Sargent County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (45).

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. Apr 4, 1997Ice Storm, Sargent$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…

2. Apr 5, 1997Blizzard, Sargent$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…

3. Jul 10, 2011Tornado$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado was enshrouded in downburst winds and heavy rains, but was briefly visible to spotters near Cogswell. The tornado ripped out nearly seven miles of dual wooden high voltage power line along its track. Numerous trees and singular power poles were snapped and pole sheds and steel grain bins were destroyed at multiple locations. Peak winds were estimated at 120 mph.

4. Jul 20, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Three of four 44,000 bushel grain bins were blown over at the Crete Elevator complex. The fourth, which was full of grain, remained standing. Eight 40,000 bushel grains bins were also damaged and one 40,000 bushel grain bin was blown down.

5. Jul 3, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two 30,000 bushel grain bins were destroyed by the strong wind. The tops of two 4,000 bushel grain silos were damaged. A flag pole and large trees were blown over. Ten homes had broken windows, damaged siding, and damaged roofing.

6. Jul 10, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous tree limbs were broken down around town. Fields were flattened by wind or stripped bare by wind driven hail. Wind damage occurred throughout Rutland and Dunbar townships from the 80 mph gusts.

7. Jul 10, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several houses lost shingles or had siding or roofing damages. Numerous large trees and tree limbs were broken down around town. Widespread wind damage was evident throughout Bowen and Forman townships.

8. Jun 24, 1998Flood, Sargent$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   8 inches of rain in a week brought numerous flooding problems to the cities of Forman and Cogswell. Many homes had to be sandbagged to protect them from the overland flooding. One trailer park in Forman was evacuated, as water 3 to 5 feet deep poured in. This caused 17 residents to be evacuated. Cogswell residents were without drinking water, as a lift station flooded. Water covered the main street of Cogswell 16 inches deep. Highway 11 from Forman to Lidgerwood was closed due to high water. The National Guard was called in to assist local officials. Several basements were in danger of collapse from the groundwater pressure.

9. Nov 27, 2005Winter Storm, Sargent$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   [see the event description under the Grand Forks through Traill Winter Storm event above]

10. Apr 1, 2006Flood$245,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Water tables remained high across Sargent County after substantial rainfall in 2005. Many roads and bridges were damaged and vehicles were getting stuck on soft rural roads. Several residents reported water in their basements. Sargent County received a Presidential Disaster Declaration for damages caused by spring flooding.

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

114°FJul 6, 1936

All-time low

−41°F5 times, most recently Feb 2, 1996

Warmest night

84°FJun 18, 1933

Coldest day

−21°F2 times, most recently Jan 18, 1994

Wettest day

6.00 inJun 10, 1931

Snowiest day

14.2 inMar 25, 1936

Hottest year

1987mean 47.5°F

Coldest year

1950mean 37.6°F

Wettest year

200532.17 in

Driest year

19766.69 in

Snowiest season

72.7 in2022-23

Station Mcleod 3 E (USC00325754), 1,075 ft elevation, 22.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1912 to October 27, 2026; 94.0% 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 USC00325754.
• 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.