Stark County, North Dakota severe weather history spans 493 recorded events between 1952 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 44.8% of all recorded events. It ranks #900 nationally and #12 in North Dakota.
493
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$31.3M
Property damage
The record
What the Stark County, North Dakota severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Stark County, North Dakota severe weather history averages 6.8 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 135 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 116 events fall before 1990 and 377 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Stark County, North Dakota record is lightning, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $21.1M 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 Stark County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 221 | 0 | $3.6M | 3 | 1961–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 220 | 0 | $5.1M | 91 | 1957–2025 |
| Tornado | 26 | 0 | $21.1M | F2 | 1952–2025 |
| Funnel Cloud | 9 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2024 |
| Lightning | 8 | 1 | $385K | 0 | 1996–2019 |
| Flash Flood | 4 | 0 | $565K | 0 | 2002–2022 |
| Heavy Rain | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2011–2011 |
| Flood | 2 | 0 | $580K | 0 | 2009–2014 |
Decade by decade
Stark 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
25 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 25 touched down inside it and 0 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-07-08 | EF3 | 0 | 2 | 2.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1976-06-04 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1957-04-22 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1952-06-10 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 10.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-06-19 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-06-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 6.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2005-06-01 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2005-06-06 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1978-06-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1978-09-11 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Stark County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 2019 | Lightning | RICHARDTON | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 9, 2009 | Tornado | DICKINSON | 0 | 2 | $20.0M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A 32-year old male died when he was struck by lighting while working on a trail at the Schnell Recreation Area east of Richardton in Stark County. At the time of the strike the victim was loading mowing equipment into the back of a pickup truck.
A National Weather Service Storm Survey was done on the west side of Dickinson where wind damage occurred. The very high winds blew the roof off a storage unit and blew doors in. The debris from this building was blown to the southeast, and resulted in additional damage to several other buildings and vehicles. The damage surveyed was consistent with straight line winds and not a tornado. The damage surveyed indicated peak wind speeds of approximately 90 miles per hour.
The same supercell thunderstorm that produced this EF1 tornado from 1628 MST to 1645 MST produced another tornado, an EF0, from 1703 MST to 1738 MST as it moved southeast. The first tornado, the EF1, was in Stark County, while the second, the EF0, started in Stark County and crossed into Hettinger County.||The Stark County tornado touched down about five miles south of Belfield and crossed U.S. Highway 85 as it moved southeast. It lifted nearly 12 miles south-southeast of Belfield after doing significant damage on a farm about 10 miles south-southeast of Belfield. There was no other damage reported outside of that one farm. Four structures were damaged or destroyed and several farm animals were killed. Only minor damage was done to the farm house. In addition to buildings, fences and vehicles were also damaged or destroyed. The damage corresponded to high end EF1 on the Enhanced Fujita Tornado Scale. From that it was determined that wind speeds were around 105 mph. There were no deaths or injuries.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
33,302
Population (ACS)
$272K
Median home value
16
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 1, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jul 12, 2013 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Feb 26, 2010 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR |
| Mar 24, 2009 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Nov 21, 2005 | Snowstorm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND RECORD AND/OR NEAR RECORD SNOW | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Stark County, North Dakota?
493 events are on record between 1952 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $31.3M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Stark County?
Hail, with 221 recorded events — 44.8% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Stark County?
25 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 25 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Stark County?
16 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Stark County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Stark County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Stark County as very low risk, placing it in the 37 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Stark 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
- Slope County 167
- Steele County 360
- Sioux County 207
- Stutsman County 577
- Sheridan County 127
- Towner County 281
Cite this page
“Stark County, North Dakota.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-dakota/stark-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.