North Dakota natural disasters

The state's storm and disaster record · population 778,379 · 53 counties and county equivalents

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 33,350 storm events in North Dakota since 1950, 29,375 of them since 1996 when every event type began to be recorded, and the Storm Prediction Center counts 1,739 tornadoes in the state since 1950. The most frequent records are hail reports (10,026). In NOAA's storm record since 1950, the deadliest tornado day in North Dakota was June 20, 1957: tornadoes and the storms that came with them killed 10 people in the state; the deadliest of them in North Dakota, the Fargo tornado, killed 10 (SPC). FEMA has made 76 declarations for North Dakota since 1957, 73 for natural hazards; 62 were major disasters.

The record, 1950 to 2026

Storm events recorded in North Dakota each year (2026 to June 30, 2026). Before 1996 NOAA recorded only tornadoes (from 1950), thunderstorm wind and hail (from 1955).

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
1955: wind and hail recorded from 1955
1996: all 48 event types from 1996

Storm events recorded: 33,3501950 to June 30, 2026
Deaths recorded: 100699 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars: $10.3Bas filed (scale steps before 1993)
Tornadoes (SPC): 1,7391950 to 2025
FEMA declarations: 7662 major disasters

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026 (file revision 20260918); tornado count: NOAA Storm Prediction Center, 1950-2025; damage in 2025 dollars (BLS CPI-U). Search the record at NCEI.

What natural disasters happen in North Dakota?

By NOAA's records, North Dakota's most frequent hazards are hail reports (10,026), severe thunderstorm wind events (6,888), winter storm records (6,541); the deadliest are tornadoes (29 deaths). Each hazard is counted over the years NOAA has recorded it everywhere: tornadoes since 1950, hail and thunderstorm wind since 1955, everything else since 1996. Open a hazard for its years, months, counties and worst events.

North Dakota: records by hazard to June 30, 2026
Hazard	Records	Last 10 years	Killed	Injured	Damage	Counties
Hail	10,026	2,114	0	32	$1.2B	53 of 53
Severe thunderstorm wind	6,888	2,183	5	74	$773M	53 of 53
Winter storms	6,541	1,968	27	151	$236M	53 of 53
High wind and dust storms	2,659	1,082	2	33	$27M	53 of 53
Extreme cold	2,598	870	13	5	$741K	53 of 53
Tornadoes	1,799	249	29	364	$663M	53 of 53
Floods	1,221	133	16	7	$7.3B	53 of 53
Drought	677	597	0	0	–	53 of 53
Fog, smoke and funnel clouds	592	221	3	4	$3.0M	53 of 53
Heavy rain	112	9	1	0	$54K	38 of 53
Lightning	109	4	2	13	$3.6M	37 of 53
Heat	92	10	0	0	$918K	53 of 53
Wildfires	36	2	2	16	$38M	20 of 53

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: every record counted once in the state; "last 10 years" is 2017-2026 (2026 to June 30, 2026).

What were the deadliest disasters in North Dakota?

The storms with the most deaths since 1950, from the National Weather Service's own entries. NOAA files one storm as several records when it crosses forecast zones and counties or changes type, and groups them under one episode; each row here is an episode, with its totals and the narrative of its deadliest record. Before 1996 tornado records carry no episode and stand alone. The narrative says what happened: some deaths the National Weather Service files under a weather type had another cause beside the weather.

