65
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$2.8M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Pierce County, North Dakota: 65 recorded events between 1973 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 96. That places the county #2,599 nationally and #42 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Pierce County, North Dakota: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Pierce County is the 2020s, when 19 of the county's 65 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 Pierce County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 35.1% of all recorded severe weather across 7 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #2,599 for this hazard and #42 within North Dakota, putting it in the 17.8 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Pierce County with 30 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.
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 27, 2025 | RUGBY | 52 | $0 |
| Jul 15, 2024 | SELZ | 63 | $0 |
| Jul 13, 2024 | RUGBY | 56 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 2023 | RUGBY | 70 | $15K |
| Jun 21, 2023 | RUGBY | 56 | $0 |
| Jun 21, 2023 | BALTA | 56 | $3K |
| Jun 21, 2023 | ORRIN | 70 | $4K |
| Jun 21, 2023 | BALTA | 96 | $350K |
| Jul 23, 2022 | SELZ | 52 | $0 |
| Jul 23, 2022 | WOLFORD | 59 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Pierce County
- Hail 93
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Five empty anchored down hopper style grain bins were blown over, a trailer rolled through the yard, a gazebo was destroyed, a pool fence was blown down, and tall cottonwood trees were snapped. The farm had an anemometer on site that recorded the strongest wind gust. About one-quarter mile to the west, other trees were uprooted.
Very strong straight line winds occurred with a thunderstorm that moved from west of Rugby into Rugby. The strongest wind gust reported was an instantaneous, non-averaged measurement of 104 mph taken three miles west of Rugby by a research team from the National Severe Storms Laboratory, which would correlate to an estimated 87 mph 5-second average gust based upon past published research. Four miles west-northwest of Rugby a large, older barn collapsed. In Rugby, large evergreen trees were uprooted at the cemetery at the northwest end of town.
Several reports of high wind and damage were received from the Rugby area. Trees were uprooted, including a 60 foot tall spruce, numerous branches were broken, and a large shop was damaged around five miles south of Rugby. There was a tornado within the high wind area. See the tornado entry for Pierce County.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Pierce County, North Dakota?
65 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Pierce County between 1973 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Pierce County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Pierce County measured 96.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Pierce 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 Pierce County, North Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-dakota/pierce-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.