Golden Valley County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (1,986).

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 4, 1997Blizzard, Golden Valley$1.6 million
   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…

2. Jan 9, 1997Blizzard, Golden Valley$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. May 29, 2024Hail$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two inch diameter hail combined with wind gusts to 75 mph to produce extensive damage in the community of Beach. Multiple vehicles sustained damage including dents and broken windows. House damage included broken windows, dented siding, and damaged shingles.

4. Sep 5, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$450,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant and severe damage was done from extreme winds on the leading edge of the line of thunderstorms. Twenty-four consecutive wooden power poles were snapped, brand new storage bins were destroyed, trailers and a camper were flipped, and outbuildings were damaged. Nearly 100 hay bales were rolled, most of them destroyed. There was significant crop damage.

5. Jul 10, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large tree limbs were down in Beach, with some trees broken and uprooted. Light poles were blown over at the fairgrounds, with lines down onto campers. A few miles south of Beach, a pole barn was severely damaged along with a grain bin. Eight power poles were broken outside of Beach, mainly where trees damaged the lines.

6. Jan 4, 1997Blizzard, Golden Valley$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first blizzard of 1997 hit east-central North Dakota on the morning of the 4th. The blizzard was preceeded by freezing rain that lasted most of the day before switching over to snow. The snow became so heavy that the highway department pulled the plows off of the roads the evening of the 4th and all day on the 5th. It was during the evening of the 4th that the northwest winds began to blow. Winds of 25 to 35 mph were common. Some of the higher snow amounts include 14 inches of snow at Ellendale (Dickey Co) and Linton(Emmons Co), 11 inches at Hague(Emmons Co) and 18 inches of snow at Oakes(Dickey Co). The roof collapsed at the Lull plant in Oakes from the weight of the snow.…

7. Apr 11, 2023Flood$140,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding from snow melt runoff caused significant damages to county infrastructure.

8. Apr 30, 2011Blizzard, Golden Valley$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to 14 inches of heavy wet snow combined with winds gusting to near 65 mph to result in widespread blizzard conditions. Travel was impossible due to many roads blocked by snow, resulting in numerous road closures including Interstate 94 from Dickinson to the Montana border. Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down, leading to a prolonged period of power outages across portions of the county.

9. Jul 20, 2025Hail$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail was driven by 60 mph winds, breaking 3 windows and damaging the siding on a home.

10. Jun 30, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The strong thunderstorm winds blew down multiple cottonwood and evergreen trees. Some of the trees were 18 inches in diameter. Power lines were also reported down.

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

107°F2 times, most recently Jul 26, 2024

All-time low

−39°FDec 21, 1989

Warmest night

76°F2 times, most recently Sep 5, 2001

Coldest day

−24°FJan 14, 2024

Wettest day

3.12 inAug 29, 1964

Snowiest day

18.0 inApr 24, 2022

Hottest year

1987mean 47.2°F

Coldest year

1972mean 39.4°F

Wettest year

201326.42 in

Driest year

19887.32 in

Snowiest season

93.0 in1978-79

Station Carlyle 13 Nw (USC00241518), 3,145 ft elevation, 19.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1962 to August 31, 2026; 94.0% 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 USC00241518.
• 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.