Koochiching County, Minnesota

What hazards hit Koochiching County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 149 since 1959. 50% 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 Koochiching County had?

NOAA records 6 tornadoes in Koochiching County from 1955 to 1993, the strongest rated F2, with 2 deaths and 5 injuries recorded in the county. 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 8 tornadoes whose track touched Koochiching County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 6: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 2 people.

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 Koochiching County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the July 1, 2022 flood ($2.4 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

Above normal snowfall for the 2021-2022 season was observed across northern portions of Koochiching and St. Louis counties and much of that remained on the ground into April. Heavy rainfall then fell on top of that above normal snowpack at the end of April and sent abnormally high amounts of runoff into the Rainy River Basin leading to rises on Rainy Lake. International Falls experienced their wettest April on record, helping to set the stage for the flooding. By June 15th, the level of Rainy Lake reached 1113.2 feet which was 22 inches above the 2014 peak level and 2.5 inches above the all-time record set in 1950. Having crested and setting a new all-time high, the lake level fell over the remainder of the month to 1112.4 feet (13 inches above 2014 peak and slightly below the 1950 record) by the start of July. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1045809)

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 Koochiching 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?

50% 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 Koochiching County

FEMA's register lists 12 declarations that include Koochiching County: 9 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (7) and biological (2).

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 Koochiching County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 7 flood or flash flood records for Koochiching County from 2002 to 2022, on 7 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Koochiching County ranks 2155th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $322,000 on 17 claims filed in Koochiching County; the most in one year was 9 in 2022. 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 Koochiching County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Koochiching County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $8.8 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 Koochiching County

1. St. Louis County 2,311
2. Beltrami County 1,020
3. Itasca County 975
4. Koochiching County 466
5. Lake of the Woods County 412

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 Koochiching CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Koochiching County's FEMA declarations (CSV)12 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis