Beltrami County, Minnesota

What hazards hit Beltrami County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 312 since 1956. 65% of its hail reports since 1956 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 Beltrami County had?

NOAA records 44 tornadoes in Beltrami County from 1964 to 2025, the strongest rated EF1, with 0 deaths and 0 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 45 tornadoes whose track touched Beltrami County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 44: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 0 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 Beltrami County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 20, 2025 thunderstorm wind ($15.0 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

A ground survey and high resolution satellite confirmed a swath of destructive straight-line winds estimated between 80-120 mph occurred across southern Beltrami County. The swath started in Clearwater County and continued east across southern Beltrami County and northern Hubbard County, and was approximately 30 miles long. The widest part of the swath was approximately 12 miles wide from just north of Bemidji to its southernmost point in northern Hubbard County. There was approximately 143,838 acres of southern Beltrami County impacted with widespread tree damage within this single swath. Highest impacted areas extend from near the US Highway 2 and Division Street West intersection, through downtown Bemidji, and through southern and eastern areas of Lake Bemidji. Extensive and significant tree damage was noted within this swath. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1276979)

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

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 Beltrami 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?

65% of its hail reports since 1956 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 Beltrami County

FEMA's register lists 21 declarations that include Beltrami County: 18 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (10) and severe storm (7).

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 Beltrami County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 20 flood or flash flood records for Beltrami County from 1999 to 2025, on 15 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Beltrami County ranks 2685th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $11,000 on 3 claims filed in Beltrami County; the most in one year was 1 in 2002. 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 Beltrami County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Beltrami County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $20.1 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 Beltrami County

1. Beltrami County 1,020
2. Itasca County 975
3. Marshall County 954
4. Cass County 913
5. Roseau County 686
6. Clearwater County 633
7. Hubbard County 575
8. Koochiching County 466
9. Pennington County 430
10. Lake of the Woods County 412

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
• Hail in MinnesotaThe state's hail reports, 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 Beltrami CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Beltrami County's FEMA declarations (CSV)21 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis