Jamestown

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.

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 Stutsman County, the county that contains Jamestown.

Claims by ZIP code

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.

River crests

River gauges in Stutsman County, the county that contains Jamestown.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Stutsman County, the county that contains Jamestown.

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.

Mapped landslides

Landslides mapped in Stutsman County.

Mapped by ND GS (83).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 14, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$12.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Nine single legged aluminum and steel electrical towers covering approximately one-quarter mile were damaged by strong thunderstorm winds. Seven of the towers were completely destroyed and had to be replaced. The remaining two towers were partially taken down, but were salvageable. Five spans of high-voltage electrical wire had to be replaced with each span being approximately one-quarter mile in length. Winds were estimated to have been around 120 mph.

2. Aug 31, 1997Hail$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   hail fell in Jamestown for 70 minutes, with hail ranging in size from marble to softball. Extensive damage done

3. Jun 20, 2025Hail$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   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.

4. Jun 25, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage to 200 farm dwellings, including elevators, dams and silos.

5. Apr 4, 1997Blizzard, Stutsman$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Jamestown got 16 inches of snow, and on a 22 mile stretch of road, ther were 67 powers poles destroyed.

6. Jan 9, 1997Blizzard, Stutsman$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   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 in the central. But the strong winds combined with this snow as well as the snow from the blizzard a few days earlier created widespread whiteout conditions that lasted for 3 days. There were numerous communities that halted mail delivery and cancelled school. In Emmons Co. every road was blocked by drifts, some as high as 18 feet. In McLean Co. there was a drift at…

7. Dec 26, 2023Ice Storm, Stutsman$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   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 without power on December 26, while the communities of Cleveland, Eldridge, Medina, Streeter, Montpelier, and Winsor were without power from December 26-28. The small community of Millarton was without power until December 29. The longest rural residential outage lasted five days. Roads became nearly undrivable given the icy conditions, and Interstate 94 was closed for a period of time.

8. Jun 20, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Jamestown area was struck by the derecho during the late night hours, with estimated winds around 90 mph. Many trees throughout the city were blown over, causing additional damage to areas that were struck by very large hail earlier in the evening. Lakeside campground to the north of the city had to be closed for an extended period of time due to widespread tree damage and broken water lines.

9. Jan 15, 1997Blizzard, Stutsman$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   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 closed again for the 3rd time this year. In Logan Co. the machine shed that is used by the Logan Co. Historical Society to store antiques was damaged by the roof falling in. With the severity of the blowing and drifting snow, roads that were just opened from the last storm were once again blown shut. This lead to the death of a 71 yr. old Fredonia(Logan Co.) man. He…

10. Jan 21, 1997Blizzard, Stutsman$790,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The last in a string of 4 blizzards to hit North Dakota struck in the morning of the 22nd. Snow amounts with this storm ranged from 2-4 inches, but northwest winds gusted to near 45 mph. Again, east-central and eastern North Dakota were hardest hit. I-29 in North Dakota and I-94 from Bismarck to Fargo were closed again. Injuries and damage amounts estimated.

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

108°F2 times, most recently Jul 5, 1989

All-time low

−37°FDec 23, 1983

Warmest night

80°FJul 6, 1988

Coldest day

−25°FFeb 1, 1996

Wettest day

6.35 inJul 15, 1993

Snowiest day

14.9 inMar 24, 1975

Hottest year

1987mean 48.2°F

Coldest year

1950mean 35.6°F

Wettest year

199330.19 in

Driest year

19769.57 in

Snowiest season

103.8 in1949-50

Station Jamestown Municipal Airport (USW00014919), 1,495 ft elevation, 1.8 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 27, 2026; 99.9% 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 Stutsman 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 USW00014919.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.