Polk County tornado history

83 tornadoes touched Polk County, Minnesota between 1950 and 2025 — about 1.1 a year. The strongest was rated EF3 (Jun 17, 2010). Tornadoes here killed 7 and injured 57 people.

83tornadoes since 1950

EF3strongest rating

7killed · 57 injured

57.5 milongest path · 1978

(E)F0(E)F1(E)F2(E)F3(E)F4(E)F5· dots = start point only

By rating

(E)F042

(E)F125

(E)F212

(E)F31

(E)F40

(E)F50

unrated3

By month

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: June.

By decade

’50’60’70’80’90’00’10’20

Strongest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width	Injured	Killed
Jun 17, 2010	EF3	15 mi	150 yd	2	1
Jul 5, 1978	F2	57.5 mi	400 yd	44	4
Jul 21, 2014	EF2	37.9 mi	800 yd	0	0
Jun 29, 2018	EF2	15.4 mi	400 yd	0	0
Aug 26, 2007	EF2	5 mi	300 yd	0	0
Jun 8, 2019	EF2	3.6 mi	400 yd	0	0
Jul 13, 1977	F2	2.3 mi	100 yd	0	0
Jul 13, 1977	F2	2 mi	120 yd	2	0
Jun 23, 2005	F2	2 mi	200 yd	0	0
Jun 23, 2005	F2	1.5 mi	200 yd	0	0
Jul 13, 1977	F2	1 mi	100 yd	0	0
May 21, 2005	F2	0.3 mi	75 yd	0	0

Most recent tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width
Aug 8, 2025	EF1	4 mi	400 yd
Jul 7, 2025	EF0	0.6 mi	10 yd
Jul 7, 2025	EF1	4.7 mi	40 yd
May 15, 2025	unrated	0.1 mi	10 yd
Jun 24, 2023	EF0	1.5 mi	10 yd
Jun 24, 2023	unrated	0.5 mi	10 yd
Jun 24, 2023	unrated	0.9 mi	10 yd
Apr 23, 2022	EF0	0.3 mi	50 yd
Aug 9, 2021	EF1	3.6 mi	200 yd
Aug 9, 2021	EF0	2.2 mi	150 yd
Jun 8, 2019	EF2	3.6 mi	400 yd
Aug 26, 2018	EF1	20.9 mi	300 yd

Deadliest: Jul 5, 1978, F2, 4 killed.

Nearby counties

Red Lake County, MN20 Pennington County, MN11 Norman County, MN30 Marshall County, MN38 Mahnomen County, MN26 Traill County, ND34 Clearwater County, MN23 Grand Forks County, ND93

Questions

How many tornadoes has Polk County, Minnesota had?

83 tornadoes touched Polk County, Minnesota between 1950 and 2025 in the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database — about 1.1 per year.

What was the strongest tornado in Polk County?

The strongest rating recorded was EF3 on Jun 17, 2010, with a 15-mile path and 1 deaths.

When is tornado season in Polk County?

Most of its tornadoes happened in June (29 of 83). Tornadoes can occur in any month, so keep alerts on year-round.

Right now: live tornado warnings map · alerts for your location. Dates link to that day’s full storm reports where available (2004 onward).