Steele County, North Dakota severe weather history spans 360 recorded events between 1958 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 48.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,429 nationally and #23 in North Dakota.
360
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
4
Direct injuries
$8.2M
Property damage
The record
What the Steele County, North Dakota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Steele County, North Dakota severe weather history averages 5.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 144 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 48 events fall before 1990 and 312 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is thunderstorm wind, with $6.2M in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Steele County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 175 | 0 | $198K | 4.5 | 1971–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 107 | 0 | $6.2M | 96 | 1964–2025 |
| Tornado | 44 | 0 | $1.4M | F3 | 1958–2022 |
| Flash Flood | 12 | 0 | $310K | 0 | 1996–2019 |
| Flood | 10 | 0 | $90K | 0 | 2006–2019 |
| Funnel Cloud | 9 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2006–2021 |
| Heavy Rain | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2011–2011 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $10K | 0 | 2002–2002 |
Decade by decade
Steele 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
45 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 43 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971-06-21 | EF3 | 0 | 1 | 13.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-08-09 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2010-06-17 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2010-06-17 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1976-06-12 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1971-06-21 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 12.7 mi | Crossed in |
| 2020-06-08 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2015-06-27 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2015-06-27 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2010-06-17 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Steele County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Finley | 0 | 3 | $500K |
| Jun 21, 1971 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $250K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Five wooden double post high voltage power towers were snapped off by downburst winds. The utility company estimated winds around 100 mph. Large hail and damaging winds produced extensive crop damage across portions of Easton and Melrose Townships.
Fully grown trees were uprooted. Some trees fell on power poles and powerlines, causing power outages in Finley. Trees also fell on cars and damage was reported at the grain elevator. On one house porch, the windows were blown out and the screens were torn off. Extensive wind driven hail produced crop damage across portions of Finley Township.
There was a report of quarter size hail, 1.50 inches of rain, and full grown pine trees broken in half. The baseball field scoreboard was blown down and the metal batting cage was blown across two baseball diamonds. Extensive crop damage occurred throughout Hugo Township.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
1,804
Population (ACS)
$131K
Median home value
31
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 22, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR |
| 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 5, 2023 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
| Jul 13, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jul 9, 2020 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Steele County, North Dakota?
360 events are on record between 1958 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $8.2M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Steele County?
Hail, with 175 recorded events — 48.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Steele County?
45 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 43 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Steele County?
31 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Steele County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Steele County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Steele County as very low risk, placing it in the 7 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Steele 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
- Stark County 493
- Stutsman County 577
- Slope County 167
- Towner County 281
- Sioux County 207
- Traill County 407
Cite this page
“Steele County, North Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-dakota/steele-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.