St. Louis County, Minnesota

What hazards hit St. Louis County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 647 since 1955. 63% of its severe thunderstorm wind events 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 St. Louis County had?

NOAA records 43 tornadoes in St. Louis County from 1953 to 2026, the strongest rated F3, with 3 deaths and 37 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 40 tornadoes whose track touched St. Louis County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 43: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 3 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 St. Louis County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 29, 2026 tornado ($100,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

A brief tornado developed along a line of storms over Murphy Lake, producing a clear and consistent path of tree damage with hundreds of trees damaged including dozens of trees uprooted or snapped near the base. Local resident reports and drone imagery provided by St. Louis County Emergency Management greatly assisted in the survey of the tornado.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1355653)

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 St. Louis 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?

63% of its severe thunderstorm wind events 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 St. Louis County

FEMA's register lists 17 declarations that include St. Louis County: 13 major disasters, 3 emergencies and one fire management assistance declaration. Most were for flood (9) and severe storm (3).

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 St. Louis County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 113 flood or flash flood records for St. Louis County from 1996 to 2025, on 46 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), St. Louis County ranks 991st of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $1.8 million on 183 claims filed in St. Louis County; the most in one year was 57 in 2012. 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 St. Louis County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates St. Louis County Relatively Moderate overall, with an expected annual loss of $112 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 St. Louis County

1. St. Louis County 2,311
2. Itasca County 975
3. Aitkin County 687
4. Lake County 618
5. Carlton County 570
6. Douglas County, WI 548
7. Koochiching County 466

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
• Severe thunderstorm wind in MinnesotaThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, 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 St. Louis CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download St. Louis County's FEMA declarations (CSV)17 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis