Walsh County, North Dakota severe weather history spans 513 recorded events between 1960 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 45.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #830 nationally and #11 in North Dakota.
513
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$6.7M
Property damage
The record
What the Walsh County, North Dakota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Walsh County, North Dakota severe weather history averages 7.9 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 189 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 65 events fall before 1990 and 448 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is flood, with $3.2M 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 Walsh County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 234 | 0 | $50K | 4 | 1961–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 166 | 0 | $2.7M | 96 | 1966–2025 |
| Tornado | 54 | 0 | $585K | F2 | 1960–2025 |
| Flood | 24 | 0 | $3.2M | 0 | 2000–2023 |
| Flash Flood | 17 | 0 | $151K | 0 | 1996–2020 |
| Funnel Cloud | 14 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2008–2022 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $10K | 0 | 2006–2011 |
| Heavy Rain | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2012–2020 |
Decade by decade
Walsh 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
55 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 53 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999-06-06 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1999-06-06 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-06-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-07-11 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-07-11 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2016-07-19 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2016-07-19 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-06-03 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 25.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2010-06-17 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2010-05-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Walsh County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 2006 | Lightning | GRAFTON | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 7, 1971 | 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
Four 75 foot tall 30,000 bushel grain bins were crushed by the strong wind. These bins were about half full at the time. A roof was also blown off a fertilizer plant and numerous trees were uprooted. Several trees fell on rooftops and power was out in town for several hours.
The tornado lifted a barn from its foundation and destroyed it while uprooting numerous trees in the farmyard. Later the tornado broke down three power poles and snapped off numerous other trees along its route. Peak winds were estimated to 105 mph.
A 54×108 foot building and a shed were destroyed by the tornado. One tractor inside was moved and the building doors were wrapped around the cab. Shingles from the barn were impaled in the swather. Some of the farm equipment was overturned and some boards were driven into the ground. Debris was picked up and tossed in a nearby slough.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
10,396
Population (ACS)
$133K
Median home value
41
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 2023 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
| Jul 13, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jul 9, 2020 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 1, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jan 21, 2020 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Walsh County, North Dakota?
513 events are on record between 1960 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $6.7M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Walsh County?
Hail, with 234 recorded events — 45.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Walsh County?
55 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 53 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Walsh County?
41 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Walsh County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Walsh County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Walsh County as very low risk, placing it in the 29 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Walsh 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
- Traill County 407
- Ward County 585
- Towner County 281
- Wells County 232
- Stutsman County 577
- Williams County 462
Cite this page
“Walsh County, North Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-dakota/walsh-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.