McKenzie County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (18,083), NASA (2).

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. Oct 5, 2024Wildfire, Mckenzie$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were three significant wildfires and multiple other fires in McKenzie County, resulting in over 20,000 acres burned. The first significant fire started very early in the morning when a cold front passed through, and threatened the town of Arnegard. This fire was controlled before the strongest winds occurred. Later that morning the two main fires that developed were the Haystack Fire, which later was re-named the Elkhorn Fire, and the Bear Den Fire. The Elkhorn Fire stared 13 miles southeast of Watford City, while the Bear Den Fire occurred in far eastern McKenzie County. The Bear Den Fire threatened the community of Mandaree, which was protected by multiple airdrops of…

2. Mar 21, 2019Flood$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant ice jam related high waters created flooding along the Yellowstone River through McKenzie County in northwest North Dakota from March 21 to March 28. Homes and infrastructure that had not been inundated in over a generation were impacted. In addition, farm equipment was either damaged or destroyed by the flood waters. A portion of Highway 200 between Cartwright, North Dakota and Fairview, Montana, which is a major route through the region, was closed due to deep water over the highway.

3. Jul 9, 2018Tornado$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   About 135 people were displaced from their homes. One fatality occurred and 28 people were injured, about 13 of them seriously. Based on the damage the tornado was rated EF2 and from that winds were estimated to have been around 127 mph.||This tornado developed just to the west of a large recreational vehicle, camper, and mobile home park on the southwest side of Watford City. The tornado passed through the park causing extensive and severe damage to over 100 recreational vehicles, campers, and single wide manufactured homes. Power poles were snapped and other non-occupied buildings were damaged and some destroyed, including a well-built pole barn. Many vehicles were damaged, some totaled.

4. Apr 23, 2022Blizzard, Mckenzie$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds and heavy snow combined to produce a blizzard. In addition, periods of freezing rain occurred which accreted on power lines. This, combined with strong winds, led to extensive damage to power lines, cross arms, and poles, and thus widespread power outages.

5. May 26, 2014Tornado$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thirteen campers, serving as homes, were completely destroyed and two more were damaged by this tornado. Other damage included a snapped wooden power line pole, automobiles, and fences, both wooden and metal. One automobile was tossed sixty feet and flipped onto its roof, with a trailer parked next to its initial location also flipped and completely destroyed. About a dozen other vehicles were damage, some destroyed. Eye witness reports indicated two other funnel clouds in the immediate area.||Of all the damage surveyed by the National Weather Service the absolute worst corresponded to EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. From that it was determined that the peak wind speeds in the…

6. Oct 31, 1999High Wind, Mckenzie$2.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense low pressure system over southern Saskatchewan Canada trailed a strong cold front intoeastern Montana. The strong cold front entered western North Dakota sunday evening moving intocentral North Dakota before midnight. The storm system continued moving east across the stateduring the morning hours monday November 1st. The system brought widespread winds in excess of65 mph to western and central North Dakota. The high winds combined with very dry conditionscaused numerous wild fires burning thousands of acres of land and a few buildings. Numerous homesand businesses reported wind damage to roofs and windows.

7. Jan 9, 1997Blizzard, Mckenzie$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…

8. Aug 15, 2014Flood$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Upwards of three inches of rain in parts of McKenzie County led to significant overland flooding. There was significant damage to roads and crops. A county emergency declaration was issued.

9. Apr 4, 1997Blizzard, Mckenzie$1.3 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…

10. Apr 30, 2011Blizzard, Mckenzie$500,000
    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. Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down, leading to a prolonged period of power outages across the county. Significant numbers of cattle and calves were lost as a result of the power outages and extreme weather conditions.

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 24, 2007

All-time low

−43°FDec 23, 1983

Warmest night

77°F4 times, most recently Aug 28, 1991

Coldest day

−25°FJan 26, 1972

Wettest day

4.65 inJul 9, 2019

Snowiest day

13.0 inMar 1, 1997

Hottest year

1987mean 47.1°F

Coldest year

1972mean 36.6°F

Wettest year

201927.74 in

Driest year

19796.44 in

Snowiest season

70.1 in1996-97

Station Keene 3S (USC00324571), 2,470 ft elevation, 16.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1959 to August 31, 2026; 98.1% 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 USC00324571.
• 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.