Norman County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Norman County: 3.
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.

River crests

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.

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

Mapped by USGS MN (511), ND GS (11).

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. Apr 5, 1997Flood, Norman$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Overland flooding and the Wild Rice River forced the evacuation of Ada. This town of 1,500 people was evacuated on April 7th by the National Guard. Helicopters were called in to help save stranded families around Norman county. A record level was set on the Wild Rice River at Twin Valley on the 6th.

2. Apr 17, 1997Flood, Norman$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Red River was reported to be 10 miles wide as it reached Norman county. Several days of strong west winds produced whitecaps that threatened dikes in Perley and Hendrum. Both these towns were evacuated, with only essential people remaining to fight the flood. On the 19th, new records were set on the Red River at Halstad and on the Wild Rice River at Hendrum. The Marsh River at Shelly set a new record stage on the 20th.

3. Apr 5, 1997Blizzard, Norman$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   With falling temperatures on the back side of the low, the freezing rain changed to snow. A strong pressure gradient created winds up to 65 mph, dropping visibilities down to near zero. The strong wind, on top of heavy ice accumulations, caused thousands of power poles to snap. This cut power to over 100,000 people in eastern North Dakota and northwest Minnesota and caused $30 million in damages to the power infrastructure. With no heat, many people had to seek shelters with generator power. Some smaller communities were without power for more than a week. Snowfall totals on the 6th ranged around 7 inches. Three men from China slid off a road 3 miles south of Borup into a…

4. Jun 9, 2002Flood, Norman$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall on the 8th and 9th caused widespread flooding over Norman county. Unofficial reports of up to 12 inches of rain were received. This caused the Wild Rice River at Twin Valley to rise to a level of 17.4 feet on the 9th. The Wild Rice River peaked at Hendrum on the 13th at 28.02 feet. At Shelly, the Marsh River rose to 24.92 feet on the 12th. Another round of heavy rain fell on the 22nd and 23rd, causing the rivers to surge once again. Once again, reports of 8 to 12 inches of rain were received. This time, the Wild Rice River at Twin Valley rose to 18.95 feet on the 24th, a new record stage. At Hendrum, the river rose back to 26.48 feet on the 28th. At Shelly, the…

5. Apr 4, 1997Ice Storm, Norman$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense low pressure system, with center pressures around 28.8 inches, tracked from Fergus Falls to International Falls. The initial rain was accompanied by thunder and lightning in Polk county, and then changed to freezing rain as the temperature fell. One-half to one inch of ice built up on exposed surfaces. Hundreds of power poles and lines snapped due to the weight of the ice, cutting power to many homes and businesses, many of which were beginning to fight the spring flood. The wind equipment froze up on ASOS and AWOS units across northwest Minnesota, and remained frozen for 7 days. The 3 inches of liquid equivalent from the storm fell on top of a record snowpack.

6. Apr 1, 2006Flood$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Red River at Halstad (MN) rose above flood stage around 4 PM CST on March 31st and remained above flood stage until around 3 AM CST on April 17th. The river peaked at roughly 39.31 feet around 8 PM CST on April 6th. Unofficially, 39.31 feet would be the third highest modern-day river stage recorded. The second highest modern-day river stages (unofficial) were recorded on the Wild Rice River at Hendrum (32.39 feet on April 5th) and on the Marsh River at Shelly (25.03 feet on April 3rd). Overland flooding also occurred in addition to the river flooding, with over 75 roads around the county closed due to flooding. Red River bridges at Perley (MN), Hendrum (MN), and Shelly (MN)…

7. Nov 27, 2005Winter Storm, Norman$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   [see the event description under the West Polk through South Beltrami Winter Storm event above]

8. Apr 7, 2001Flood, Norman$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS Cooperative weather observers reported nearly 2.5 inches of snow water content in the snowpack, after a winter with above average snowfall. A heavy rainfall event on the 7th of April brought 1 to 2 inches of rain to the Red River basin, adding to the snowmelt flooding. The Red River crested in Halstad at 38.47 feet on April 16th and remained near the crest level for nearly a week. This level was the 5th highest crest on record. An ice jam developed at the Nielsville bridge over the Red River on April 7th, and theatened to severely damage the bridge. About 200 yards of ice and logs dammed up behind the bridge, and it took several large backhoes to clear the jam. Some overland…

9. Jun 19, 2000Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous county and township roads were washed out from the heavy rain. Street flooding was reported in both Ada and Gary.

10. Jul 11, 2017Tornado$550,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    This tornado originated 4 miles east-northeast of Hillsboro, in Traill County, North Dakota, at 648 pm CST. It crossed the Red River about one mile west of Halstad. The tornado snapped H-pole power poles, crushed steel grain bins, snapped numerous oak and ash trees, and toppled a barn along its path. Peak winds were estimated at 130 mph.

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

111°F2 times, most recently Jul 11, 1936

All-time low

−53°FFeb 15, 1936

Warmest night

82°F2 times, most recently Aug 22, 1947

Coldest day

−28°F2 times, most recently Feb 2, 1996

Wettest day

5.83 inAug 7, 1941

Snowiest day

13.0 inJan 26, 2004

Hottest year

1987mean 45.8°F

Coldest year

1996mean 36.6°F

Wettest year

194133.99 in

Driest year

193612.25 in

Snowiest season

103.9 in1996-97

Station Ada (USC00210018), 907 ft elevation, 1.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 25, 2026; 95.8% 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 USC00210018.
• 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.