North Dakota: the 10 storm episodes with the most deaths
Date	Record	Character	Killed	Injured	Damage
1957-06-20	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Fargo, killed 10 (SPC) · TornadoCass County Every tornado record filed in the state that day (3, in 2 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.	F5 27.4 mi x 500 yd	10	103	$25M step
1978-07-04	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Carson, killed 5 (SPC) · TornadoGrant County Every tornado record filed in the state that day (5, in 5 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.	F4 26 mi x 250 yd	5	35	$2.5M step
1997-11-20	Winter WeatherMc Kenzie, Burleigh County One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places, 1997-11-20 to 1997-11-27; the totals are the episode's. Freezing drizzle fell across parts of South Central North Dakota most of the afternoon. The deceased was driving a pickup eastbound on I-94 when he lost control of the vehicle and crossed them median hitting a suburban head on. All 8 people in the suburban suffered minor injuries. The deceased's wife was also injured. ...		3	16	$92K
2003-04-02	Winter StormWard County · forecast zone Ward A third in a series of low pressure systems over Wyoming and western South Dakota moved east...southeast and intensifiedover the Northern Plains during the day reaching southern Minnesota and northern Iowa on Thursday, April 3rd.A stationary surface frontal boundary extended from northeastern Montana through central ...		3	6	–
2025-06-20	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Enderlin, killed 3 (SPC) · TornadoElizabeth, Cass County One storm episode: 49 records in 10 places, 2025-06-20 to 2025-06-21; the totals are the episode's. During the evening of Friday, June 20th into the early morning hours of June 21st, much of the region was affected by severe weather. Supercell thunderstorms developed across southeast North Dakota ahead of an approaching convective complex, producing multiple strong, destructive, and fatal tornadoes. This was ...	EF4 6.7 mi x 1,000 yd	3	0	–
1997-01-09	BlizzardRolette County · forecast zone Rolette One storm episode: 36 records in 36 places; the totals are the episode's. The second blizzard in less than 1 week brought North Dakota to a virtual standstill. This blizzard didn't bring as much snow as the first storm, but the winds gusted from the northwest as high at 40 mph and they lasted for 3 days. Snowfall amounts from this storm varied from 1-2 inches in the southwest to 2-4 inches ...		2	45	$101M
1953-05-29	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Ft. Rice, killed 2 (SPC) · TornadoMorton County Every tornado record filed in the state that day (4, in 4 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.	F5 7.4 mi x 600 yd	2	20	$250K step
1955-07-02	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Walcott to Colfax, killed 2 (SPC) · TornadoRichland County	F4 9.1 mi x 150 yd	2	19	$250K step
1997-04-04	BlizzardEmmons County · forecast zone Emmons One storm episode: 33 records in 33 places; the totals are the episode's. Warm weather the first three days of April lead much of North Dakota to believe that spring had arrived with temperatures in the 60s and 70s. Mother Nature had other plans. A very strong area of low pressure moved out of the Colorado area into the northern plains. Warm moist air ahead of the low collided with cold air ...		2	16	$82M
1997-01-15	BlizzardLogan County · forecast zone Logan One storm episode: 7 records in 7 places; the totals are the episode's. The 3rd blizzard to hit North Dakota in less than 3 weeks affected mainly the east-central and eastern part of the state. Again, like the previous blizzard, the winds was the major weather factor. Wind gusts at times were over 50 mph. This created widespread blowing and drifting snow. All major roads in the area were ...		2	10	$12M

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed in this state, summed over the records of each episode (EPISODE_ID); a forecast-zone record counts the zone's deaths once. A tornado's whole-track deaths (SPC), on the state's tornado page, can be higher when the track crossed a state line. Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest records in North Dakota

North Dakota: the 8 records with the most damage since 1993, 2025 dollars
Date	Record	Character	Damage
1997-04-18	FloodGrand Forks County · forecast zone Grand Forks		$5.5B
1997-04-16	FloodCass County · forecast zone Cass		$276M
2001-06-09	HailMandan, Morton County	2.75 in hail	$188M
1997-04-08	FloodCass County · forecast zone Cass		$184M
2000-06-19	Flash FloodFargo, Cass County		$171M
1999-07-04	Thunderstorm WindFargo, Cass County		$142M
2005-07-21	HailBismarck, Burleigh County	2.50 in hail	$141M
1999-09-01	FloodRamsey County · forecast zone Ramsey		$133M

Before 1993 NOAA filed damage by category, not amount, so the list above starts in 1993. The highest category filed here before then (entered as $25M, in the dollars of the day) holds: June 20, 1957 (tornado, Cass County, 10 killed).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars with the BLS CPI-U. BLS consumer price index.

