42
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$363K
Property damage
Tornado in McHenry County, North Dakota: 42 recorded events between 1965 and 2025. The strongest on record measured F2. That places the county #567 nationally and #16 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in McHenry County, North Dakota: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in McHenry County is the 1990s, when 15 of the county's 42 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the McHenry County archive, tornado makes up 11.9% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #567 for this hazard and #16 within North Dakota, putting it in the 80.4 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for tornado in McHenry County with 15 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982-06-06 | EF2 | 10.0 mi | 100 yd | Crossed in |
| 2007-06-22 | EF1 | 0.5 mi | 250 yd | Touched down here |
| 2002-06-23 | EF1 | 2.0 mi | 50 yd | Crossed in |
| 1994-07-18 | EF1 | 10.0 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 1979-08-03 | EF1 | 0.1 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1978-05-25 | EF1 | 0.3 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1977-05-15 | EF1 | 1.3 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 2025-09-14 | EF0 | 3.4 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 2025-09-14 | EF0 | 1.8 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
| 2025-09-14 | EF0 | 7.3 mi | 100 yd | Crossed in |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2025 | GRANVILLE | EFU | $0 |
| Sep 14, 2025 | KARLSRUHE | EFU | $0 |
| Sep 14, 2025 | KARLSRUHE | EFU | $0 |
| Sep 14, 2025 | BALFOUR | EFU | $0 |
| Sep 14, 2025 | BUTTE | EFU | $0 |
| Aug 24, 2023 | VOLTAIRE | EFU | $0 |
| Aug 24, 2023 | VOLTAIRE | EFU | $0 |
| Jul 21, 2013 | GRANVILLE | EF0 | $0 |
| Jun 25, 2013 | VELVA | EF0 | $0 |
| Jul 27, 2010 | BALFOUR | EF0 | $30K |
Other hazards here
More from McHenry County
- Hail 197
- Thunderstorm Wind 84
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The tornado damage path was 1/2 mile from the intersection of 7th Avenue North and 74th Street North, 6 mile south of Upham, toward the southeast. The damage width was 250 yards. Damage was mainly to trees and outbuildings on one farm property, and corresponded to an EF1 rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. From this rating, wind speeds were determined to be on the order of 100 mph. Some specific damage included 3 to 4 foot diameter trees uprooted, roof torn off of chicken coop, and a large barn kinked on its foundation.
A brief tornado touchdown occurred at a farmstead near Balfour. The tornado destroyed an outbuilding and did no other damage. The damage was consistent with EF0 tornado damage from the Enhanced Fujita Scale. From that it was determined that the wind speeds were around 80 mph.
This tornado, a landspout, touched down in an open field south-southeast of Voltaire and impacted no structures. There was no damage to evaluate and so by National Weather Service policy the tornado is rated EF Unknown. This was the first of two landspout tornadoes in the Voltaire area of McHenry County this day, 12 minutes apart, from two different thunderstorms.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in McHenry County, North Dakota?
42 tornado events are recorded in McHenry County between 1965 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in McHenry County?
The strongest tornado on record in McHenry County measured F2.
Where does the tornado data for McHenry County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Tornado in McHenry County, North Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-dakota/mchenry-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.