SkyGround

County-level natural hazard risk data for researchers

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Stearns County, MN

Population: 158,160 · FIPS code: 27145

Relatively Moderate Overall risk index: 87.6 / 100 (percentile among US counties)

Hazard breakdown

Hazard NRI rating NRI score NOAA events
(2016–2025)
Wildfire Relatively Low 76.3 0
Inland Flooding Relatively Moderate 90.9 3
Coastal Flooding Not Applicable — 0
Earthquake Very Low 24.9 —
Heat Wave Relatively Low 74.6 0
Tornado Relatively High 93 11

NOAA event counts are recorded county-level storm events from the NOAA Storm Events Database for 2016–2025. NOAA does not track earthquakes, and some hazard reports are filed by NWS forecast zone rather than county, so these counts are a partial, not exhaustive, record of recent activity. See the methodology page for details.

Federal disaster declaration history

Stearns County has been included in 13 federal disaster declarations between 1965 and 2022, most recently for Severe Storm in 2022 (SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries. Counts reflect county-level declaration records (a single disaster can produce more than one record per county), not modeled risk.

Geomagnetic latitude

Stearns County sits at approximately 54.0°N geomagnetic latitude. Aurora can become visible on the horizon here during geomagnetic storms reaching roughly Kp 7 or higher (G3 – Strong on NOAA's scale). See current space weather conditions for live geomagnetic activity and aurora forecasts.

Geomagnetic latitude is an approximate dipole-model calculation based on this county's geographic centroid (US Census Bureau). See the methodology page for details and limitations.

What these ratings mean

Each score reflects how Stearns County's expected losses from that hazard compare to every other county in the country, based on FEMA's National Risk Index. A "Very High" rating means this county is among the most exposed in the US for that hazard relative to other counties — it does not mean a disaster is likely this year. See the methodology page for how these scores are calculated.