 18.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-05-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-09-19 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 12.6 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Swift County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 11, 2001 | Tornado | BENSON | 0 | 7 | $10.0M |
| Jul 18, 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | SWIFT FALLS | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
After several brief tornadoes around Danvers, a much larger tornado struck the east side of Benson and travelled southeast along Highway 212. 71 structures were damaged, including 4 homes and 7 businesses that had to be demolished. The tornado lifted off in DeGraff, but not before damaging one last grain bin, taking the roof off a grain elevator, and knocking several sheds down in DeGraff. Seven people were injured when they fled a van just as the tornado was hitting the vehicle on the eastern edge of Benson. One boy was critically injured but survived and was discharged from the hospital two weeks later. Damage listed encompasses damages from all tornadoes and wind events in Swift County.
A tornado touched down in a corn field northwest of Murdock and moved northeast. The first structure that was hit was a church, which lost part of its roof. Along the way, the tornado destroyed corn fields, knocked down or broke many trees, and blew apart six empty grain bins that were ready for harvest. Three machine or equipment storage sheds were also destroyed and the roof of a restaurant was partially torn off. The tornado then moved into Kandiyohi County (see separate entry).
A tornado touched down southwest of Camp Lake, where it hit some trees at a farmstead. It then moved across fields, damaging or destroying corn fields. It partially tore the roof off a turkey barn before hitting homes along the east side of Camp Lake. It was here that an observer reported his flag was blowing hard from the northwest as tennis ball size hail hit, then the flag suddenly switched and was blowing from the southeast while the hail continued, then from the southwest when the tornado moved in. One modular home had windows blown in, a porch blown away, and its roof was uplifted to the point where driving rain got into much of the house. The tornado then hit an abandoned farm, rolling a mobile home and destroying several outbuildings before moving into Pope County (see separate entry).
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
9,748
Population (ACS)
$161K
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 Swift County, Minnesota?
272 events are on record between 1952 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $17.3M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Swift County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 104 recorded events — 38.2% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Swift County?
50 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 48 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Swift County?
19 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Swift County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Swift County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Swift County as very low risk, placing it in the 25 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Swift 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
- Stevens County 259
- Todd County 286
- Steele County 238
- Traverse County 197
- Stearns County 866
- Wabasha County 421
Cite this page
“Swift County, Minnesota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/minnesota/swift-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.