McLean County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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 (876).

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. Jun 2, 2011Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   See the event episode narrative for details.

2. Apr 23, 2022Blizzard, Mclean$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.

3. Jul 12, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service storm damage survey was completed 0715 CST to 1500 CST the day following the event, July 13, 2006. NWS meteorologist was accompanied by the Mclean County Emergency Manager. Damage was extensive and severe. Nearly every building in the town of about 80 people was damaged. The degree of damage varied with heavier damage to structures and trees on the west side of the town, including to a school built in 1916 and used until the mid 1960s. Just across highway 83, on the west side of town, an empty railroad coal car was off the tracks and on its side. The structural and tree damage pattern, coupled with comments from eye witnesses and 88D RADAR data, led to…

4. Jan 9, 1997Blizzard, Mclean$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…

5. Apr 4, 1997Blizzard, Mclean$1.5 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…

6. Aug 24, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$675,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant damage to a grain elevator, one home, and a few vehicles in Falkirk, ND.

7. Aug 1, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant damage occurred in White Shield and the surrounding area. Homes had vinyl siding damaged by wind driven hail. Vehicle windshields along with windows in homes were broken. In White Shield, four campers were blown over.

8. Jul 23, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm wind gust speed was based on damage photos. Multiple roofs were damaged. Large trees were snapped and uprooted, and one tree landed on a car and crushed it. Various other vehicles were damaged by falling trees and limbs. A camper was overturned.

9. Jun 28, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extensive wind damage occurred in the Brush Lake and Mercer areas. Multiple metal sheds were blown over and boating docks were damaged. Large trees at Brush Lake were snapped and uprooted. Multiple campers were heavily damaged.

10. Apr 1, 2009Flood$350,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy overland flooding occurred as the result of rapid runoff from snowmelt. Flooding damaged many county and township roads along with 35 homes.

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

106°F2 times, most recently Aug 18, 2003

All-time low

−37°FJan 29, 1966

Warmest night

76°FJul 24, 1997

Coldest day

−24°F2 times, most recently Feb 2, 1989

Wettest day

3.00 inAug 20, 1980

Snowiest day

20.0 in2 times, most recently Nov 30, 2016

Hottest year

1987mean 47.1°F

Coldest year

2019mean 38.0°F

Wettest year

200025.31 in

Driest year

19889.09 in

Snowiest season

116.0 in1996-97

Station Underwood (USC00328872), 2,045 ft elevation, 6.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1954 to October 26, 2026; 95.1% 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 USC00328872.
• 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.