Griggs County

Every recorded tornado

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

Mapped landslides

Mapped by ND GS (126).

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 9, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$9.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm downburst winds funneled down the Sheyenne River Valley and blew numerous double-stack containers and BNSF railroad container cars off the south side of the Luverne Trestle Bridge. At least 76 containers were destroyed after plunging up to 150 feet into the valley below. The bridge is located about 2 miles west of Luverne. Peak winds were estimated at 85 mph.

2. Apr 5, 1997Blizzard, Griggs$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…

3. Apr 4, 1997Ice Storm, Griggs$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…

4. Aug 2, 1997Hail$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The hail began near Jessie, cut a 3 by 12 mile long swath of damage, and ended 3 miles south of Cooperstown. The hail lasted for 15 minutes in Cooperstown, breaking windows, and damaging homes and businesses. One car dealership sustained $400,000 worth of damages. 20,000 acres of crops were destroyed, the equivalent of 20 farms. A 15 year-old girl, driving in the storm, suffered minor cuts due to flying glass. One hailstone recovered near Cooperstown measured 4 by 7 inches.

5. Apr 1, 2001Flood, Griggs$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Spring snowmelt led to flooding along the Sheyenne River. The river overflowed its banks and threatened farmsteads, farmland, and a bible camp 5 miles east of Cooperstown.

6. Jun 25, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The front of a barn was blown off, a machine shed was destroyed, and a garage was toppled onto 2 vehicles inside. Some debris was scattered more than a mile away.

7. Aug 1, 2011Flash Flood$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several sections of farmland and farm access roads were flooded across portions of Sverdrup and Broadview townships.

8. Aug 2, 2008Hail$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An inverted trough extended into central North Dakota, from an area of surface low pressure over southern South Dakota. This helped spark a few severe thunderstorms from Devils Lake down toward Valley City.

9. Jun 25, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A barn was blown down by the wind. A dozen sheep inside the barn were killed.

10. Jun 25, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A small recreational vehicle was pushed more than 30 feet, crushing it.

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°FJul 28, 1917

All-time low

−45°FJan 12, 1916

Warmest night

80°FJul 28, 1917

Coldest day

−29°FFeb 2, 1996

Wettest day

5.70 inJul 6, 1916

Snowiest day

14.0 in3 times, most recently Dec 6, 2016

Hottest year

2006mean 44.4°F

Coldest year

1979mean 32.5°F

Wettest year

201930.64 in

Driest year

19107.45 in

Snowiest season

89.7 in1996-97

Station Mchenry 3W (USC00325730), 1,555 ft elevation, 23.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1909 to October 22, 2026; 96.9% 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 USC00325730.
• 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.