Bemidji

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Beltrami County, the county that contains Bemidji.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

The drought index is for Beltrami County, the county that contains Bemidji.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 20, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   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…

2. Jul 26, 2021Tornado$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Initial report of a tornado on Lower Red Lake, which moved onshore at Red Lake and tracked for less than one mile. The tornado lifted by 515 PM CDT. Damaging downburst winds, heavy rain, and large hail continued to track southeastward with this storm. Damage was reported to the Tribal College, as well as other homes and buildings in the area. A light pole was snapped and several signs were toppled. Several large trees were snapped.

3. Jul 26, 2021Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado formed near the shore of Lower Red Lake and tracked to the southeast. It crossed MN HWY 1 near the intersection with BIA15 and penetrated deeply into a large evergreen and oak forest. Trees were snapped and debris was tangled, though most debris tracked with the southeast moving storm. The tornado appeared to have dissipated around 522 PM CDT, after crossing BIA18, roughly 6 miles ESE of Redby.

4. Jun 12, 2008Hail$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Golf ball size hail fell for about four minutes from 6:00 PM to 6:04 PM.

5. Jul 4, 2018Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado occurred west of Bemidji State University. A garage was lifted off its foundation, trees were snapped or uprooted, and several roofs were damaged. Projectiles damaged many windows in the area. Flying debris damaged light poles and street signs in the area.

6. Jul 21, 1996Hail$100,000
7. Jul 21, 1996Hail$100,000
8. Jul 11, 2018Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Reports of this tornado, along with video, were posted to social media, showing contact and an eastward track beginning over open water on Lower Red Lake. The tornado tracked onshore about four miles north-northwest of Battle River, and continued on an intermittent east-northeast track for nearly five miles, crossing Beltrami County 23 about four miles north of Saum. Large poplar and pine trees were snapped or uprooted along the damage path. Peak winds were estimated at 100 mph.

9. Jul 21, 2017Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado tracked eastward with numerous intermittent touchdowns along its roughly three mile track. Numerous trees were snapped and a couple of grain bins were toppled. Roof panels and walls were blown out of pole sheds and calving sheds were flipped. Insulation and roofing metal were strewn about. Peak winds were estimated at 95 mph.

10. Jul 26, 2021Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    This tornado was likely wrapped in downburst winds, heavy rain, and large ail. The tornado crossed several County and Township roads as it tracked to the southeast, with numerous poplar and oak trees snapped along it's path. It appears to have crossed portions of Dark Lake, Whitefish Lake, and Sandy Lake in Nebish and Hagali Townships, before dissipating. near the western edge of Gull Lake, about 4 WNW of Tenstrike.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

104°FJul 7, 1988

All-time low

−48°F2 times, most recently Feb 1, 1996

Warmest night

76°F3 times, most recently Aug 4, 2001

Coldest day

−25°FJan 30, 1951

Wettest day

6.06 inJul 2, 1975

Snowiest day

15.0 inNov 11, 1995

Hottest year

1987mean 43.9°F

Coldest year

1972mean 35.6°F

Wettest year

201934.91 in

Driest year

191014.42 in

Snowiest season

93.6 in1950-51

Station Cass Lake (USC00211374), 1,296 ft elevation, 14.4 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1911 to October 28, 2026; 97.7% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Beltrami County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00211374.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.