244
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$2.9M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Richland County, North Dakota: 244 recorded events between 1960 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 78. That places the county #716 nationally and #4 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Richland County, North Dakota: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Richland County is the 2000s, when 63 of the county's 244 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 Richland County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 34.5% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #716 for this hazard and #4 within North Dakota, putting it in the 77.2 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Richland County with 97 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.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 18, 2002 | GREAT BEND | 0 | 0 | 1 | $20K |
| Jun 5, 1999 | WAHPETON | 0 | 0 | 1 | $75K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14, 2025 | FAIRVIEW JCT | 52 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 2025 | WAHPETON ARPT | 71 | $0 |
| Jun 20, 2025 | WAHPETON | 50 | $0 |
| Jun 20, 2025 | HANKINSON | 56 | $0 |
| Jul 31, 2024 | WAHPETON ARPT | 57 | $0 |
| Jul 31, 2024 | MOORETON | 56 | $0 |
| Jul 31, 2024 | OSWALD | 51 | $0 |
| Jul 31, 2024 | LIDGERWOOD | 56 | $0 |
| Jul 31, 2024 | HANKINSON | 61 | $0 |
| Jul 31, 2024 | HANKINSON | 52 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Richland County
- Hail 296
- Tornado 62
- Flash Flood 44
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Several grain bins were dented in and numerous large tree limbs were broken down at a farmstead. Numerous tree branches were broken down in shelterbelts throughout Devillo and Lemars townships. Some corn fields were flattened.
A squall with embedded microburst moved across the Fairmount area, snapping large branches and smaller trees at numerous rural properties and in the town itself. The overhead doors were blown in on a few garages and an industrial building. A fertilizer plant had a large north-facing overhead door blown in and a section of its northeast side wall blown out.
The wind gust was measured by a NDSU NDAWN mesonet site. Numerous large tree limbs were broken down around the town of Wyndmere along with four wooden power poles. Wind damage was widespread throughout Wyndmere and Danton townships suggestive of peak winds from 55 to 65 mph, with isolated peak winds to 80 mph.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Richland County, North Dakota?
244 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Richland County between 1960 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Richland County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Richland County measured 78.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Richland 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
“Thunderstorm Wind in Richland County, North Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-dakota/richland-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.