Wilkin County

Every recorded tornado

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

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the county boundary (or inside the county).
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by USGS MN (80), ND GS (1).

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, Wilkin$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The rising Red River filled half the city of Breckenridge with water, which froze in place as the temperature dropped. Floodfighters had to work in the middle of the blizzard to try to save parts of the city. A record level was set on the Red River in Wahpeton on the 6th. A 29 year-old woman and her 3 year-old daughter died from exposure on April 8th, when the car she was driving went into a flooded creek. They managed to get out of the car, but could not reach the closest farmhouse. The woman was driving around road closed signs, trying to find a quicker way home. The governor of Minnesota declared the Red River Valley a state disaster area, which later received a Presidential…

2. Apr 13, 1997Flood, Wilkin$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A second crest on the Red River in Breckenridge occurred on April 15th. Record releases from White Rock Dam, the source of the Bois de Sioux River, helped cause the second crest. The previous record release of 3770 cfs, set prior to 1997, was nearly doubled, to around 7000 cfs. Hundreds of homes and businesses on the south side of Breckenridge were flooded.

3. Apr 6, 2001Flood, Wilkin$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The headwaters of the Red River received the most snow over the course of the winter. Snow water equivalents of 4 to 5 inches were measured from the snowpack over this area. As the snowmelt progressed through early April, several heavy rain events occurred. The first, on the 7th of April, brought widespread rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches to the southern Red River basin. This rain fell on top of the remaining snowpack, which resulted in faster rises on the Red, Ottertail, Rabbit, and Bois de Sioux Rivers. Both the Bois de Sioux and Ottertail Rivers crested at the same time in Wahpeton, something that hadn't happened in recent memory. This brought the first crest on the Red River…

4. Nov 27, 2005Winter Storm, Wilkin$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

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

5. Apr 1, 2006Flood$552,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Red River at Wahpeton/Breckenridge rose above flood stage around 2 AM CST on March 30th and remained above flood stage until around 8 PM CST on April 9th. The river peaked at roughly 15.95 feet around 3 AM CST on April 1st. Unofficially, 15.95 feet would be the sixth highest modern-day river stage recorded. Overland flooding also occurred in addition to the river flooding. Roughly 35 bridges and 35 roads around the county were closed due to flooding. A 6 mile stretch of Minnesota Highway 210 east of Breckenridge was covered with flowing water. U.S. Highway 75 was closed at the railroad underpass at Kent, while the Red River bridge from Kent to Abercrombie was also closed. The…

6. Jun 13, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several large grain bins were caved in by the strong wind and a couple of empty grain cars were blown over.

7. Jul 14, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous large trees were snapped or uprooted at various locations along a roughly 3 mile wide path centered along MN Highway 210. Farm machinery was moved about, doors and roofing materials were torn off farm buildings and homes. Peak winds estimated at 90 to 100 mph at multiple locations.

8. Jun 14, 2008Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado tracked for about two miles to around two miles north of Foxhome by 6 PM CDT. A machine shed was moved off its foundation. Several large trees were broken down or snapped off near the ground in local shelter belts. The peak winds were estimated at 95 mph with a maximum width of 50 yards.

9. Jun 11, 2008High Wind, Wilkin$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A MNDOT RWIS site 2 miles west of Tenney measured sustained winds of 51 mph with gusts to 62 mph near U.S. Highway 75. Another MNDOT RWIS sensor 2 miles north-northwest of Rothsay measured 50 mph winds with gusts to 57 mph. Several trees were blown down in Foxhome.

10. Jun 11, 2008High Wind, Wilkin$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Wind gusts were sustained around 40 mph with gusts to 53 mph at the MNDOT RWIS site northwest of Rothsay.

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

113°FJul 16, 1936

All-time low

−38°FJan 13, 1916

Warmest night

81°F3 times, most recently Aug 19, 1976

Coldest day

−20°FFeb 8, 1933

Wettest day

7.02 inJun 2, 2007

Snowiest day

24.0 inJan 5, 1997

Hottest year

2003mean 48.8°F

Coldest year

1950mean 39.4°F

Wettest year

200733.31 in

Driest year

19766.37 in

Snowiest season

98.9 in1936-37

Station Wheaton (USC00218907), 1,018 ft elevation, 35.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1914 to October 26, 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.

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 USC00218907.
• 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.