Clay County, Minnesota

What hazards hit Clay County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 222 since 1959. 56% of its hail reports since 1959 fell in June and July. The rank column places the county among Minnesota's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Clay County had?

NOAA records 43 tornadoes in Clay County from 1957 to 2026, the strongest rated F5, with 0 deaths and 3 injuries recorded in the county. That is 26th of 87 Minnesota counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 43 tornadoes whose track touched Clay County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 43, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 10 people, 0 of them in Clay County.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Minnesota.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Clay County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the July 25, 2020 tornado ($5,701 in damage in 2025 dollars).

A weak tornado formed in the bookend vortex portion of a squall line. The tornado knocked down sunflowers and left a distinctive swirl pattern. Peak winds were estimated at 65 mph.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 898177)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Clay County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

56% of its hail reports since 1959 fell in June and July. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Clay County

FEMA's register lists 29 declarations that include Clay County: 24 major disasters, 5 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (15) and severe storm (10).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Clay County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 57 flood or flash flood records for Clay County from 1996 to 2024, on 47 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Clay County ranks 264th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $13.8 million on 1,358 claims filed in Clay County; the most in one year was 460 in 1997. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Clay County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Clay County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $42.0 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Clay County

1. Otter Tail County 1,515
2. Cass County, ND 1,498
3. Richland County, ND 1,026
4. Becker County 951
5. Clay County 823
6. Wilkin County 649
7. Norman County 640

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in MinnesotaEvery Minnesota tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Hail in MinnesotaThe state's hail reports, by county, year and month
• The Minnesota recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Clay CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Clay County's FEMA declarations (CSV)29 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis