Renville County

Every recorded tornado

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

Mapped landslides

Mapped by ND GS (78).

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. May 1, 2011Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   See the event episode narrative for details.

2. Apr 23, 2022Blizzard, Renville$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. Jan 9, 1997Blizzard, Renville$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. Jun 22, 2011Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Runoff from very heavy rainfall resulted in a rapid four foot rise along the Souris River near Sherwood. A mandatory evacuation was ordered for Mouse River Park located in McKinney Township. One hundred homes, 150 camping sites, and several businesses and buildings were impacted as the Souris River overtopped levees and flash flooded these areas. Dollar damage here is not all inclusive from the flooding.

5. Apr 4, 1997Blizzard, Renville$750,000
   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. Jul 10, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds toppled 85 thousand bushel grain bin. The bin had 4 thousand bushel in it at the time. Another grain bin with more grain in it was severely dented toward the top of the bin.

7. Jul 11, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of late night severe thunderstorms moved east through Renville County into western Bottineau County causing widespread wind damage. Two miles southwest of Mohall a newly constructed home was heavily damaged by wind as was several other buildings located on the property. In the city of Mohall winds damaged a garage, shingles were blown off roofs and a utility shed blown over.

8. Jul 31, 2007Hail$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Storm accompanied by 60 mph wind gusts. Extensive crop damage to thousands of acres of various crops. Thirteen different farms had crop damage. Some crops were completely destroyed. Damage also to siding and windows on farm buildings. Newspaper article read that the total damage could amount to several million dollars.

9. Aug 6, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms initiated near a surface low over southeast Saskatchewan before developing into a line of severe storms which moved southeast into northwest and north central North Dakota where elevated instability and strong deep layer shear were present. The storms contained a mix of large hail and severe winds initially, then towards the end of the episode severe winds prevailed. Over western Renville County, one severe storm caused extensive damage to crops and structures with hail to the size of tennis balls and winds gusting to 80 mph. Late in the episode, winds gusting to 80 mph caused extensive damage around the Turtle Lake area of McLean County, including around Crooked…

10. Aug 6, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A roof was blown off of a pole barn, and the walls were also damaged.

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

107°FAug 7, 1949

All-time low

−36°FDec 23, 1983

Warmest night

75°F3 times, most recently Jul 17, 2022

Coldest day

−25°FDec 23, 1983

Wettest day

5.73 inAug 14, 1987

Snowiest day

27.0 inApr 27, 1984

Hottest year

2016mean 47.0°F

Coldest year

1950mean 34.8°F

Wettest year

197528.39 in

Driest year

20177.60 in

Snowiest season

100.0 in1949-50

Station Minot International Airport (USW00024013), 1,657 ft elevation, 33.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 99.8% 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 USW00024013.
• 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.