Williams County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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 (2,635).

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 23, 2022Blizzard, Williams$15.0 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.

2. Oct 5, 2024Wildfire, Williams$12.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was a complex of two main fires in Williams County, referred to as the Ray-Tioga Fire and the Highway 85 Fire. Both of these fires crossed US Highway 2, and the Highway 85 fire nearly entered the town of Ray. Nearly 90,000 acres were burned by these fires, which resulted in two deaths and eight injuries. Many livestock animals died from the wildfires and many miles of fence was destroyed or severely damaged. In addition, two farmsteads were lost, farm equipment was burned including combines and tractors, vehicles and multiple power poles were burned, and many shelterbelts and windbreaks were destroyed. Approximately 425 power poles needed to be replaced in Williams County as…

3. Jan 9, 1997Blizzard, Williams$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. Sep 3, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Analysis of damage photos indicated that the peak wind was around 80 mph. The Williston Airport ASOS measured 71 mph at 8:33 PM CDT, but the worst damage was in other parts of Williston. Large trees were snapped and uprooted, fences were destroyed, and vehicles were destroyed by falling trees. It was estimated that the high winds lasted for about 10 minutes. Half dollar sized hail was also reported at this time.

5. Jun 10, 2021Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This was the first of multiple rounds of hail to strike the Williston area the evening of June 10. With this round, hail up to the size of tennis balls fell over the Williston area. This caused damage to many roofs and vehicles, including damaging every police car in the city, and every vehicle parked in the Williams County facility lot. In addition, strong winds with this storm blew a roof off a truck and car wash.

6. Jun 10, 2021Flash Flood$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to five inches of rain fell in the Williston area as multiple rounds of thunderstorms passed through. This led to widespread street flooding, with water affecting many homes. In addition, multiple vehicles were damaged by the flood waters. This includes a combination of parked vehicles and ones where the driver entered the flood waters.

7. Apr 18, 2006Winter Storm, Williams$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   See StormData entry for High Wind from April 18, 2006. The high wind event evolved into a winter storm with snow and gusty winds in the 30 to 40 mph range and visibility near zero at times in open country. Power lines were downed with 184 poles reported damaged or destroyed in Williams County alone. An estimated one thousand people were without power at one time or another. In McKenzie County there were three (3) deaths (indirect) and four (4) injuries (indirect) because of a three (3) vehicle accident along U.S. Highway 85. A family from Texas was traveling to Montana when they were involved in a head on accident in McKenzie County, about 20 miles south of Watford City. Killed…

8. Aug 8, 1999Hail$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail damage to 30 homes, 150 vehicles and 30 to 100 percent crop damage.

9. Jun 25, 2015Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Over two inches of rain fell in a very short time period and led to flash flooding along parts of North Dakota Highway 1804 southwest of Williston. People were isolated by flood waters and unable to leave their homes at the flood peak. Damage occurred to roads and soil was significantly eroded in several areas.

10. Jul 18, 2022Hail$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Large hail fell over the Williston area causing damage to roofs, siding, and vehicles.

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

108°FJul 27, 1988

All-time low

−40°F2 times, most recently Dec 23, 1983

Warmest night

79°FAug 13, 1965

Coldest day

−25°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

3.80 inJul 3, 1993

Snowiest day

15.0 inMay 12, 1983

Hottest year

1987mean 47.9°F

Coldest year

1957mean 39.2°F

Wettest year

199322.45 in

Driest year

20206.13 in

Snowiest season

64.9 in2008-09

Station Williston Experiment Farm (USC00329430), 2,105 ft elevation, 8.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1956 to July 26, 2026; 95.2% 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 USC00329430.
• 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.