Redwood County, Minnesota

What hazards hit Redwood County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 153 since 1958. 46% of its hail reports since 1958 fell in May and June. 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 Redwood County had?

NOAA records 29 tornadoes in Redwood County from 1958 to 2019, the strongest rated F5, with 1 death and 3 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 28 tornadoes whose track touched Redwood County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 29: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 10 people, 1 of them in Redwood 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 Redwood County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the April 11, 2023 flood ($1.3 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

A combination of record setting seasonal snowfall, high snow water equivalent values, and rapid snow melt led to low lying areas, ditches, and ravines across the county to flood for a prolonged period of time. Road infrastructure such as bridges, gravel roads, and culverts experience varied degrees of damage caused by rapid runoff. Redwood County Emergency Management reported $1.3 Million in damages to roads and bridges.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1093070)

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 Redwood 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?

46% of its hail reports since 1958 fell in May and June. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Redwood County

FEMA's register lists 21 declarations that include Redwood County: 17 major disasters, 4 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (11) 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 Redwood County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 29 flood or flash flood records for Redwood County from 1997 to 2025, on 25 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Redwood County ranks 2685th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $143,000 on 3 claims filed in Redwood County; the most in one year was 2 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 Redwood County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Redwood County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $11.5 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 Redwood County

1. Lyon County 853
2. Cottonwood County 707
3. Renville County 639
4. Murray County 639
5. Redwood County 582
6. Brown County 519
7. Yellow Medicine County 446

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