States › North Dakota › Burke County

Burke County, North Dakota

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 38013 · 2,158 residents (2021) · 1,104 sq mi · dominant hazard Hail

Hail · 120Tornado · 28Flood · 3Wind · 100Winter · 95

Burke County within North Dakota. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Burke County, North Dakota, has 419 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them hail.

That is 38.0 events per 100 square miles, below the North Dakota figure of 48.3, and 1,941.6 per 10,000 residents against 430.4 statewide.

15 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 0 deaths and 1 injury to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $12M and crop damage at $955K.

FEMA has designated the county in 22 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes (major disaster, 1 Sep 2026).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 3 claims since 1978, of which 2 were paid, totalling $5K (about $2K per paid claim). FEMA counts 2 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Very Low" and its expected annual loss as "Very Low" ($2.0M a year across 18 hazards).

15events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

419events since 19500 deaths, 1 injury recorded

22disaster declarationslast 1 Sep 2026

3NFIP flood claims$5K paid

Compared with North Dakota and the United States

Measure	Burke County	North Dakota	US
Recorded events since 1950	419	33,350	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	38.0	48.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	1,941.6	430.4	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	15	1,019	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	0	100	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$12M	$5.6B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	1.4	17.2	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$2K	$24K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	0.0	4.5	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Tornado: 2

Hail: 1Tornado: 3Wind: 3

Hail: 15Tornado: 2Wind: 8

Hail: 20Tornado: 6Wind: 13Winter: 17Cold: 3Lightning: 4

Hail: 31Tornado: 9Wind: 21Winter: 32Cold: 9Lightning: 5

Hail: 40Tornado: 5Flood: 2Wind: 31Winter: 30Heat: 1Cold: 21Other: 2

Hail: 13Tornado: 1Flood: 1Wind: 24Winter: 16Cold: 4Drought: 21Fog: 1Other: 2

01950s21960s71970s251980s631990s1072000s1322010s832020s

Recorded events in Burke County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterHeatColdDroughtLightningFogOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 239 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 148 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Hail120

Wind100

Winter95

Cold37

Tornado28

Drought21

Lightning9

Other4

Flood3

Heat1

Fog1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Hail	120	—	1.2%	detail
■ Wind	100	—	1.0%	detail
■ Winter	95	—	1.5%	detail
■ Cold	37	—	1.4%
■ Tornado	28	—	1.6%	detail
■ Drought	21	—	3.1%
■ Lightning	9	—	8.3%
■ Other	4	—	0.6%
■ Flood	3	—	0.2%
■ Heat	1	—	1.1%
■ Fog	1	—	6.7%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
25 Feb 1998	Blizzard	Winter	—	—	—	—	1	Forecast zone
23 Apr 2022	Blizzard	Winter	—	$6.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
9 Jan 1997	Blizzard	Winter	—	$1.5M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
12 Aug 2010	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	$700K	$150K	—	—	County
15 Jan 2023	Dense Fog	Fog	—	$750K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
24 Jun 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	85 mph	$500K	—	—	—	County
24 Jun 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	85 mph	—	$500K	—	—	County
30 Apr 2011	Blizzard	Winter	—	$500K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
14 Jun 2018	Hail	Hail	2.75 in	$500K	—	—	—	County
9 Aug 2006	Lightning	Lightning	—	$250K	—	—	—	County
8 Jul 2009	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$185K	$50K	—	—	County
24 Jun 2024	Hail	Hail	1.75 in	$100K	$50K	—	—	County
24 Jun 2010	Hail	Hail	2.50 in	$100K	—	—	—	County
15 Jul 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	90 mph	$100K	—	—	—	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
1 Sep 2026	DR-4934	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes	Public assistance
5 Jul 2023	DR-4717	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Public assistance
13 Jul 2022	DR-4660	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Flooding	Public assistance
1 Sep 2021	DR-4613	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Public assistance
1 Apr 2020	DR-4509	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3477	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
20 May 2011	DR-1986	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
10 May 2011	DR-1981	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Public assistance
26 Feb 2010	DR-1879	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
21 Nov 2005	DR-1616	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storm And Record And/Or Near Record Snow	Public assistance
13 Sep 2005	EM-3247	Emergency	Coastal Storm	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
5 May 2004	DR-1515	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Ground Saturation	Public assistance
2 Apr 2004	EM-3196	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snow	Public assistance
27 Jun 2000	DR-1334	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding And Ground Saturation	Individual assistance, Public assistance
8 Jun 1999	DR-1279	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Flooding, Snow, Ice, Ground Saturation, Lanslides, Mudslides, And Tor	Individual assistance, Public assistance
7 Apr 1997	DR-1174	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Flooding,Severe Winter Storms, Snowmelt, Spring Rains	Individual assistance, Public assistance
12 Jan 1997	DR-1157	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms And Blizzard Conditions	Public assistance
26 Jul 1993	DR-1001	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
26 Apr 1979	DR-581	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Snowmelt & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
16 Apr 1976	DR-501	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
5 Jun 1970	DR-287	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Apr 1969	DR-256	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Burke County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19783

Paid claims2

Total paid$5K

Average paid claim$2K

Repetitive-loss properties0

Residential policies in force20.1% of 1,727 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
1997	1	1	$4,219	$4,219
1979	2	1	$366	$366

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskVery Lowscore 1.0 of 100

Expected annual loss$2.0MVery Low

Social vulnerabilityVery Low

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Cold wave	Relatively Low	$1,004,203
Inland flooding	Very Low	$474,869
Winter weather	Relatively Low	$91,671
Tornado	Very Low	$81,985
Hail	Very Low	$76,875
Strong wind	Very Low	$59,476
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$56,508
Wildfire	Very Low	$55,314
Lightning	Very Low	$35,823
Drought	Very Low	$17,076
Heat wave	Very Low	$4,134
Earthquake	Very Low	$1,279
Landslide	Very Low	$284

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

No HURDAT2 track at tropical-storm strength passes within 100 miles of the county's centre point (through the 2025 season).

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Burke County, ND?

NCEI records 120 hail events in Burke County since 1950, in 38 different years; that is about 1.6 recorded events a year. 36 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Burke County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 28 tornadoes in Burke County since 1950, 2 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Burke County?

1 Sep 2026: Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes, a major disaster declaration for severe storm. The county appears in 22 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Burke County, and how much was paid?

3 NFIP claims since 1978, 2 of them paid, for $5K in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Burke County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Very Low" for overall risk, "Very Low" for expected annual loss, "Very Low" for social vulnerability and "Relatively Moderate" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Burke County compare with the rest of North Dakota?

38.0 recorded events per 100 square miles against 48.3 statewide, and 1.4 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 17.2. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.