Greater Minnesota Roofs: Stearns and Olmsted Counties

Two counties side by side

The table draws on NOAA's Storm Events Database. Olmsted County has more hail reports overall than Stearns County, yet only one of them reached 2 inches in the decade.

Stearns County and St. Cloud

• June 20, 2007, Sartell. Hail of 3.5 inches damaged more than a thousand vehicles and many homes, with 20 minor injuries and a $7 million estimate.
• July 17, 2010, Cold Spring to St. Nicholas. Spotters reported golf ball to softball size hail, topping out at 4.25 inches, the county's largest from 2000 through 2025.
• July 13, 2023, Belgrade. A 3.25-inch stone, sized from a social media photo, is the largest in the 2016-2025 window.
• July 18, 2025, St. Augusta. Most stones were quarter to half-dollar size, with several golf ball to lime-sized ones up to 2 inches.
• August 3, 2024, Melrose. An EF1 tornado destroyed a large metal building, peeled the roofs off several others and tore portions of roof off some townhomes, with a $2 million estimate.

Stearns County appears in FEMA major disaster declarations DR-4658, for severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding beginning May 8, 2022, and DR-4131 in 2013.

Olmsted County and Rochester

• June 17, 2010. An EF1 tornado moved through a residential area in northwest Rochester, damaging several homes and a Menards store; the record puts damage at $1.9 million, and FEMA declared DR-1921 for Olmsted County.
• June 4, 2019. A short-lived EF1 tornado in southwest Rochester partially removed the roof of one home.
• July 13, 2024. The ASOS at Rochester International Airport recorded an 81 mph gust.
• May 11, 2022. Golf ball size hail west of Oronoco carries a $280,000 estimate, and similar hail near Potsdam another $105,000.
• May 29, 2018. Hail up to 2 inches north of Rock Dell is the county's only 2-inch report of the decade.

The costliest Olmsted County event in this data was water rather than ice: the August 18, 2007 flash flood in Rochester, estimated at $35 million.

The biggest stone in the state record

Minnesota's largest hail in the database from 2000 through 2025 fell outside both counties: 6-inch hail at Chokio in Stevens County on July 31, 2024.

Hiring outside the metro

A roofer working in St. Cloud or Rochester needs the same DLI residential license as one in Minneapolis, unless it qualifies for the $15,000 gross-receipts exemption and holds a Certificate of Exemption, as DLI's page on who needs a roofer license explains. Ask for the license number and look it up on DLI's license and registration lookup. NRD's Minnesota roofing licensing page summarizes the state rules, and the homepage covers the 72-hour cancellation right on insurance-paid jobs.

Rochester roofers on the National Roofing Directory

Rochester companies listed with NRD are shown below; the full page is roofers in Rochester, MN.

Frequently asked questions

How much large hail does Olmsted County get?

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 50 hail events of 1 inch or larger in Olmsted County from 2016 through 2025, on 17 separate days. Only one reached 2 inches, near Rock Dell in May 2018.

What is the largest hail on record in Minnesota in recent decades?

The database's largest Minnesota stone from 2000 through 2025 is 6 inches, at Chokio in Stevens County on July 31, 2024.

Do roofers in Greater Minnesota need a state license?

Yes, the DLI residential license applies statewide. A contractor with under $15,000 a year in residential gross receipts can instead hold an annual Certificate of Exemption.