Wells County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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 (3).

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 1, 2009Flood$2.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rapid snowmelt created heavy overland flooding and flooding in the upper James River basin. This resulted in flood damage to numerous county and township roads along with 201 homes.

2. Jan 9, 1997Blizzard, Wells$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…

3. Apr 4, 1997Blizzard, Wells$1.0 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…

4. Jun 28, 2018Hail$850,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A slow moving supercell thunderstorm dropped very large hail on the Harvey area. House roofs and gutters were damaged throughout the city. Many vehicles were damaged with windshields and back windows shattered. Crops were damaged, though most were expected to rebound as the plants were young enough to do so.

5. Jan 21, 1997Blizzard, Wells$790,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The last in a string of 4 blizzards to hit North Dakota struck in the morning of the 22nd. Snow amounts with this storm ranged from 2-4 inches, but northwest winds gusted to near 45 mph. Again, east-central and eastern North Dakota were hardest hit. I-29 in North Dakota and I-94 from Bismarck to Fargo were closed again. Injuries and damage amounts estimated.

6. Jun 20, 2015Hail$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail was accompanied by wind gusts up to 60 mph. Damage was extensive to buildings and at an automobile dealership on the south side of Harvey. There was also crop damage.

7. Jun 27, 2025Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind driven hail caused extensive damage throughout the community of Bowdon, with most homes suffering broken windows. Significant vehicle damage also occurred along with widespread roof damage.

8. Sep 20, 2019Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Deep flood waters flowed over many roads and caused damage throughout much of southern Wells County, where up to seven inches of rain fell from thunderstorms. Multiple roads were washed out and so closed for days. Parts of State Highway 200 and U.S. Highway 52 were closed resulting in major traffic detours. A part of State Highway 200 near Bowdon was washed out. The heavy rain also caused crop damage and yield loss. Hay bales were partially submerged in flood water. Soil erosion was extensive.

9. Aug 9, 2021Hail$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple vehicles and roofs were damaged.

10. Aug 9, 2021Hail$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorms developed along a surface trough over north-central North Dakota into the James River Valley region. Some of these storms produced very large hail in an environment of elevated instability and strong deep layer shear. The largest hail was produced by an intense thunderstorm that moved through eastern Wells County, resulting in baseball size hail in the city of Fessenden, and three inch diameter hail to the east of Bowdon.

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°FJul 27, 1988

All-time low

−41°FFeb 1, 1996

Warmest night

78°FJul 20, 2002

Coldest day

−25°FFeb 2, 1989

Wettest day

5.60 inJun 30, 2020

Snowiest day

30.0 inOct 13, 2019

Hottest year

1988mean 44.7°F

Coldest year

2013mean 36.8°F

Wettest year

200030.05 in

Driest year

19887.38 in

Snowiest season

53.5 in1949-50

Station Harvey 4NE (USC00324013), 1,611 ft elevation, 10.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1979 to August 31, 2026; 86.8% 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 USC00324013.
• 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.