Dickey County, North Dakota severe weather history spans 294 recorded events between 1957 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 47.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,810 nationally and #33 in North Dakota.
294
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$8.7M
Property damage
The record
What the Dickey County, North Dakota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Dickey County, North Dakota severe weather history averages 4.3 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 86 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 50 events fall before 1990 and 244 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is thunderstorm wind, with $3.9M 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 Dickey County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 140 | 0 | $1.4M | 4.5 | 1961–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 92 | 0 | $3.9M | 109 | 1960–2025 |
| Tornado | 35 | 0 | $1.0M | F2 | 1957–2020 |
| Funnel Cloud | 10 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2009–2020 |
| Flash Flood | 8 | 0 | $1.4M | 0 | 2000–2018 |
| Flood | 4 | 0 | $899K | 0 | 2009–2023 |
| Heavy Rain | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2011–2011 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2005 |
Decade by decade
Dickey 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
33 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 32 touched down inside it and 1 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965-05-20 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 3.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 1999-07-27 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1966-07-31 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1957-06-20 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-07-10 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2003-07-20 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-06-03 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1967-06-30 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2020-06-20 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2020-06-07 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Dickey County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 3, 1989 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 1 | $0 | |
| Aug 2, 1989 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A National Weather Service Storm Survey was conducted across Dickey County. Widespread mature hardwood trees were snapped or uprooted along a 45 mile long and 4 mile wide damage swath, along with thousands of acres of crop damage due to wind driven hail. Several communities along the damage path also had severe wind damage. Near Merricourt, damage was observed to a home and to several farm vehicles. In Monango, extensive tree damage was observed, including a large hardwood tree with the diameter of 22 inches. A pole barn and two grain bins were destroyed two miles south of Fullerton, along with several large trees snapped or uprooted. Around Oakes, numerous buildings sustained heavy damage, along with the destruction of a 200 foot radio station tower. Damage across Dickey County was extensive.
Extensive damage occurred throughout the city of Ellendale and surrounding areas. In Ellendale, many hardwood trees were snapped and others were uprooted, some falling onto homes. A home had almost all the shingles and much of the sheathing torn off the roof, and the garage door was collapsed inward. Some power poles were broken in town, and several power service lines to homes were torn. South of Ellendale to the South Dakota state line, multiple power poles were snapped. At the Ellendale Cemetery, multiple hardwood and softwood trees were snapped and others were uprooted. In parts of Ellendale, ping pong ball size hail accompanied the storm.
Rain amounts across the Ellendale area ranged from five to eight inches from slow moving rain showers and low-topped thunderstorms. The bulk of the rain fell in about three hours with the rain event lasting about six hours. This led to runoff that flooded basements with up to four feet of water and caused sanitary sewer systems to back up. One basement wall collapsed. A total of 24 homes were affected along with two churches and one apartment complex.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
4,935
Population (ACS)
$162K
Median home value
32
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 15, 2024 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR |
| Jul 5, 2023 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
| Feb 5, 2023 | Snowstorm | SEVERE WINTER STORM, SNOWSTORM, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | 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 |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Dickey County, North Dakota?
294 events are on record between 1957 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $8.7M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Dickey County?
Hail, with 140 recorded events — 47.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Dickey County?
33 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 32 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Dickey County?
32 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Dickey County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Dickey County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Dickey County as very low risk, placing it in the 16 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Dickey 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
- Cavalier County 427
- Divide County 170
- Cass County 1,139
- Dunn County 309
- Burleigh County 681
- Eddy County 280
Cite this page
“Dickey County, North Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-dakota/dickey-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.