Nobles County, Minnesota

What hazards hit Nobles County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 222 since 1955. 54% of its hail reports since 1955 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 Nobles County had?

NOAA records 46 tornadoes in Nobles County from 1955 to 2026, the strongest rated F5, with 0 deaths and 2 injuries recorded in the county. That is 14th 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 44 tornadoes whose track touched Nobles County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 46: 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, 0 of them in Nobles 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 Nobles County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 21, 2024 flood ($3.4 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

Rainfall amounts across Nobles County from June 20-22 ranged from 4 to 10 inches. This rainfall resulted in widespread overland flooding across the county. Okabena Lake in Worthington also overflowed its banks, flooding the downtown area and residential properties surrounding the lake. During peak flooding, there were 3 swift water rescues and a reported 6 stalled vehicles. Three apartment buildings and one home in Worthington needed to be evacuated, impacting 35 individuals. County-wide, 350 individuals reported flood damage. Of these, 5 residences were declared destroyed, 55 with major damage, and another 250 with minor damage. There were 150 locations that reported flood damage to roads, culverts, and bridges. There were also 40 drainage ditches with major damages. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1196607)

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 Nobles 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: 25 records against 6 in the decade before, 25 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 Nobles 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?

54% of its hail reports since 1955 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 Nobles County

FEMA's register lists 21 declarations that include Nobles County: 18 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (9) and flood (7).

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 Nobles County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 34 flood or flash flood records for Nobles County from 1997 to 2024, on 31 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Nobles County ranks 1404th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $209,000 on 83 claims filed in Nobles County; the most in one year was 18 in 2010. 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 Nobles County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Nobles County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $13.3 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 Nobles County

1. Nobles County 812
2. Lyon County, IA 774
3. Cottonwood County 707
4. Rock County 701
5. Jackson County 696
6. Murray County 639
7. Osceola County, IA 607

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 Nobles CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Nobles County's FEMA declarations (CSV)21 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis