Stearns County tornado history

57 tornadoes touched Stearns County, Minnesota between 1950 and 2025 — about 0.8 a year. The strongest was rated F3 (Sep 3, 1980). Tornadoes here killed 4 and injured 73 people.

57tornadoes since 1950

F3strongest rating

4killed · 73 injured

16.4 milongest path · 1967

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

By rating

(E)F033

(E)F116

(E)F26

(E)F32

(E)F40

(E)F50

By month

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: June.

By decade

’50’60’70’80’90’00’10’20

Strongest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width	Injured	Killed
Sep 3, 1980	F3	3.8 mi	60 yd	15	1
May 5, 1964	F3	4.3 mi	300 yd	0	0
Jul 22, 1967	F2	16.4 mi	200 yd	12	1
Mar 21, 1953	F2	0.1 mi	10 yd	3	1
Jun 4, 1958	F2	13.3 mi	400 yd	2	0
Oct 26, 1996	F2	5 mi	350 yd	3	0
Jul 11, 2016	EF2	2.2 mi	400 yd	1	0
Sep 3, 1980	F2	1 mi	150 yd	0	0
May 15, 1998	F1	9 mi	30 yd	30	1
Aug 14, 1978	F1	15 mi	67 yd	1	0
Aug 14, 1978	F1	15 mi	67 yd	0	0
Jun 18, 1964	F1	9.7 mi	100 yd	2	0

Most recent tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width	Injured
May 15, 2025	EF0	2.8 mi	50 yd	0
Aug 3, 2024	EF1	5.4 mi	1,000 yd	0
May 12, 2022	EF0	1.3 mi	25 yd	0
Aug 28, 2021	EF0	2.1 mi	25 yd	0
Aug 20, 2021	EF0	2.1 mi	50 yd	0
Sep 19, 2017	EF0	1.2 mi	330 yd	0
Sep 19, 2017	EF1	8.2 mi	360 yd	0
Jul 11, 2016	EF2	2.2 mi	400 yd	1
Jul 11, 2016	EF1	4 mi	250 yd	0
Jun 3, 2016	EF0	2.3 mi	50 yd	0
May 25, 2016	EF0	3.3 mi	25 yd	0
May 16, 2015	EF0	1.4 mi	25 yd	0

Deadliest: Mar 21, 1953, F2, 1 killed.

Nearby counties

Meeker County, MN26 Benton County, MN7 Kandiyohi County, MN56 Morrison County, MN29 Todd County, MN27 Pope County, MN31 Wright County, MN28 Sherburne County, MN13

Questions

How many tornadoes has Stearns County, Minnesota had?

57 tornadoes touched Stearns County, Minnesota between 1950 and 2025 in the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database — about 0.8 per year.

What was the strongest tornado in Stearns County?

The strongest rating recorded was F3 on Sep 3, 1980, with a 3.8-mile path and 1 deaths.

When is tornado season in Stearns County?

Most of its tornadoes happened in June (16 of 57). 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).