Emmons County, North Dakota severe weather history spans 318 recorded events between 1953 and 2026. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 44.3% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,678 nationally and #27 in North Dakota.
318
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
3
Direct injuries
$8.9M
Property damage
The record
What the Emmons County, North Dakota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Emmons County, North Dakota severe weather history averages 4.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 103 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 56 events fall before 1990 and 262 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 $3.1M 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 Emmons County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 141 | 0 | $1.7M | 4.5 | 1960–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 120 | 0 | $3.1M | 88 | 1960–2026 |
| Tornado | 42 | 0 | $2.4M | F5 | 1953–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 6 | 0 | $695K | 0 | 2005–2021 |
| Funnel Cloud | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2001–2016 |
| Flood | 2 | 0 | $1.0M | 0 | 2009–2009 |
| Heavy Rain | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2011–2011 |
| Wildfire | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2003–2003 |
Decade by decade
Emmons 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
47 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 45 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953-05-29 | EF5 | 2 | 20 | 14.8 mi | Crossed in |
| 1955-07-01 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 1.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-06-27 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-09-14 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 6.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1974-08-19 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1974-05-26 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1964-05-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 47.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1959-08-25 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-06-27 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2001-06-09 | EF1 | 0 | 1 | 10.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Emmons County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 13, 1976 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $0 | |
| Jun 10, 2001 | Tornado | HAZELTON | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Beaver creek at Linton flooded due to snow melt from heavy rain, and ice jams just west of Linton. Overland flooding damaged state, county and township roads. Seventy three homes were flooded. Flooding continued into April.
Over five inches of rain was measured over parts of west-central into northeast Emmons County, with over seven inches indicated on radar, leading to flash flooding. In Hazelton, streets and yards flooded. Near Braddock, a mail delivery vehicle was swept away in flood waters, along with another vehicle. Multiple rural roads were heavily damaged.
Very significant damage occurred in the city of Linton. Two automobile dealerships reported $110,000 damage total. Nearly every vehicle parked outside had some type of damage, either dents or cracked windows. Damage to structures, mainly roofs, eave troughs, and vents, was widespread throughout the city. Outside of town damage was reported to farm houses, outbuildings, and horse trailers. The hail swath was about five and a half miles long and a mile wide, right through Linton. Crop damage was minimal in comparison as the storm hailed itself out about 4 miles east of town. Little crop land was affected.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
3,254
Population (ACS)
$117K
Median home value
26
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 11, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORM, TORNADOES, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | 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 |
| Jan 21, 2020 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
| Jun 12, 2019 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Emmons County, North Dakota?
318 events are on record between 1953 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths and $8.9M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Emmons County?
Hail, with 141 recorded events — 44.3% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Emmons County?
47 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 45 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Emmons County?
26 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Emmons County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Emmons County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Emmons County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 44 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Emmons 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
- Eddy County 280
- Foster County 199
- Dunn County 309
- Golden Valley County 225
- Divide County 170
- Grand Forks County 1,011
Cite this page
“Emmons County, North Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-dakota/emmons-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.