PlainHazard

Minnesota drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 45 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 1,446 drought records in Minnesota from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 87 a year since 2000. The costliest was the October 1, 2023 drought ($47.0 million in 2025 dollars). Minnesota ranks 19th of 51 states and territories by count and 31st of 50 per square mile.

Drought in Minnesota, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
1,4461996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
87average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$110Mas filed
Busiest year
2012194 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in Minnesota?

Minnesota averages about 87 drought records a year since 2000, 19th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2012 (194). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Minnesota records 182 drought records since 1996, 31st of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466
  11. 31. Minnesota 182

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Minnesota have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Rock County leads Minnesota: 37 days with a drought record since 1996, 76.7 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, St. Louis County has the most drought records (156 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Rock County 76.7 (37)
  2. Pipestone County 75.3 (35)
  3. Lincoln County 59.6 (32)
  4. Wadena County 55.9 (30)
  5. Carlton County 48.8 (42)
  6. Cottonwood County 45.3 (29)
  7. Murray County 44.0 (31)
  8. Lyon County 43.4 (31)
  9. Nobles County 43.3 (31)
  10. Crow Wing County 42.1 (42)
  11. Dodge County 41.0 (18)
  12. Mower County 40.8 (29)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in Minnesota?

Minnesota's drought records by month. The busiest month is October (171 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 110 · Feb 116 · Mar 113 · Apr 136 · May 51 · Jun 34 · Jul 125 · Aug 137 · Sep 165 · Oct 171 · Nov 160 · Dec 128 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The costliest drought records in Minnesota

Minnesota: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2023-10-01 DroughtPipestone County · forecast zone Pipestone One storm episode: 8 records in 8 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $47M
2022-09-20 DroughtLyon County · forecast zone Lyon One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $31M
2021-07-06 DroughtLyon County · forecast zone Lyon One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $13M
2021-08-01 DroughtLyon County · forecast zone Lyon One storm episode: 5 records in 5 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $5.8M
2021-09-01 DroughtLyon County · forecast zone Lyon One storm episode: 5 records in 5 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $3.5M
2022-10-11 DroughtNobles County · forecast zone Nobles One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $2.7M
2021-07-01 DroughtJackson County · forecast zone Jackson One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $1.5M
2020-10-06 DroughtNobles County · forecast zone Nobles 0 0 $1.1M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in Minnesota?

Minnesota's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: Minnesota and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeMinnesotaUnited StatesMinnesota's share
1996-99165,6000.3%
2000s39718,5712.1%
2010s41331,4411.3%
2020-2662030,1472.1%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in Minnesota

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-16 DroughtKoochiching County · forecast zone Koochiching 0 0 –
2026-06-09 DroughtCrow Wing County · forecast zone Crow Wing 0 0 –
2026-06-09 DroughtCass County · forecast zone Northern Cass 0 0 –
2026-06-09 DroughtCass County · forecast zone Northern Cass 0 0 –
2026-06-09 DroughtAitkin County · forecast zone Southern Aitkin 0 0 –
2026-06-09 DroughtAitkin County · forecast zone Northern Aitkin 0 0 –
2026-06-09 DroughtItasca County · forecast zone Northern Itasca 0 0 –
2026-06-09 DroughtItasca County · forecast zone Southern Itasca 0 0 –
2026-06-02 DroughtLincoln County · forecast zone Lincoln 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtRock County · forecast zone Rock 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtPipestone County · forecast zone Pipestone 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtRock County · forecast zone Rock 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in Minnesota

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in Minnesota for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on June 17, 1976.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1976-06-17EM-3013Drought78

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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