Grand Forks County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (202), USGS MN (70).

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 18, 1997Flood, Grand Forks$3.0 billion
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Red River reached a new record level in Grand Forks, just over 54 feet, on April 21st/22nd, shattering the previous record by over 5 feet. Problems with the river gauge led to difficulties in obtaining stages. One flow measurement, taken close to the crest, indicated 145,000 cfs in the Red River. The city dikes failed on the 18th and 19th, forcing the 50,000 residents to evacuate their homes. Roughly 70 percent of the city of Grand Forks was flooded, with some homes completely submerged. Fire struck downtown Grand Forks on the 19th, burning 11 buildings to the ground. Firefighters could not reach the downtown area, due to the height of the river, so forest firefighters were…

2. Aug 26, 2007Tornado$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down about 2 miles west-southwest of Northwood. The tornado crossed the Goose River about a mile west-southwest of the Northwood airport and left a 200 yard wide stretch of downed trees in its wake. By the time it hit the airport, the ground track was one-third of a mile wide and growing wider. At this point the tornado was still visible outside the increasingly heavy rain. ||The tornado reached an incredible width of eight-tenths of a mile as it pushed through Northwood to the east-northeast. At this point it had multiple vortices embedded in the overall wedge shaped tornado. The strongest of these vortices appears to have scoured the ground and left broad…

3. Aug 8, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$18.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The NWS Davis system measured a 101 mph wind gust. The strong wind resulted in many trees being blown down and a citywide state of emergency. Trees fell on vehicles, fences, and homes. The wind blew over traffic lights, signs, fences, and street lights. Over 50 streets in town were impassable as an estimated 3000 or more trees were flattened. 11,000 customers lost power with hundreds of power poles damaged. A 32 unit apartment building lost its roof and many homes had shingle damage. One home under construction was demolished and a semi truck was blown over. The city had to restrict water use because of the power loss. The University of North Dakota cancelled classes on the 9th.

4. May 15, 2001Hail$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A male was hit in the head by a hailstone and required four stitches. Many homes and cars were damaged by the large hail, especially south of 32nd avenue south.

5. Jul 21, 1996Hail$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major damage to homes, especially roof damage.

6. Apr 4, 1997Ice Storm, Grand Forks$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…

7. Apr 5, 1997Blizzard, Grand Forks$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…

8. Jun 12, 2000Flash Flood$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   After receiving 15 to 20 inches of rain over portions of western Grand Forks county, the Turtle River rose to historic levels. At Arvilla, the Turtle River was a peaceful 2.04 feet June 12th at 11 pm. By June 13th at 2 pm, the river rose to 20.82 feet. Damage was especially high at the Turtle River State Park. Damages occurred at the main lodge, two year-round residences, the park office basement, parking lots, bridges, and roads. The park, at the height of the summer recreation season, was closed for several weeks while the mess was cleaned up. Preliminary damage estimates at the park came in at $500,000.

9. Jun 12, 2000Flash Flood$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding occurred around the McCanna area of western Grand Forks county, after 15 to 20 inches of rain fell.

10. Jun 12, 2000Flash Flood$4.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    After receiving 15 to 20 inches of rain over portions of western Grand Forks county, the area around Larimore quickly experienced flooding problems. During the rainfall, two men from the area decided to drive to Larimore to get something to eat. They drove into a washed out section of gravel road 30 feet deep with rushing water at the bottom. Both died in the crash about 7 miles west of Larimore. 600 feet of railroad bed washed away near Larimore, when two 3 foot diameter culverts washed out. 10 Burlington Northern-Santa Fe trains pass through this stretch daily as well as AMTRAK trains. At the Larimore Dam, water rose behind the dam and then overflowed the top. The water then…

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

104°F2 times, most recently Jul 5, 1988

All-time low

−43°FJan 30, 2004

Warmest night

77°F4 times, most recently Jun 20, 2023

Coldest day

−27°FFeb 1, 1996

Wettest day

4.44 inJul 16, 1995

Snowiest day

17.0 inMar 4, 1966

Hottest year

2024mean 45.2°F

Coldest year

1950mean 34.5°F

Wettest year

201928.11 in

Driest year

196310.65 in

Snowiest season

96.4 in1996-97

Station Grand Forks International Airport (USW00014916), 838 ft elevation, 4.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1941 to October 26, 2026; 99.1% 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 USW00014916.
• 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.