Divide County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 ND GS (77).

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 23, 2022Blizzard, Divide$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds and heavy snow combined to produce a blizzard. In addition, periods of freezing rain occurred which accreted on power lines. This, combined with strong winds, led to extensive damage to power lines, cross arms, and poles, and thus widespread power outages.

2. Jan 9, 1997Blizzard, Divide$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…

3. Jan 15, 2023Dense Fog, Divide$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple locations lost power as a result of frost accumulating on power lines due to the multi-day dense fog event, with some locations losing power for more than a day. Multiple lines were downed as conductors broke, or snapped. Approximately 20 poles and multiple cross-arms were broken due to the additional weight of the frost on power lines. 26 additional workers were brought in by the local electrical co-op to assist with the damage.

4. Apr 30, 2011Blizzard, Divide$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to ten inches of heavy wet snow combined with winds gusting to near 70 mph to result in widespread blizzard conditions. Thundersnow was observed at Crosby. Travel was impossible due to many roads blocked by snow. Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down, leading to a prolonged period of power outages across the county. Some of the adverse effects caused by the disruption in power included reports of water and sewage backups, along with livestock producers reporting substantial losses of calves.

5. Jun 9, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency management reported that the strong winds combined with large hail of 1.5 inches in diameter to cause damage from about three miles west of Crosby to three miles east of Crosby. Vinyl siding was peeled off the west side of homes, windows were broken, and vehicles were damaged.

6. Jun 1, 2014Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Radar estimated three to five inches of rain in parts of Divide and northwest Williams counties. Damage was reported to culverts and roads. Deep water was standing in farm yards but the National Weather Service received no reports of water in homes. Crops were damaged.

7. Jul 10, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The top of the local grain elevator main annex where the leg was located was blown off, damaging additional parts of the elevator.

8. Jun 28, 2014Flood$148,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding occurred over eastern Divide County. Damage occurred to roads and culverts with many wash outs along township roads. There was crop damage as well. Rain amounts ranged from 2.50 inches in Bottineau County to as much as 7.00 inches in Renville County.

9. Apr 18, 2006Winter Storm, Divide$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   See StormData entry for High Wind from April 18, 2006. The high wind event evolved into a winter storm with snow and gusty winds in the 30 to 40 mph range and visibility near zero at times in open country. Power lines were downed with 184 poles reported damaged or destroyed in Williams County alone. An estimated one thousand people were without power at one time or another. In McKenzie County there were three (3) deaths (indirect) and four (4) injuries (indirect) because of a three (3) vehicle accident along U.S. Highway 85. A family from Texas was traveling to Montana when they were involved in a head on accident in McKenzie County, about 20 miles south of Watford City. Killed…

10. Aug 22, 1997Hail$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    late season hail storm moved from Fortuna to Noonan destroying everything in its path. 180 thousand acres of crops were either severely damaged or destroyed.

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

106°FJul 25, 2007

All-time low

−45°FDec 23, 1983

Warmest night

72°FJul 25, 2007

Coldest day

−30°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

5.75 inJul 3, 1990

Snowiest day

15.0 inMar 13, 1997

Hottest year

2015mean 42.9°F

Coldest year

2009mean 35.0°F

Wettest year

197825.59 in

Driest year

19898.24 in

Snowiest season

65.0 in2008-09

Station Fortuna 1 W (USC00323196), 2,350 ft elevation, 21.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1963 to August 29, 2026; 91.9% 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 USC00323196.
• 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.