Murray County, Minnesota

What hazards hit Murray County most?

The most frequent records are winter storm records: 210 since 1996. 44% 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 Murray County had?

NOAA records 34 tornadoes in Murray County from 1968 to 2023, the strongest rated F5, with 1 death and 41 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 34 tornadoes whose track touched Murray County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 34, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 11 people, 1 of them in Murray 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 Murray County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 21, 2024 flood ($2.2 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

Rainfall amounts across Murray County from June 20-22 ranged from 4 to 8 inches. This rainfall resulted in overland flooding and major flooding along the West Fork Des Moines River. County-wide, 132 homes were damaged, three of which were declared destroyed. Many homes in the cities of Slayton and Fulda reported wastewater backup in their basements. Numerous roads and culverts were damaged with State Highway 30 closed at one point between Dovray and Westbrook. Preliminary assessments estimate loss to private property to be near 1 million dollars and 1.3 million dollars to public infrastructure. The majority of overland flooding subsided by June 23, but river flooding continued through the end of the month. For additional information on river flooding, please see other flood entries for Murray County.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1196702)

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 Murray 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: 18 records against 6 in the decade before, 18 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 Murray 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?

44% 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 Murray County

FEMA's register lists 17 declarations that include Murray County: 14 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (7) 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 Murray County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 40 flood or flash flood records for Murray County from 1997 to 2024, on 28 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Murray County ranks 2212th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $166,000 on 15 claims filed in Murray County; the most in one year was 8 in 2018. 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 Murray County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Murray County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $7.3 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 Murray County

1. Lyon County 853
2. Nobles County 812
3. Cottonwood County 707
4. Rock County 701
5. Pipestone County 673
6. Murray County 639
7. Redwood County 582

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 Murray CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Murray County's FEMA declarations (CSV)17 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis