Grant County, North Dakota severe weather history spans 324 recorded events between 1954 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 57.7% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,642 nationally and #25 in North Dakota.
324
Recorded events
5
Direct deaths
40
Direct injuries
$11.4M
Property damage
The record
What the Grant County, North Dakota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Grant County, North Dakota severe weather history averages 4.6 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 110 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 56 events fall before 1990 and 268 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Grant County, North Dakota record is tornado, responsible for 5 direct deaths. The costliest is hail, with $5.1M in reported property damage. In total, 9 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Grant County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 187 | 0 | $5.1M | 4.5 | 1975–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 90 | 0 | $2.5M | 111 | 1957–2025 |
| Tornado | 27 | 5 | $3.0M | F4 | 1954–2016 |
| Funnel Cloud | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2003–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 5 | 0 | $275K | 0 | 2001–2021 |
| Flood | 4 | 0 | $467K | 0 | 2001–2009 |
| Heavy Rain | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2011–2013 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $65K | 0 | 1997–2010 |
| Wildfire | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2002–2002 |
Decade by decade
Grant County, North Dakota severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
29 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 27 touched down inside it and 2 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978-07-04 | EF4 | 5 | 35 | 26.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1975-06-29 | EF4 | 1 | 4 | 68.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2011-06-12 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2010-05-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 1986-06-29 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1983-08-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1976-06-11 | EF1 | 0 | 1 | 6.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1976-06-11 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1966-06-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-06-13 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Grant County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 1978 | Tornado | 5 | 35 | $2.5M | |
| Jul 5, 2014 | Hail | ELGIN | 0 | 3 | $750K |
| Jun 1, 1997 | Lightning | 3 S ELGIN | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 12, 1976 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $25K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
There were numerous reports of golf ball to over baseball size hail across the Lake Tschida and Heart Butte Dam area resulting in significant damage to vehicles, campers, and trailer homes in the recreational area. In addition three people received non-life threatening head injuries from the hail. They were treated at the scene.
A supercell thunderstorm passed over northern Grant County, producing very large hail up to three inches in diameter. Numerous farmers and ranchers sustained crop and property loss. Damage reports include a collapsed roof on a pole barn, holes punched in siding and roofs, extensive loss of structural and vehicle glass, extensive vehicle damage, tractor and farm equipment damage, and widespread crop losses.
A National Weather Service storm survey confirmed that an EF2 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale touched down eight miles south-southwest of Elgin, then moved northeast before lifting 3 miles south-southeast of Elgin. No fewer than four farmsteads were damaged along the path of the tornado. The worst damage occurred six miles south-southwest of Elgin, where the tornado was nearly one half of a mile wide, damaging every building on a farmstead and completely destroying the smaller buildings. Damage also occurred to trees, vehicles, and power poles. The damage surveyed corresponded to EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. From that it was determined that wind speeds were on the order of around 120 miles per hour.||Farther north-northeast, three other farmsteads sustained tornado damage. Damage on the first two farmsteads north-northeast of the worst damage was consistent with an EF1 tornado. The farthest north farmstead had damage consistent with an EF0 tornado. ||There were no injuries or fatalities with this tornado.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
2,269
Population (ACS)
$93K
Median home value
27
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 11, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORM, TORNADOES, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR |
| Feb 15, 2024 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR |
| Jul 13, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND FLOODING | DR |
| Sep 1, 2021 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 1, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Grant County, North Dakota?
324 events are on record between 1954 and 2025, causing 5 direct deaths and $11.4M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Grant County?
Hail, with 187 recorded events — 57.7% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Grant County?
29 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 27 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Grant County?
27 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Grant County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Grant County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Grant County as very low risk, placing it in the 15 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Grant County, North Dakota severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Grand Forks County 1,011
- Griggs County 319
- Golden Valley County 225
- Hettinger County 303
- Foster County 199
- Kidder County 255
Cite this page
“Grant County, North Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-dakota/grant-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.