Cottonwood County, Minnesota

What hazards hit Cottonwood County most?

The most frequent records are winter storm records: 206 since 1996. 46% of its winter storm records since 1996 fell in December and January. 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 Cottonwood County had?

NOAA records 26 tornadoes in Cottonwood County from 1952 to 2023, the strongest rated F3, with 0 deaths and 6 injuries recorded in the county. That is 31st 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 26 tornadoes whose track touched Cottonwood County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 26, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 1 person, 0 of them in Cottonwood 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 Cottonwood County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 21, 2024 flood ($19.5 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

Rainfall amounts across Cottonwood County from June 20-22 ranged from 6 to 9 inches. Overland flooding ensued with additional major to record flooding along the West Fork Des Moines River. County-wide, there were significant impacts to personal property with an estimated 1,000 plus homes affected by flood waters. Five homes were declared destroyed and approximately 50 that received major damage. Fifty-two individuals were displaced at peak flooding. A voluntary evacuation order was issued for parts of Windom due to rising waters along the West Fork Des Moines River. Flood waters spared most businesses, but 7 in-home daycares had to close for some amount of time. Damage to private homes and businesses is estimated to be 18 million dollars. There was also significant damage to public infrastructure. Numerous county and township roads succumbed to gravel wash. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1196679)

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 Cottonwood 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).

High wind and dust storms in the 2020-26: 23 records against 6 in the decade before, 23 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Cottonwood County days with a record above.

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

What time of year?

46% of its winter storm records since 1996 fell in December and January. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Cottonwood County

FEMA's register lists 17 declarations that include Cottonwood County: 14 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (6) and severe storm (6).

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 Cottonwood County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 57 flood or flash flood records for Cottonwood County from 1997 to 2024, on 47 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Cottonwood County ranks 1731st of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $470,000 on 43 claims filed in Cottonwood County; the most in one year was 23 in 2024. 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 Cottonwood County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Cottonwood County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $8.7 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 Cottonwood County

1. Nobles County 812
2. Cottonwood County 707
3. Jackson County 696
4. Murray County 639
5. Redwood County 582
6. Brown County 519
7. Watonwan County 401

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
• Winter storms in MinnesotaThe state's winter storm records, 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 Cottonwood CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Cottonwood County's FEMA declarations (CSV)17 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis