PlainHazard

North Dakota drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 53 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 677 drought records in North Dakota from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 85 a year since 2000. North Dakota ranks 31st of 51 states and territories by count and 40th of 50 per square mile.

Drought in North Dakota, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • 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
Records
6771996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
85average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
–as filed
Busiest year
2021319 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in North Dakota?

North Dakota averages about 85 drought records a year since 2000, 31st of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2021 (319). Per 10,000 square miles of land, North Dakota records 98 drought records since 1996, 40th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466
  11. 40. North Dakota 98

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in North Dakota have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Golden Valley County leads North Dakota: 23 days with a drought record since 1996, 23.0 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, McKenzie County has the most drought records (25 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Golden Valley County 23.0 (23)
  2. Adams County 21.3 (21)
  3. Renville County 20.5 (18)
  4. Billings County 20.0 (23)
  5. Burke County 19.0 (21)
  6. Bowman County 18.9 (22)
  7. Hettinger County 18.5 (21)
  8. Slope County 18.1 (22)
  9. Divide County 16.7 (21)
  10. Stark County 15.7 (21)
  11. Foster County 14.2 (9)
  12. Oliver County 13.8 (10)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in North Dakota?

North Dakota's drought records by month. The busiest month is October (78 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 50 · Feb 38 · Mar 50 · Apr 69 · May 52 · Jun 45 · Jul 58 · Aug 63 · Sep 54 · Oct 78 · Nov 63 · Dec 57 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in North Dakota?

North Dakota's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: North Dakota and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeNorth DakotaUnited StatesNorth Dakota's share
1996-9905,6000
2000s3518,5710.2%
2010s4531,4410.1%
2020-2659730,1472.0%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in North Dakota

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-01 DroughtMcKenzie County · forecast zone McKenzie 0 0 –
2025-06-01 DroughtBowman County · forecast zone Bowman 0 0 –
2025-06-01 DroughtMcKenzie County · forecast zone McKenzie 0 0 –
2025-06-01 DroughtBillings County · forecast zone Billings 0 0 –
2025-06-01 DroughtGolden Valley County · forecast zone Golden Valley 0 0 –
2025-06-01 DroughtDunn County · forecast zone Dunn 0 0 –
2025-06-01 DroughtSlope County · forecast zone Slope 0 0 –
2025-06-01 DroughtStark County · forecast zone Stark 0 0 –
2025-06-01 DroughtMountrail County · forecast zone Mountrail 0 0 –
2025-05-01 DroughtMcKenzie County · forecast zone McKenzie 0 0 –
2025-05-01 DroughtBowman County · forecast zone Bowman 0 0 –
2025-05-01 DroughtSlope County · forecast zone Slope 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in North Dakota

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in North Dakota for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on July 21, 1976.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1976-07-21EM-3016Drought18

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

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