Clearwater County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Clearwater County: 0.
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.

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.

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. Jul 22, 2013Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado began in Mahnomen County, just southeast of Mahnomen, at 12:50 am CST. The total tornado track was about 21 miles. The tornado damaged structures at three locations along the route with long tracks of tree and crop damage. Peak winds were estimated at 115 mph.

2. Jun 20, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ground survey and high resolution satellite confirmed a long swath of widespread destructive straight-line winds estimated between 80 and 90 mph starting across south central Clearwater County north of Highway 200 and south of Highway 2. The swath was 8 miles at its widest and easternmost point in Clearwater County. This surge of straight-line winds continued east into southern Beltrami and northern Hubbard counties where more significant winds and impacts were observed around Bemidji. The 30 mile long swath started in Clearwater County and ended near the southeastern Beltrami county line. There was approximately 60,388 acres of Clearwater County impacted with widespread tree…

3. Jun 10, 2017Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The hail fell at Itasca State Park and was reported via social media.

4. Jun 22, 2002Flash Flood$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Water flowed over streets and roads as 7 to 11 inches of rain fell. Most of the road damage occurred along Silver Creek. The city park and 3 homes were also flooded. Several roads were washed out in Itasca State Park.

5. Jul 22, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A downburst wind damage path developed across west central Greenwood Township. Numerous trees were toppled with some falling on the Greenwood Township Hall roof. A one to two mile wide swath of wind damage extended for over three miles and indicated peak winds of 60 to 80 mph.

6. Jul 31, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees were blown down on cars and powerlines.

7. Jun 12, 2008Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado originated in Becker County at 844 pm CDT. It travelled about 2 miles across extreme southeast Clearwater County to around 5 miles south-southeast of Lake Itasca by 854 pm CDT. From there it continued into Hubbard County. Several large trees were knocked down or uprooted along its path. Peak winds were estimated to 105 mph.

8. May 17, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees blown down.

9. Jul 22, 2013Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado began in Polk County, about one mile north of Trail, at 12:33 am CST. The tornado snapped and uprooted numerous trees along its entire seven mile path. Peak winds were estimated at 90 mph.

10. Mar 8, 2003Cold/Wind Chill, South Clearwater$21,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A fairly compact ridge of high pressure brought clear skies and brisk west/northwest winds to portions of northwest and west central Minnesota. High temperatures on the 8th were only in the single digits above and below zero. The west/northwest winds of 15 to 25 mph with a few gusts to 35 mph kept temperatures from plunging too far, yet overnight temperatures did drop to 10 below to 20 below zero (or about 30 degrees below normal). This dropped wind chill temperatures to 40 below to 50 below zero for a prolonged period the night of the 8th into the morning of the 9th. With only a few inches of snow left on the ground (mostly in sheltered areas), these extreme wind chill…

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

105°F2 times, most recently Jul 12, 1936

All-time low

−52°F2 times, most recently Feb 3, 1996

Warmest night

83°FJul 1, 1911

Coldest day

−28°FJan 5, 1924

Wettest day

5.42 inJun 22, 1957

Snowiest day

18.0 inMar 3, 1966

Hottest year

1987mean 43.4°F

Coldest year

1950mean 34.4°F

Wettest year

201938.03 in

Driest year

197612.24 in

Snowiest season

110.0 in1965-66

Station Itasca University Of Minn (USC00214106), 1,490 ft elevation, 24.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1911 to August 31, 2026; 95.4% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00214106.
• 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.