Williams County, North Dakota severe weather history spans 462 recorded events between 1953 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 49.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,010 nationally and #15 in North Dakota.
462
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$8.3M
Property damage
The record
What the Williams County, North Dakota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Williams County, North Dakota severe weather history averages 6.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 172 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 60 events fall before 1990 and 402 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Williams County, North Dakota record is thunderstorm wind, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is hail, with $3.3M 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 Williams County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 229 | 0 | $3.3M | 3 | 1957–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 177 | 1 | $2.6M | 98 | 1960–2025 |
| Tornado | 25 | 0 | $558K | F3 | 1953–2025 |
| Funnel Cloud | 17 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2004–2024 |
| Flood | 6 | 0 | $375K | 0 | 2011–2014 |
| Flash Flood | 4 | 0 | $1.4M | 0 | 2010–2021 |
| Lightning | 3 | 0 | $45K | 0 | 1997–2010 |
| Dust Devil | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2006–2006 |
Decade by decade
Williams 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
28 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 28 touched down inside it and 0 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974-07-11 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1982-06-27 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1976-06-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1953-06-13 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1977-05-17 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 8.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1975-06-27 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-07-07 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-09-12 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-06-10 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2015-07-26 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 3.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Williams County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 27, 1990 | Thunderstorm Wind | 1 | 1 | $0 | |
| May 7, 2006 | Dust Devil | TRENTON | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
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.
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.
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.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
39,555
Population (ACS)
$285K
Median home value
19
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 24, 2024 | Fire | WILDFIRES 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 |
| May 20, 2011 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Williams County, North Dakota?
462 events are on record between 1953 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $8.3M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Williams County?
Hail, with 229 recorded events — 49.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Williams County?
28 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 28 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Williams County?
19 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Williams County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Williams County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Williams County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 54 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Williams 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
- Wells County 232
- Ward County 585
- Walsh County 513
- Traill County 407
- Towner County 281
- Stutsman County 577
Cite this page
“Williams County, North Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-dakota/williams-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.