States › North Dakota › Pierce County

Pierce 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 38069 · 3,953 residents (2021) · 1,018 sq mi · dominant hazard Winter

Hail · 93Tornado · 15Flood · 5Wind · 105Winter · 106

Pierce 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.

Between 1950 and 2026, NCEI recorded 382 storm events in Pierce County, North Dakota, led by winter storms and snow.

That is 37.5 events per 100 square miles, below the North Dakota figure of 48.3, and 966.4 per 10,000 residents against 430.4 statewide.

6 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 0 deaths and 0 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $7.1M and crop damage at $1.1M.

FEMA has designated the county in 23 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Covid-19 Pandemic (major disaster, 1 Apr 2020).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 10 claims since 1978, of which 6 were paid, totalling $56K (about $9K per paid claim). FEMA counts 1 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" ($3.4M a year across 18 hazards).

6events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

382events since 19500 deaths, 0 injuries recorded

23disaster declarationslast 1 Apr 2020

10NFIP flood claims$56K paid

Compared with North Dakota and the United States

Measure	Pierce County	North Dakota	US
Recorded events since 1950	382	33,350	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	37.5	48.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	966.4	430.4	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	6	1,019	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	0	100	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$7.1M	$5.6B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	2.5	17.2	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$9K	$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

Hail: 7Tornado: 6Wind: 8

Hail: 2Tornado: 1Wind: 6

Hail: 18Tornado: 2Flood: 1Wind: 6Winter: 14Cold: 3Lightning: 1

Hail: 26Tornado: 5Flood: 3Wind: 28Winter: 33Cold: 10Other: 2

Hail: 28Tornado: 1Wind: 25Winter: 39Heat: 1Cold: 23Other: 4

Hail: 12Flood: 1Wind: 32Winter: 20Cold: 4Drought: 9Other: 1

01950s01960s211970s91980s451990s1072000s1212010s792020s

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

Trend: 249 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 108 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

Winter106

Wind105

Hail93

Cold40

Tornado15

Drought9

Other7

Flood5

Heat1

Lightning1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Winter	106	—	1.6%	detail
■ Wind	105	—	1.1%	detail
■ Hail	93	—	0.9%	detail
■ Cold	40	—	1.5%
■ Tornado	15	—	0.8%	detail
■ Drought	9	—	1.3%
■ Other	7	—	1.0%
■ Flood	5	—	0.4%
■ Heat	1	—	1.1%
■ Lightning	1	—	0.9%

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
19 Jun 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	110 mph	$1.8M	—	—	—	County
9 Jan 1997	Blizzard	Winter	—	$1.5M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
4 Apr 1997	Blizzard	Winter	—	$650K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
3 Aug 2016	Hail	Hail	2.50 in	$450K	$175K	—	—	County
13 Aug 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	75 mph	$45K	$500K	—	—	County
20 Jul 2011	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$325K	$150K	—	—	County
20 Jun 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	110 mph	$350K	—	—	—	County
1 Apr 2009	Flood	Flood	—	$271K	—	—	—	County
1 Jul 1973	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	—	—	County
21 Aug 1973	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	—	County
19 Jun 2005	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	—	—	County
25 Jun 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	100 mph	$150K	—	—	—	County
22 Jul 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	90 mph	$125K	—	—	—	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 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
12 Jul 2017	DR-4323	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Public assistance
19 Aug 2014	DR-4190	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
12 Jul 2013	DR-4128	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
10 May 2011	DR-1981	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Public assistance
24 Mar 2009	DR-1829	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, 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
22 Jul 2005	DR-1597	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Ground Saturation	Public assistance
5 May 2004	DR-1515	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Ground Saturation	Public assistance
28 May 2001	DR-1376	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Flooding, & Ground Saturation	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
15 Jun 1998	DR-1220	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding, Ground Saturation,Severe Storms	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
5 Jun 1996	DR-1118	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms,Flooding, & Ice Jams	Public assistance
16 May 1995	DR-1050	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Ground Saturation	Individual assistance, Public assistance
1 Jul 1994	DR-1032	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding	Public assistance
26 Apr 1979	DR-581	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Snowmelt & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
14 May 1974	DR-434	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains, Snowmelt & 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 Pierce County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 197810

Paid claims6

Total paid$56K

Average paid claim$9K

Repetitive-loss properties0

Residential policies in force10.1% of 2,095 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
1999	6	4	$45,786	$11,446
1997	3	2	$10,000	$5,000
1996	1	0	$0	—

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 3.2 of 100

Expected annual loss$3.4MVery Low

Social vulnerabilityVery Low

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Cold wave	Relatively Low	$1,858,042
Inland flooding	Very Low	$582,228
Tornado	Very Low	$205,453
Strong wind	Very Low	$196,628
Winter weather	Relatively Moderate	$183,512
Hail	Very Low	$127,379
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$124,758
Wildfire	Very Low	$91,741
Lightning	Very Low	$18,608
Drought	Very Low	$12,822
Heat wave	Very Low	$9,711
Earthquake	Very Low	$1,884
Landslide	Very Low	$172

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).

ZIP codes with flood claims

58385 6

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Pierce County, ND?

NCEI records 93 hail events in Pierce County since 1950, in 36 different years; that is about 1.2 recorded events a year. 24 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Pierce County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 15 tornadoes in Pierce County since 1950, 1 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Pierce County?

1 Apr 2020: Covid-19 Pandemic, a major disaster declaration for biological. The county appears in 23 declarations since 1953.

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

10 NFIP claims since 1978, 6 of them paid, for $56K in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Pierce 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 Pierce County compare with the rest of North Dakota?

37.5 recorded events per 100 square miles against 48.3 statewide, and 2.5 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.