Adams County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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 ND GS (180).

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. Jul 21, 2005Hail$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Golfball to baseball size hail combined with 50 mph winds caused extensive damage to homes and vehicles. One hundred (100) vehicles at an automoble dealership sustained heavy damage. Two (2) persons were treated for minor cuts, abrasions and bruises at the Hettinger hospital as a result of the hail storm. A third person sustained minor cuts when the windows of her car were broken by the hail.

2. Oct 17, 2012Wildfire, Adams$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large wildfire developed over western Adams County in southwest North Dakota during the afternoon of the 17th. The fire originated four miles east of Reeder, burning east-southeast through the city of Bucyrus before being contained 3 miles southeast of Bucyrus in the early morning hours of the 18th. The fire burned for a length of seven miles, and covered an estimated 4,000 acres. The cause of the fire was reported unknown. The explosiveness of the fire can be attributed to very dry conditions, relative humidity in the teens, and winds gusting to over sixty miles per hour.||While much of the fire was in open country, the city of Bucyrus sustained significant damage. Ten…

3. Oct 4, 2013Heavy Snow, Adams$2.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Storm total snowfall of 18 to 22 inches was reported near the city of Hettinger in south central Adams County. Snowfall amounts tapered off across northern Adams County to around eight to twelve inches.

4. Jan 24, 2010Blizzard, Adams$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts over 50 mph combined with falling snow and existing loose snow cover to create widespread blizzard conditions across Adams County. The strong winds and blizzard conditions resulted in additional downed power lines and delayed the repair of existing downed power lines. The total estimated damage from this storm (January 18th through January 25th) was over two million dollars.

5. Jan 9, 1997Blizzard, Adams$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…

6. Jun 15, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extensive thunderstorm wind damage occurred in and around the city of Hettinger. About three miles west of Hettinger, multiple hopper-style grain bins blew over, damaging other grain bins nearby. About two miles south of Hettinger, a shop building was severely damage, with two of the four walls collapsed and the roof completely removed. Within the city of Hettinger, many campers and trailers were rolled onto their side, and multiple trees were down. Power lines were also down in various locations due to both the strong winds and trees falling on the lines.

7. Jul 8, 2009Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm brought a two to three mile wide swath of very large hail across southern Adams County. The maximum hail size reported was baseball size and fell on a farm about three miles east and four miles north of Hettinger. That farm had 100 percent crop loss over 1,500 acres and had extensive damage to buildings, machinery, and vehicles. National Weather Service officials spoke with the owner of the farm who stated that every window on the west and north sides was broken. Hail broke windows on the farm house, came inside the dwelling, and broke picture frames, knickknacks, and a large screen television inside. Five sheep were beaten to death by the hail. Large hail,…

8. Jun 26, 2018Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread damage was reported in and around Hettinger. A car dealership with approximately 50 vehicles sustained heavy damage. Broken windows were reported throughout town. Significant crop damage occurred around the area.

9. Apr 4, 1997Blizzard, Adams$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Warm weather the first three days of April lead much of North Dakota to believe that spring had arrived with temperatures in the 60s and 70s. Mother Nature had other plans. A very strong area of low pressure moved out of the Colorado area into the northern plains. Warm moist air ahead of the low collided with cold air coming down from Canada. The result was the worst blizzard of the season for North Dakota, bringing much of the state to a complete halt. The precipitation began to fall during the afternoon of the 4th (Friday), as rain in the east and freezing rain or sleet in the west. By Friday evening the freezing rain and sleet had changed over to all snow in the west. By…

10. Aug 30, 2021Hail$350,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A long lived supercell thunderstorm produced a path of destruction near Haynes. At one farm, large hail punched many holes through the metal roofs on pole barns and also into a hot-tub cover. Five vehicles were substantially damaged. Windows were broken on pole barns, and an exhaust vent for a pole barn furnace was busted off. To the south-southeast the destruction continued, with very large hail continuing to fall. In addition, strong thunderstorm winds accompanied the hail, shredding a field of lush eight foot tall corn, which was considered some of the nicest in the county, down to knee high.

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

109°F3 times, most recently Jul 25, 2024

All-time low

−45°F2 times, most recently Feb 19, 2025

Warmest night

77°FAug 11, 2000

Coldest day

−18°F2 times, most recently Jan 13, 2024

Wettest day

4.02 inSep 10, 2003

Hottest year

2024mean 45.7°F

Coldest year

2019mean 38.6°F

Wettest year

202526.54 in

Driest year

20175.01 in

Station Hettinger Municipal Airport (USW00094038), 2,701 ft elevation, 2.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1996 to October 26, 2026; 99.4% 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 USW00094038.
• 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.