Burke County, North Dakota severe weather history spans 214 recorded events between 1969 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 56.1% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,356 nationally and #42 in North Dakota.
214
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$3.1M
Property damage
The record
What the Burke County, North Dakota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Burke County, North Dakota severe weather history averages 3.8 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 66 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 34 events fall before 1990 and 180 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $968K in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Burke County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 120 | 0 | $765K | 2.75 | 1975–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 53 | 0 | $828K | 78 | 1971–2025 |
| Tornado | 27 | 0 | $968K | F2 | 1969–2010 |
| Lightning | 9 | 0 | $421K | 0 | 1997–2006 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2012–2015 |
| Flood | 2 | 0 | $80K | 0 | 2014–2023 |
| Flash Flood | 1 | 0 | $75K | 0 | 2011–2011 |
Decade by decade
Burke 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
20 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-08-12 | EF3 | 1 | 1 | 5.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-07-08 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 9.7 mi | Crossed in |
| 2001-07-19 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1984-07-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1979-06-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 13.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 2010-08-12 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2010-08-12 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2010-06-17 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2010-07-26 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-07-08 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 1.8 mi | Touched down here |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Lightning struck two salt water tanks at oil wells. One oil well 2 miles southeast of Lignite was struck at 715 AM CST, while another 2 miles northwest of Lignite was struck at 830 AM CST. Both strikes started fires, with fire crews unable to get close to the fires due to the intense heat. Loss in production was estimated at 15K per day. The 250K damage was to property.
A tornado was reported west of Portal near the Canadian border where it blew out the windows of two vehicles and blew the vehicles into the ditch. The tornado continued east-southeast towards the southern side of the town of Portal, uprooting 12 inch in diameter trees, snapping several power poles, and destroying an old oak barn. The tornado then continued east of Portal, uprooting several more large trees, downing more power lines, and destroying a granary, before dissipating. The damage corresponded to low end EF1 on the Enhanced Fujita Tornado Scale. From that it was determined that wind speeds were around 90 mph. No injuries and no deaths were reported.
Hail up to the size of tennis balls lasted around 30 minutes and covered the ground. The large hail was accompanied with strong winds, and resulted in broken windows, damage to vehicles, and damage to siding and shingles.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
2,156
Population (ACS)
$158K
Median home value
21
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 2023 | Flood | FLOODING | 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 Burke County, North Dakota?
214 events are on record between 1969 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $3.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Burke County?
Hail, with 120 recorded events — 56.1% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Burke County?
20 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 18 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Burke County?
21 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Burke County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Burke County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Burke County as very low risk, placing it in the 1 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Burke 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
- Bowman County 297
- Burleigh County 681
- Bottineau County 314
- Cass County 1,139
- Billings County 171
- Cavalier County 427
Cite this page
“Burke County, North Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-dakota/burke-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.