North Dakota tornado and storm history
Tornadoes, hurricanes, hail, and severe storms recorded in North Dakota between 1950 and 2026, from NOAA's Storm Events Database. Search an address to see the storms that came closest to it.
1,799
Tornado reports
33,350
Storm events
100
Deaths, all storms
Every tornado track in North Dakota
1,788 county track segments since 1950, coloured by rating. Zoom in and each path widens to its surveyed width. Tap one for the storm.
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated
Tornadoes by decade in North Dakota
All tornado reports against only the strong ones (F2 and above). Averages are per year over the years the federal record covers completely — 1952, 1976 and 1993 are each missing whole months in NOAA’s own files and are left out.
| Decade | All reports | Strong (F2+) | All per year | Strong per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 77 | 36 | 9 | 4 |
| 1960s | 145 | 28 | 14 | 3 |
| 1970s | 183 | 39 | 20 | 4 |
| 1980s | 230 | 13 | 23 | 1 |
| 1990s | 245 | 10 | 27 | 1 |
| 2000s | 379 | 27 | 38 | 3 |
| 2010s | 300 | 34 | 30 | 3 |
The 2020s are left out because the decade is not finished. Reports are counted per county, so one tornado crossing a county line can appear more than once.
Significant recent events in North Dakota
Events with deaths, several injuries, $1M+ property damage, or tornadoes rated EF3 and up.
This Quasi-Linear Convective System (QLCS) tornado occurred to the north-northwest of Sweet Briar Lake. Three farmsteads were impacted. The first farmstead had minimal damage. The second farmstead had two large pole barns lose their roofs, with some collapsed walls. A half-full s…
Straight line winds pushed through the Copper Ridge subdivision south of Lincoln, and caused extensive damage. Several home were severely damaged, with large sections of shingles blown off roofs, some roof sheathing blown off, blown in garage doors, extensive siding damage, and r…
Hail to three inches in dimameter caused significant damage throughout the city of Jamestown and surrounding areas. Many roofs were damaged, with a few having holes punched through the sheathing. Vehicles throughout the city were severely damged.
Multiple power poles were broken and power lines were down, resulting in an extended power outage. One indirect death occurred near Courtenay. A 76-year-old man died when the power to his home was cut off during the storm, causing his breathing machine to fail while he slept.
Tornado Enderlin Tornado (2025)
This large and violent tornado began with minor damage to a few branches about 3 miles SSW Enderlin but within 2.5 miles of the track, the tornado gained intensity and significantly widened. While south of Highway 46, between 56th and 57th Street SE, the tornado derailed 33 train…
This large and violent tornado initially began in Ransom county 3 miles SSW Enderlin. It crossed into Cass county approximately 3 miles east of Enderlin. EF-4 damage occurred just north of Highway 46 at two farmsteads where devastating damage occurred to both houses and seven out…
Tornado EF3 Tornado
This tornado initially developed in far eastern Stutsman County about 2 miles east-southeast of Spiritwood, and immediately tracked northeast into Barnes County. As it continued northeast it missed the community of Urbana in Barnes County to the northwest. As it continued this no…
There were three significant wildfires and multiple other fires in McKenzie County, resulting in over 20,000 acres burned. The first significant fire started very early in the morning when a cold front passed through, and threatened the town of Arnegard. This fire was controlled …
There was a complex of two main fires in Williams County, referred to as the Ray-Tioga Fire and the Highway 85 Fire. Both of these fires crossed US Highway 2, and the Highway 85 fire nearly entered the town of Ray. Nearly 90,000 acres were burned by these fires, which resulted in…
Torrential downpours with between two and five inches of rain moved through the Bismarck area as a very slow moving thunderstorm passed over. Storm sewer and drainage systems in the city were overwhelmed by the intense rain rates. Many downtown businesses took on water, resulting…
The severe thunderstorm that passed over the Harmon Lake area in Morton County moved into Burleigh County, and produced a swath of ping pong ball to tennis ball size hail as it passed to the north of the city of Bismarck. This storm caused extensive damage to roofs and vehicles.
A slow moving thunderstorm developed to the south of Mandan and rapidly strengthened as it moved into Burleigh County. The storm then gradually moved to the east-southeast passing over Lincoln. This storm caused extensive damage to developments to the south of Bismarck and throug…
Over 200 utility poles were broken, along with multiple cross-members. Many miles of power lines throughout the county were down. At one point, approximately 9,500 customer services were without power, which was roughly 77% of all services in the county. Most of Jamestown was wit…
Over 400 utility poles were broken, along with multiple cross-members. Many miles of power lines throughout the county were down. At one point, 48% of services were without power. The community of Gackle was without power from early on December 26 until late evening of December 2…
A cold front moving through the area produced gusty winds which combined with a narrow band of snow to produce reduced visibility and some snow covered roads which became slippery. A 2003 GMC Sierra was traveling westbound on Interstate 94 near mile marker 69 about five miles eas…
Counties and zones
Each county’s full storm history, with its event count. Some entries are National Weather Service forecast zones rather than civil counties.
Adams (510)
Barnes (911)
Benson (853)
Billings (386)
Bottineau (525)
Bowman (524)
Burke (419)
Burleigh (899)
Cass (1,498)
Cavalier (740)
Dickey (496)
Divide (372)
Dunn (537)
Eastern Walsh (278)
Eddy (550)
Emmons (503)
Foster (405)
Golden Valley (432)
Grand Forks (1,357)
Grant (531)
Griggs (620)
Hettinger (535)
Kidder (461)
La Moure (483)
Logan (381)
Mchenry (577)
Mcintosh (454)
Mckenzie (626)
Mclean (794)
Mercer (528)
Morton (1,035)
Mountrail (630)
Nelson (725)
Oliver (376)
Pembina (789)
Pierce (382)
Ramsey (815)
Ransom (655)
Renville (384)
Richland (1,026)
Rolette (346)
Rollette (1)
Sargent (650)
Sheridan (331)
Sioux (418)
Slope (391)
Stark (729)
Steele (648)
Stutsman (797)
Towner (552)
Traill (708)
Walsh (535)
Ward (810)
Wells (453)
Western Walsh (246)
Williams (681)
Search your address
See every tornado that passed within 25 miles of a place in North Dakota, measured to its path.
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