Which counties in North Dakota have the most records?

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950 attributed to each county (forecast-zone records count on every county the zone covers).

Every county in North Dakota

Billion-dollar disasters in North Dakota

NOAA counted 24 weather or climate disasters from 1980-2024 that cost at least $1 billion (adjusted for inflation) and affected North Dakota, led by drought (13). The most recent: Central and Eastern Tornadoes and Hail Storms (2023); Southern/Midwestern Drought and Heatwave (2023); North Central and Eastern Severe Weather (2022).

North Dakota: billion-dollar disasters by type, 1980-2024
Type	Events	Total cost (NOAA's range)
Drought	13	$20.0B-$50.0B
Flooding	4	$5.0B-$10.0B
Severe Storm	4	$250M-$500M
Freeze	1	$5M-$100M
Wildfire	1	$5M-$100M
Winter Storm	1	$5M-$100M

Every one of the 24, newest first

Central and Eastern Tornadoes and Hail Storms2023
Southern/Midwestern Drought and Heatwave2023
North Central and Eastern Severe Weather2022
Central Severe Storms2021
Western Drought and Heat Wave2021
Western/Central Drought and Heat Wave2020
Missouri River and North Central Flooding2019
North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana Drought2017
Western and Alaskan Wildfires2015
Western/Plains Drought/Heat Wave2013
U.S. Drought/Heat Wave2012
Missouri River flooding2011
U.S. Drought2008
Midwest/Plains/Southeast Drought2006
Western/Central Drought/Heat Wave2003
U.S. Drought2002
Northern Plains Flooding1997
Northern Plains and Ohio Valley Severe Weather1993
Midwest Flooding1993
Northern Plains Drought1989
U.S. Drought/Heat Wave1988
Freeze/Cold Wave1983
Midwest/Southeast/Northeast Winter Storm, Cold Wave1982
Central/Eastern Drought/Heat Wave1980

Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters, state summary for North Dakota, 1980-2024 (NCEI's last update; the product is archived). A disaster that affected several states counts in each. NCEI billion-dollar disasters.

Federal disaster declarations in North Dakota

FEMA has made 76 declarations for North Dakota since 1957: 62 major disasters, 11 emergencies and 3 fire management assistance declarations. The most common incident types are flood (33), severe storm (26), fire (4).

1950s 1
1960s 4
1970s 12
1980s 2
1990s 8
2000s 17
2010s 15
2020s 17

The 15 most recent declarations in North Dakota
Declared	Number	Type	Title	Areas named
2026-09-01	DR-4934	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes	7
2025-10-22	DR-4895	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes	7
2025-09-11	DR-4888	Severe Storm	Severe Storm, Tornadoes, and Straight-Line Winds	19
2024-12-24	DR-4852	Fire	Wildfires and Straight-Line Winds	2
2024-10-06	FM-5541	Fire	Elk Horn Fire	1
2024-10-06	FM-5540	Fire	Bear Den Fire	1
2024-02-15	DR-4760	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds	13
2023-07-05	DR-4717	Flood	Flooding	21
2023-02-05	DR-4686	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Straight-Line Winds	7
2022-07-13	DR-4660	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm and Flooding	40
2021-09-01	DR-4613	Severe Storm	Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding	9
2020-10-02	DR-4565	Severe Storm	Severe Storms and Flooding	6
2020-07-09	DR-4553	Flood	Flooding	20
2020-04-01	DR-4509	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	58
2020-03-13	EM-3512	Biological	Covid-19	1

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

Flood insurance claims in North Dakota

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $258 million on 13,067 claims in 49 North Dakota counties. Claims count insured losses only.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk across North Dakota's counties

How FEMA's National Risk Index rates North Dakota's counties overall: a model of expected future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of events.

Relatively Moderate 2
Relatively Low 10
Very Low 41

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.