Hettinger County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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 (277).

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. Jan 24, 2010Blizzard, Hettinger$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts up to near 50 mph combined with falling snow and existing loose snow cover to create widespread blizzard conditions across Hettinger County. The strong winds and blizzard conditions resulted in additional downed power lines and delayed the repair of existing downed power lines. The total estimated damage from this storm (January 18th through January 25th) was over two million dollars.

2. Jul 12, 2019Tornado$1.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down roughly two miles north-northwest of Mott, and tracked to the south-southeast before lifting about one mile east-southeast of town, having passed through the northeast corner of the city. Extensive tree damage occurred in Mott, mostly from high winds associated with the Rear-Flank Downdraft of the tornado. Farm bins were torn from their foundations, a shed was destroyed, and a very large building on the fairgrounds was collapsed. Near the intersection of ND Highway 8 and 21 the roof was torn from a storage facility. A house just east of there, along ND Highway 21, had the attached garage shifted off its foundation and collapsed. Based on the damage done…

3. Jan 9, 1997Blizzard, Hettinger$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…

4. Apr 4, 1997Blizzard, Hettinger$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   New England got 20 inches of snow, Mott got 22.5 inches of snow

5. Mar 21, 1997Flood, Hettinger$860,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Warm weather toward the end of March lead to rapid snow melt across southcentral North Dakota. This in turn lead to flooding across much of the area. Near the confluence of Spring Creek and the Knife River, the town of Beulah(Mercer Co) had 150 families evacuated. Sewer lines backed up when the lift stations failed. Up to 4 feet of water flooded streets and lawns. Also in Mercer Co. 1 person was injured when he drove over a section of road that the Knife River washed out. Along the Cannonball River in Hettinger Co., 50 families in the town of Mott were evacuated. In Grant Co., 20 residents along the Cannonball River had to be evacuated. 1 farmer reported losing 50 hogs due to the…

6. Jul 13, 2010Hail$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   County officials reported up to baseball size hail in Mott. All vehicles left outside received major damage. The north side of homes sustained siding damage and broken windows. Roofs were also damaged from the large hail.

7. Oct 4, 2013Heavy Snow, Hettinger$471,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Storm total snowfall of six to twelve inches was reported across Hettinger County.

8. Jul 13, 2010Hail$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   County officials reported up to softball size hail in Burt. All vehicles left outside received major damage. The north side of homes sustained siding damage and broken windows. Roofs were also damaged from the large hail.

9. Mar 19, 2012Wildfire, Hettinger$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The grass fire started north of New England in northern Hettinger County, and burned north, on southerly winds, into southern Stark County. The fire traveled at least five miles. There were two injuries and two farmsteads were destroyed.

10. Jun 17, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Damaging winds of 80 mph were accompanied by 2.25 inch diameter hail to cause extensive damage to outbuildings and windows on a farm to the north of Burt. Grain bins were torn off their foundations and thrown into a nearby field. Crops were flattened.

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

114°F2 times, most recently Jul 10, 1936

All-time low

−46°FFeb 14, 1936

Warmest night

87°FJul 17, 1936

Coldest day

−30°FJan 12, 1916

Wettest day

4.07 inJun 18, 1998

Snowiest day

18.0 inApr 5, 1997

Hottest year

2012mean 47.4°F

Coldest year

1951mean 38.3°F

Wettest year

201923.89 in

Driest year

19176.96 in

Snowiest season

86.6 in1949-50

Station New England (USC00326315), 2,600 ft elevation, 15.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1894 to August 31, 2026; 96.0% 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 USC00326315.
• 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.