Barnes County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 ND GS (1,349).

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, 1997Blizzard, Barnes$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   With falling temperatures on the back side of the low, the freezing rain turned to ice pellets and then to snow. A strong pressure gradient created winds up to 65 mph, dropping visibilities down to 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 resulted in $30 million in damages just to the power infrastructure. A 2,060 foot television tower collapsed near Galesburg on April 5th. With power cut, many people had to seek shelters with generator power in order to keep warm. Some smaller communities were without power for more than a week. Most…

2. Apr 4, 1997Ice Storm, Barnes$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense low pressure system, with center pressures around 28.8 inches, tracked from Fergus Falls to International Falls, Minnesota. The initial rain was accompanied by lightning and thunder in southern Grand Forks county, and then changed to freezing rain as the temperature dropped. One-half to 2 inches 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 reporting systems on the AWOS and ASOS sites across eastern North Dakota froze in place, remaining out for 7 days. The three inches of liquid equivalent from the…

3. Jul 18, 2004Tornado$1.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado tracked south for about 4 miles along 97th avenue southeast, then turned to the southeast and tracked about 6 more miles before it crossed into LaMoure county about 2 miles north-northwest of Marion. One abandoned farmstead 10 miles west-northwest of Litchville was nearly swept clean of its buildings. Eight to nine buildings and 5 to 6 metal grain bins were swept away. At an occupied farmstead about 9 miles west of Litchville, the most damage was reported. The family was out baling hay at the time and were not hurt. The equipment they used to bale hay (three tractors and a baler) were the only things left unscathed by the tornado. Two houses, 5 outbuildings, a cattle…

4. Jun 24, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Eighteen 80 foot tall 345 kV high voltage power transmission towers were blown down in several sections to the Cass county line. A section of Highway 32 north of Oriska was briefly closed where the wires fell on the road.

5. Jul 26, 2010Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several grain bins were lofted for a mile or more and destroyed. Large pine trees were uprooted and numerous trees were stripped of leaves and branches. Equipment storage buildings were unroofed and otherwise flattened to the ground. The tornado tracked continuously for at 14 to 15 miles. There was also widespread wind and hail damage observed in the area.

6. Jul 15, 2011Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado was briefly viewed wrapped in heavy rains as it approached the northeast corner of Valley City. The tornado became entirely wrapped in heavy rains and downburst winds as it tracked for about three miles across northern portions of Valley City. Numerous large tree limbs and branches were broken down around town. Peak winds were estimated at 95 mph. The downburst winds affected a much wider path.

7. Jun 17, 2007Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several rural roads were closed due to high water levels. There were 38 of 42 townships which reported damage to culverts, roadbeds, and driveways. Standing or flowing water through fields led to extreme crop stress and direct crop loss on about 5000 acres.

8. Jul 15, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One steel four pole power tower was crumpled and numerous trees were snapped off. Additional towers in adjacent Cass County were also destroyed. Wind driven hail also caused crop damage in Springvale and Binghampton Townships.

9. Apr 1, 2001Flood, Barnes$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Spring snowmelt and overland flooding led to numerous road closures, road and culvert washouts, and bridge closures around Barnes county. Three people were injured in Minnie Lake Township when a road collapsed beneath their car. Several basements were also flooded by the high water.

10. Jun 24, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$400,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Large 30,000 bushel steel grain bins at the Peak elevator complex were crushed by the wind. Numerous large trees were also blown down and augers were twisted and broken.

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

108°F2 times, most recently Jul 5, 1989

All-time low

−37°FDec 23, 1983

Warmest night

80°FJul 6, 1988

Coldest day

−25°FFeb 1, 1996

Wettest day

6.35 inJul 15, 1993

Snowiest day

14.9 inMar 24, 1975

Hottest year

1987mean 48.2°F

Coldest year

1950mean 35.6°F

Wettest year

199330.19 in

Driest year

19769.57 in

Snowiest season

103.8 in1949-50

Station Jamestown Municipal Airport (USW00014919), 1,495 ft elevation, 30.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00014919.
• 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.