Counties with the most tornadoes in Minnesota

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August 31, 2023
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Counties with the most tornadoes in Minnesota

It's been a busy year for tornadoes in the U.S. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as many as 1,155 twisters have touched down across the country since the start of the year, above the average for this time of year.

A single day can drive up tornado counts. March 31, 2023, accounted for 163 tornadoes across the Midwest and South. Tornado activity usually peaks in the spring and early summer, and the pace of tornadoes usually slows around late summer. A smaller-scale second tornado season emerges in the fall, mostly in the Gulf Coast states.

Stacker used data from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information to find the counties in Minnesota that have experienced the most tornadoes since 2000. While data is available going back to 1950, tornado tracking by the National Weather Service became more robust and accurate in the 1990s. Since counties can vary in size, they are ranked by the number of tornadoes per 100 square miles. Counties that experienced less than five tornadoes are not included.

The counties that encounter the most tornadoes aren't all in the infamous Tornado Alley. When adjusted for county area, the top 10 counties that experienced the most tornadoes since 2000 are from nine different states, all in the Southeast with the exception of Cleveland County, Oklahoma.

Research has shown that Tornado Alley is shifting due to warming temperatures fueled by climate change. In the future, the Southeast could become the region that receives the bulk of the country's tornadoes. It's a concerning trend as the South is more populated than the Great Plains and has a higher concentration of mobile homes than other parts of the country, making the storms potentially deadlier and costlier.

As of August 2023, 75 people have died from tornadoes this year, and over 60% of those deaths occurred in mobile homes.

The best way to stay protected during tornadoes is to have multiple ways of receiving storm updates including social media, radio, television, and sirens, and to immediately seek shelter in a basement or interior room without windows when a tornado watch escalates to a warning.

Read on to see which counties experience the most tornadoes in Minnesota.

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#50. Big Stone County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 8 (1.60 per 100 square miles)
- #1,352 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#49. Sherburne County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 7 (1.62 per 100 square miles)
- #1,341 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#48. Wright County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 11 (1.66 per 100 square miles)
- #1,303 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#47. Lincoln County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 9 (1.68 per 100 square miles)
- #1,289 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#46. Stearns County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 23 (1.71 per 100 square miles)
- #1,271 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#45. Lyon County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 13 (1.82 per 100 square miles)
- #1,193 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#44. Mower County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 13 (1.83 per 100 square miles)
- #1,185 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#43. Fillmore County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 16 (1.86 per 100 square miles)
- #1,159 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#42. Hubbard County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 18 (1.94 per 100 square miles)
- #1,102 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#41. Norman County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 17 (1.95 per 100 square miles)
- #1,100 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#40. Mahnomen County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 11 (1.97 per 100 square miles)
- #1,080 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#39. Meeker County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 12 (1.97 per 100 square miles)
- #1,078 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#38. Carver County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 7 (1.98 per 100 square miles)
- #1,077 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#37. Murray County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 14 (1.99 per 100 square miles)
- #1,069 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#36. Clay County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 21 (2.01 per 100 square miles)
- #1,053 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#35. Todd County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 19 (2.01 per 100 square miles)
- #1,051 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#34. Douglas County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 13 (2.04 per 100 square miles)
- #1,027 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#33. Traverse County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 12 (2.09 per 100 square miles)
- #992 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#32. Kittson County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 23 (2.09 per 100 square miles)
- #989 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#31. Hennepin County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 12 (2.17 per 100 square miles)
- #949 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#30. Le Sueur County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 10 (2.23 per 100 square miles)
- #903 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#29. Polk County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 44 (2.23 per 100 square miles)
- #901 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#28. Goodhue County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 17 (2.25 per 100 square miles)
- #893 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#27. Watonwan County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 10 (2.30 per 100 square miles)
- #857 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#26. Waseca County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 10 (2.36 per 100 square miles)
- #818 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#25. Chisago County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 10 (2.41 per 100 square miles)
- #781 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#24. McLeod County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 12 (2.44 per 100 square miles)
- #755 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#23. Nicollet County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 11 (2.45 per 100 square miles)
- #749 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#22. Wadena County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 14 (2.61 per 100 square miles)
- #674 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#21. Cottonwood County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 17 (2.66 per 100 square miles)
- #646 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
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#20. Faribault County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 20 (2.81 per 100 square miles)
- #586 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#19. Nobles County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 21 (2.94 per 100 square miles)
- #531 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#18. Blue Earth County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 22 (2.94 per 100 square miles)
- #528 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#17. Brown County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 18 (2.95 per 100 square miles)
- #525 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#16. Red Lake County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 13 (3.01 per 100 square miles)
- #493 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#15. Otter Tail County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 60 (3.04 per 100 square miles)
- #484 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#14. Sibley County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 18 (3.06 per 100 square miles)
- #478 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#13. Chippewa County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 18 (3.10 per 100 square miles)
- #460 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#12. Pope County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 21 (3.14 per 100 square miles)
- #446 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#11. Steele County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 14 (3.26 per 100 square miles)
- #396 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#10. Anoka County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 14 (3.31 per 100 square miles)
- #379 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#9. Wilkin County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 26 (3.46 per 100 square miles)
- #337 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#8. Scott County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 13 (3.65 per 100 square miles)
- #293 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#7. Grant County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 20 (3.65 per 100 square miles)
- #292 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#6. Kandiyohi County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 32 (4.02 per 100 square miles)
- #230 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1
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#5. Dakota County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 23 (4.09 per 100 square miles)
- #216 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#4. Freeborn County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 30 (4.24 per 100 square miles)
- #193 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#3. Washington County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 17 (4.42 per 100 square miles)
- #167 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#2. Rice County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 22 (4.44 per 100 square miles)
- #165 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0
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#1. Swift County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 33 (4.45 per 100 square miles)
- #162 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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