Nelson County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by ND GS (15).

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. Jun 27, 1997Hail$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Most of the 190 homes in Michigan suffered roof damage and broken windows. Many vehicles were also dented. The two implement dealers in Michigan suffered extensive damage to their inventories.

2. Apr 4, 1997Ice Storm, Nelson$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…

3. Apr 5, 1997Blizzard, Nelson$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…

4. Aug 1, 2001Flood, Nelson$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Devils Lake rose to a new record stage of 1448.10 feet on August 9th. The lake now covered 129,000 acres and was beginning to flow into Stump Lake at about 20 cfs. Highway 1 near Stump Lake was close to being flooded. A total of $37.5 million has been spent on highway construction alone this year. Highway 19 was closed at the city of Devils Lake as a new bridge was being constructed. U.S. Highway 2 was partially closed as its grade was being raised and a new bridge was being built over the Mauvais Coulee near Churchs Ferry. Damages continued at the parks around the lake, especially at Grahams Island, Shelvers Grove, and Black Tiger Bay. High water levels flooded basements in the…

5. Jun 1, 2009Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Devils Lake and Stump Lake continued their modern day historic rise through the month of June. By the end of June, Devils Lake had risen to about 1450.60 feet MSL and Stump Lake had risen to about 1450.50 feet MSL. The rising lake levels resulted in a flurry of new discussions about dikes, safe drinking water, lake outlets, building up roadbeds, and buying out homes. Price tags on any of these projects were usually in the millions of dollars.

6. Jun 12, 2000Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   After 10 to 15 inches of rain fell across portions of east central Nelson county, flash flooding occurred. Part of the road shoulder washed out at the US Highway 2 overpass near Petersburg, reducing the traffic to one lane. Several farmsteads were surrounded by water. 45 percent of the cropland in Nelson county was destroyed.

7. Jul 1, 2009Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The month of July brought a reprieve to the lake rise on Devils Lake and Stump Lake, with most areas across the state receiving below normal precipitation amounts. This allowed the levels on both lakes to drop about 0.20 feet MSL during the month, falling to about 1450.40 feet MSL by July 31st.

8. Jul 18, 2001Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado hit the home of the Nelson county sheriff, who was out of town at the time. The tornado tore the roof off the house and destroyed the barn. A piece of farm machinery was thrown through the bedroom wall and a tractor was hurled 75 yards. The sheriff's squad car was crushed.

9. Sep 20, 2019Flash Flood$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Streets, low spots, rivers, and basements were flooded by 4 to 9 inches of rain over a short duration of time. Cars that got stuck in the flood waters were abandoned where they stalled. Farm fields and access roads were also flooded.

10. Sep 21, 2019Flash Flood$125,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Streets, low spots, rivers, and basements were flooded by 4 to 9 inches of rain over a short duration of time. Cars that got stuck in the flood waters were abandoned where they stalled. Farm fields and access roads were also flooded.

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

103°FJun 5, 2021

All-time low

−44°FFeb 1, 1996

Warmest night

74°FJul 1, 1966

Coldest day

−31°FFeb 2, 1996

Wettest day

3.74 inOct 8, 1985

Snowiest day

14.0 in2 times, most recently Apr 12, 2022

Hottest year

2024mean 45.0°F

Coldest year

1979mean 33.5°F

Wettest year

198529.70 in

Driest year

19367.91 in

Snowiest season

72.0 in1985-86

Station Petersburg 2 N (USC00327027), 1,532 ft elevation, 12.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1944 to October 14, 2026; 91.2% 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 USC00327027.
• 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.