Rolette County, North Dakota severe weather history spans 148 recorded events between 1958 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 46.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,715 nationally and #52 in North Dakota.
148
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
3
Direct injuries
$4.5M
Property damage
The record
What the Rolette County, North Dakota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Rolette County, North Dakota severe weather history averages 2.2 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 50 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 21 events fall before 1990 and 127 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Rolette County, North Dakota record is thunderstorm wind, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $2.7M 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 Rolette County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 69 | 0 | $260K | 3 | 1970–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 44 | 1 | $913K | 78 | 1967–2024 |
| Tornado | 16 | 0 | $2.7M | F2 | 1958–2018 |
| Flash Flood | 9 | 0 | $213K | 12 | 1999–2009 |
| Funnel Cloud | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2015–2023 |
| Flood | 4 | 1 | $470K | 0 | 2009–2023 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $10K | 0 | 2006–2006 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2011–2011 |
Decade by decade
Rolette 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
18 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-07-07 | EF3 | 0 | 3 | 20.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2016-08-03 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-05-20 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 4.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-06-12 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1988-08-16 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1979-05-21 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2018-06-14 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-07-19 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2010-08-01 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 5.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2008-07-07 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Rolette County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 16, 2023 | Flood | MYLO | 1 | 0 | $20K |
| Jul 8, 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | BELCOURT | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 7, 2008 | Tornado | SAN HAVEN | 0 | 3 | $1.5M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
During the morning hours of April 16, a flood death (direct) occurred as a 54 year old female was driving along ND Highway 66 near the intersection of 47th Avenue NE, to the northwest of Mylo. The road was covered with water and ice due to snow melt flooding, and temperatures below freezing. The driver lost control of the vehicle, which went into the north ditch, rolled and overturned onto its roof in the flooded ditch. The driver died (direct).
Many large tree branches were down, with several trees uprooted. There was some damage to roofs, and power poles and lines were down. In one case, a tree fell onto a power line then onto a house, causing the house to start on fire. In another case a teenager, whose age is unknown, was injured (indirect) as he was burned while cleaning up tree damage and unknowingly came in contact with a live downed electrical wire. The teen was hospitalized.
A long tracked tornado developed about six miles south of Mylo, Rolette County, North Dakota, and traveled northeast before crossing into Towner County just northeast of Agate, along highway 66. The tornado did significant damage to two farmsteads in Rolette County, destroying pole barns and grain bins and damaging equipment. Crops were flattened along the tornado path. The tornado was highly publicized as national media showed a live feed from a storm chaser. This was a long tracked tornado of around 20 miles, about eight miles in Rolette County and 12 in Towner County. There were no injuries and no deaths with the tornado in either county. Based on the damage done its maximum rating was EF2 in Rolette and EF2 in Towner. From that, wind speeds were estimated to have been around 120 mph. See the tornado entry from Towner County, National Weather Service Grand Forks forecast area, for more details from Towner County.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
11,924
Population (ACS)
$104K
Median home value
25
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 13, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 1, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jul 12, 2017 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
| May 29, 2013 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
| May 10, 2011 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Rolette County, North Dakota?
148 events are on record between 1958 and 2025, causing 2 direct deaths and $4.5M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Rolette County?
Hail, with 69 recorded events — 46.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Rolette County?
18 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 17 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Rolette County?
25 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Rolette County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Rolette County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Rolette County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 53 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Rolette 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
- Richland County 708
- Sargent County 361
- Renville County 175
- Sheridan County 127
- Ransom County 365
- Sioux County 207
Cite this page
“Rolette County, North Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-dakota/rolette-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.