North Dakota floods

Every recorded flood since 1996 · 53 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 1,221 floods and flash floods in North Dakota from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 42 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the July 8, 2019 flash flood in Sioux County: 2 deaths, 2 injuries and $866,000 in damage in 2025 dollars. North Dakota ranks 38th of 52 states and territories by count and 42nd of 51 per square mile.

Floods in North Dakota, 1996 to 2026

Flood 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: 1,2211996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000: 42average
Deaths: 167 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars: $7.3Bas filed
Busiest year: 2005160 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 floods and flash floods common in North Dakota?

North Dakota averages about 42 floods and flash floods a year since 2000, 38th of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2005 (160). Per 10,000 square miles of land, North Dakota records 177 floods and flash floods since 1996, 42nd of 51 states and territories by that measure.

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 floods and flash floods?

Per square mile, Nelson County leads North Dakota: 56 days with a flood since 1996, 57.0 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Cass County has the most flood records (87 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).

Nelson County 57.0 (59)
Ramsey County 49.8 (62)
Ransom County 44.1 (44)
Benson County 43.9 (65)
Pembina County 43.8 (56)
Richland County 43.2 (83)
Grand Forks County 39.0 (80)
Eddy County 38.1 (26)
Cass County 36.3 (87)
Sargent County 36.1 (45)
Traill County 36.0 (36)
Walsh County 35.1 (56)

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 flood season in North Dakota?

44% of its floods and flash floods since 1996 fell in June and July. The busiest month is June (350 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 0 · Feb 3 · Mar 125 · Apr 237 · May 132 · Jun 350 · Jul 183 · Aug 142 · Sep 45 · Oct 1 · Nov 1 · Dec 2 (records).

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

What were the deadliest floods and flash floods in North Dakota?

North Dakota: the storms with the most deaths since 1996
Date	Record	Killed	Injured	Damage
2019-07-08	Flash FloodFt Yates, Sioux County Flash flooding resulted in a section of BIA Road 3, locally known as the Kenel Road which connects with ND Highway 1806, being washed out at the crossing with Joe Bush Creek. The culvert washed out and the road collapsed. Four vehicles drove into the washout and resulted in two fatalities and two injuries.	2	2	$866K
1997-03-21	FloodLaMoure County · forecast zone La Moure One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. Warm weather toward the end of March lead to rapid snow melt across southcentral North Dakota. This in turn lead to flooding across much of the area. Near the confluence of Spring Creek and the Knife River, the town of Beulah(Mercer Co) had 150 families evacuated. Sewer lines backed up when the lift stations failed. ...	2	1	$5.2M
2013-04-27	FloodFairdale, Walsh County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places, 2013-04-27 to 2013-04-28; the totals are the episode's. Melting snow caused overland flooding across portions of northeast North Dakota. Many rural roads were closed due to high water from the melting snow.	2	0	$32K
2011-04-03	FloodWalden, Cass County Two hunters died after the boat the were using capsized on a flooded portion of the Maple River in Hill Township, about 37 miles west of Fargo.	2	0	–
2022-05-01	FloodMott, Hettinger County A married couple, both 74 years old, died after driving into the water at a low water crossing. This crossing is locally known to have water running through it during snowmelt and rain events. At the time of the attempted crossing, the water was approximately three to four feet deep over the low water crossing.	2	0	$30K
2006-04-01	FloodCountywide, Cass County One storm episode: 9 records in 9 places; the totals are the episode's. The Red River at Fargo/Moorhead rose above flood stage around 1 AM CST on March 30th and remained above flood stage until around 7 PM CST on April 19th. The river peaked at roughly 37.18 feet around 2 AM CST on April 5th. Unofficially, 37.18 feet would be the fifth highest modern-day river stage recorded. The third ...	2	0	$8.7M
2000-06-12	Flash FloodLarimore, Grand Forks County One storm episode: 11 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. After receiving 15 to 20 inches of rain over portions of western Grand Forks county, the area around Larimore quickly experienced flooding problems. During the rainfall, two men from the area decided to drive to Larimore to get something to eat. They drove into a washed out section of gravel road 30 feet deep with ...	2	0	$108M
2013-06-20	Flash FloodLisbon, Ransom County A pickup was swept off North Dakota Highway 32 into Dead Colt Creek. The vehicle floated downstream and was eventually submerged resulting in one fatality by 8 am CDT.	1	0	$70K
2023-04-16	FloodMylo, Rolette County One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. The spring snow melt of 2023 saw many areas of flooding over North Dakota due to a record deep snow pack and relatively fast melt. Multiple counties experienced infrastructure damage due to the flooding. In addition, during the morning hours of April 16, a flood death (direct) occurred as a 54 year old female was ...	1	0	$978K

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest floods and flash floods in North Dakota

North Dakota: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
Date	Record	Killed	Damage
1997-04-18	FloodGrand Forks County · forecast zone Grand Forks	0	$5.5B
1997-04-16	FloodCass County · forecast zone Cass	0	$276M
2000-06-19	Flash FloodFargo, Cass County One storm episode: 4 records; the totals are the episode's.	0	$215M
1997-04-08	FloodCass County · forecast zone Cass	0	$184M
1999-09-01	FloodRamsey County · forecast zone Ramsey One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's.	0	$177M
2011-05-01	FloodNiobe, Ward County One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's.	0	$145M
2000-06-12	Flash FloodLarimore, Grand Forks County One storm episode: 11 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's.	2	$108M
1997-04-05	FloodRichland County · forecast zone Richland	0	$92M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are floods and flash floods 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.

Floods: North Dakota and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
Decade	North Dakota	United States	North Dakota's share
1996-99	132	20,986	0.6%
2000s	652	54,913	1.2%
2010s	340	68,322	0.5%
2020-26	97	43,563	0.2%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent floods and flash floods in North Dakota

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
Date	Record	Damage
2025-09-14	Flash FloodMandan, Morton County	$50K
2025-09-14	Flash FloodBismarck Municipal A, Burleigh County	$500K
2025-09-11	Flash FloodGrand Harbor, Ramsey County	–
2025-08-05	Flash FloodAshley, McIntosh County	$20K
2025-08-05	Flash FloodHector International Arp, Cass County	–
2025-08-05	Flash FloodHector International Arp, Cass County	–
2025-08-05	Flash FloodCotter, Cass County	–
2025-08-05	Flash FloodValley City Airport, Barnes County	–
2025-07-04	Flash FloodMerrifield, Grand Forks County	–
2025-07-04	Flash FloodGrand Forks County	–
2025-06-20	Flash FloodWest Fargo, Cass County	–
2024-08-13	Flash FloodBismarck, Burleigh County	$7.5M

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 floods and flash floods in North Dakota

FEMA has declared 47 disasters in North Dakota for floods and flash floods, counting its incident type and declarations that name flood in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 43 were major disasters, the latest on July 5, 2023.

The 12 most recent
Declared	Number	Title	Areas named
2023-07-05	DR-4717	Flooding	21
2022-07-13	DR-4660	Severe Winter Storm and Flooding	40
2021-09-01	DR-4613	Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding	9
2020-10-02	DR-4565	Severe Storms and Flooding	6
2020-07-09	DR-4553	Flooding	20
2020-01-21	DR-4475	Flooding	18
2019-06-12	DR-4444	Flooding	19
2017-07-12	DR-4323	Flooding	11
2014-08-19	DR-4190	Severe Storms and Flooding	10
2013-07-12	DR-4128	Severe Storms and Flooding	21
2013-06-25	DR-4123	Severe Storms and Flooding	1
2013-05-29	DR-4118	Flooding	17

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