Logan County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (10).

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 9, 1997Blizzard, Logan$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…

2. Jul 14, 2010Hail$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The large hail damaged many area homes, campers, and vehicles. Damage to crops was limited as despite the large size of the hail, the aerial coverage of hail was spotty according to insurance adjusters.

3. Jun 22, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Power lines were reported down south of Napoleon along North Dakota Highway 3. Also, a 70 foot tall electrical high-voltage structure toppled over. Significant farm damage occurred.

4. Apr 4, 1997Blizzard, Logan$1.0 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…

5. Jan 15, 1997Blizzard, Logan$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The 3rd blizzard to hit North Dakota in less than 3 weeks affected mainly the east-central and eastern part of the state. Again, like the previous blizzard, the winds was the major weather factor. Wind gusts at times were over 50 mph. This created widespread blowing and drifting snow. All major roads in the area were closed again for the 3rd time this year. In Logan Co. the machine shed that is used by the Logan Co. Historical Society to store antiques was damaged by the roof falling in. With the severity of the blowing and drifting snow, roads that were just opened from the last storm were once again blown shut. This lead to the death of a 71 yr. old Fredonia(Logan Co.) man. He…

6. Jan 21, 1997Blizzard, Logan$790,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The last in a string of 4 blizzards to hit North Dakota struck in the morning of the 22nd. Snow amounts with this storm ranged from 2-4 inches, but northwest winds gusted to near 45 mph. Again, east-central and eastern North Dakota were hardest hit. I-29 in North Dakota and I-94 from Bismarck to Fargo were closed again. Injuries and damage amounts estimated.

7. Dec 26, 2023Ice Storm, Logan$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple utility poles were broken, along with multiple cross-members. Many miles of power lines throughout the county were down. The American Red Cross and The Salvation Army deployed to Gackle to establish a shelter as the entire community was without power from early on December 26 until the late evening of December 28. Travel became nearly impossible given the icy conditions.

8. May 24, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was significant damage to farms from about six miles west of Napoleon to about two miles northwest of Napoleon. Damage was done to pole barns and other outbuildings. Six power poles were snapped and one cow was killed in the area west of Napoleon. There was also crop damage.

9. Jul 10, 2011Tornado$450,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service storm survey confirmed that an EF2 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale touched down around seven miles south southwest of Napoleon, then moved east southeast before lifting four miles east of Burnstad. No fewer than three farmsteads were damaged along the path of the tornado. The worst damage occurred seven miles south southwest of Napoleon, where the tornado picked up and threw an 18 thousand bushel grain bin 250 yards, and also destroyed 1,800 feet of shelter belt trees near 100 feet tall. East southeast of this farmstead, the tornado lifted and rolled a ten ton grain bin three quarters of one mile to another farmstead, where it impacted and damaged a…

10. Jan 4, 1997Blizzard, Logan$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.…

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

118°FJul 6, 1936

All-time low

−48°FDec 20, 1916

Warmest night

81°FJul 10, 1936

Coldest day

−31°FJan 11, 1912

Wettest day

5.32 inAug 17, 2014

Snowiest day

16.0 inApr 4, 2026

Hottest year

1934mean 45.9°F

Coldest year

1907mean 36.6°F

Wettest year

197729.41 in

Driest year

19369.07 in

Snowiest season

112.3 in2022-23

Station Napoleon (USC00326255), 1,980 ft elevation, 10.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 24, 2026; 92.6% 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 USC00326255.
• 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.