Roseau County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 10, 2002Flood, Roseau$200 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall on the 9th and 10th produced a record flood on the Roseau River at Roseau. The NDAWN mesonet site near Roseau measured 4.32 inches of rain, but unofficial reports of 15 to 18 inches of rain were received. The official cooperative observer in Roseau reported 9.25 inches of rain for June and the official Warroad cooperative observer reported 13.79 inches. This caused the Roseau River to rise nearly 17 feet and reach a new record stage of 23.3 feet on the 12th. The city of Roseau struggled to protect against the rising river, but the levels got too high for the city dikes. The dikes broke, sending water throughout the city of 2500. The city retreated to try to save the…

2. Aug 5, 2006Tornado$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado number two of a series tracked east-southeast for about 4 miles across the northern part of Warroad. The main tornado appeared to have touched down about a mile west of the Marvin Windows plant complex at the northwest corner of Warroad. The tornado grew to around 500 yards wide as it moved across the Lakeview Park and campground area. The tornado apparently lifted as it passed into Muskeg Bay of the Lake of the Woods. Peak wind speeds were estimated from 160 to 180 mph.Damage was extensive along the tornado path in Warroad. At the Marvin Windows plant, the roof was damaged and 16 semi trailers were overturned. Several of the trailers were full with new windows, which were…

3. Apr 4, 1997Ice Storm, Roseau$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.

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

   Due to the quick snowmelt, water quickly drained into low areas, damaging around 46 different road and bridge sites around the county. The fifth highest modern-day river stage of 19.71 feet (unofficial) was recorded on the Roseau River in Roseau on April 2nd. In the city of Roseau, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers put fill in 3 different low areas. State Highway 310 at the Canadian border was closed due to flooding. Roseau County received a Presidential Disaster Declaration for damages caused by spring flooding.

5. Jul 20, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous large tree limbs were broken down around Greenbush. Trees were blown down on cars and roofs of homes. Power lines were also downed. Large commercial scale steel grain bins were dented or collapsed inward at the elevator complex. Smaller farm scale steel bins nearby were torn from their foundations and rolled.

6. Sep 19, 2014Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado snapped or uprooted numerous trees along its path, destroyed two steel grain bins at one farmstead, and severely damaged three more at subsequent farmsteads. Steel roofing panels and doors were town off of pole sheds and flung dozens of yards. Peak winds were estimated at 100 mph.

7. Sep 20, 2019Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Streets, low spots, rivers, and basements were flooded by 4 to 9 inches of rain over a short duration of time. Cars that got stuck in the flood waters were abandoned where they stalled. Farm fields and access roads were also flooded.

8. Jun 27, 1997Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado damaged 2 homes, several farm buildings, and 2 steel grain bins as it struck 10 miles north and 2 miles east of Greenbush. One man barely made it out of his trailer home before the tornado struck. As the tornado travelled between the 2 homes, it came close to a tractor plowing a field. A man in the tractor had glass blown into his eyes as the glass tractor cab shattered. A third home, 3 miles east and 2 miles north of Greenbush, was shifted off its foundation as the tornado passed. The tornado crossed highway 11, damaging a fourth home located 3 miles east of Greenbush, before dissipating.

9. Jul 31, 2001Flash Flood$200,000
10. Jul 31, 2001Flash Flood$200,000

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.

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.
• 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.