States › North Dakota › Ramsey County

Ramsey 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 38071 · 11,572 residents (2021) · 1,185 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 221Tornado · 50Flood · 62Wind · 225Winter · 150

Ramsey 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 815 storm events in Ramsey County, North Dakota, led by damaging wind.

That is 68.8 events per 100 square miles, above the North Dakota figure of 48.3, and 704.3 per 10,000 residents against 430.4 statewide.

26 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 0 deaths and 18 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $149M and crop damage at $13M.

FEMA has designated the county in 29 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Winter Storm And Flooding (major disaster, 13 Jul 2022).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 1,103 claims since 1978, of which 642 were paid, totalling $38M (about $59K per paid claim). FEMA counts 25 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" ($8.6M a year across 18 hazards).

26events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

815events since 19500 deaths, 18 injuries recorded

29disaster declarationslast 13 Jul 2022

1,103NFIP flood claims$38M paid

Compared with North Dakota and the United States

Measure	Ramsey County	North Dakota	US
Recorded events since 1950	815	33,350	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	68.8	48.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	704.3	430.4	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	26	1,019	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	0	100	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$149M	$5.6B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	95.3	17.2	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$59K	$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: 3Tornado: 5Wind: 5

Hail: 4Tornado: 16Wind: 15

Hail: 11Tornado: 7Wind: 14

Hail: 36Tornado: 5Flood: 7Wind: 26Winter: 26Cold: 3

Hail: 97Tornado: 7Flood: 41Wind: 67Winter: 44Heat: 1Cold: 24Drought: 2Lightning: 1Other: 1

Hail: 52Tornado: 7Flood: 13Wind: 55Winter: 47Cold: 35Other: 3

Hail: 18Tornado: 3Flood: 1Wind: 43Winter: 33Cold: 29Drought: 8

01950s131960s351970s321980s1031990s2852000s2122010s1352020s

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

Trend: 428 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 311 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

Wind225

Hail221

Winter150

Cold91

Flood62

Tornado50

Drought10

Other4

Heat1

Lightning1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	225	—	2.4%	detail
■ Hail	221	—	2.2%	detail
■ Winter	150	—	2.3%	detail
■ Cold	91	—	3.5%
■ Flood	62	—	5.1%	detail
■ Tornado	50	—	2.8%	detail
■ Drought	10	—	1.5%
■ Other	4	—	0.6%
■ 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
26 Jun 1986	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	86 mph	—	—	—	12	County
1 Sep 1999	Flood	Flood	—	$75M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
11 Aug 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	110 mph	$10M	—	—	2	County
1 Aug 2001	Flood	Flood	—	$25M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
12 May 1991	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	96 mph	—	—	—	2	County
21 Apr 1997	Flood	Flood	—	$10M	—	—	1	Forecast zone
5 Aug 1966	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	1	County
20 Sep 2019	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$250K	$10M	—	—	County
11 Aug 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$7.0M	—	—	—	County
4 Apr 1997	Ice Storm	Winter	—	$6.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
5 Apr 1997	Blizzard	Winter	—	$6.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
23 Jul 1997	Flood	Flood	—	$2.0M	$2.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
1 Jun 2009	Flood	Flood	—	$2.0M	—	—	—	County
1 Jul 2009	Flood	Flood	—	$2.0M	—	—	—	County
11 May 2004	Ice Storm	Winter	—	$400K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
1 Aug 2011	Flood	Flood	—	$250K	$50K	—	—	County
1 Jul 2011	Flood	Flood	—	$250K	$25K	—	—	County
5 Aug 1966	Tornado	Tornado	—	$250K	—	—	—	County
5 Aug 1966	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	—	—	County
6 Jul 1971	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	—	—	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
13 Jul 2022	DR-4660	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm 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
12 Jul 2013	DR-4128	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
29 May 2013	DR-4118	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Public assistance
10 May 2011	DR-1981	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
7 Apr 2011	EM-3318	Emergency	Flood	Flooding	Public assistance
30 Apr 2010	DR-1907	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Public assistance
14 Mar 2010	EM-3309	Emergency	Flood	Flooding	Public assistance
24 Mar 2009	DR-1829	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, 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
29 Dec 2000	DR-1353	Major disaster	Tornado	Severe Winter Storms And Tornadoes	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 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
14 May 1974	DR-434	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains, Snowmelt & 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
23 Mar 1966	DR-216	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 Ramsey County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19781,103

Paid claims642

Total paid$38M

Average paid claim$59K

Repetitive-loss properties1419 severe

Residential policies in force250.5% of 4,840 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2013	12	4	$100,508	$25,127
2012	6	3	$317,167	$105,722
2011	167	106	$6,556,366	$61,853
2010	53	35	$1,962,688	$56,077
2009	62	38	$3,206,953	$84,393
2006	2	1	$3,147	$3,147
2004	22	11	$343,865	$31,260
2003	3	1	$81,200	$81,200
2002	9	3	$171,841	$57,280
2001	105	50	$1,625,486	$32,510
2000	56	5	$1,230,377	$246,075
1999	120	39	$2,323,045	$59,565
1998	85	54	$3,692,415	$68,378
1997	228	159	$9,160,920	$57,616
1996	128	90	$5,995,484	$66,616
1995	43	41	$781,902	$19,071
1979	2	2	$5,562	$2,781

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 18.3 of 100

Expected annual loss$8.6MVery Low

Social vulnerabilityVery Low

Community resilienceVery High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$3,220,960
Inland flooding	Very Low	$1,659,652
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$970,304
Hail	Relatively Low	$651,019
Tornado	Relatively Low	$528,984
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$514,094
Winter weather	Relatively High	$509,215
Ice storm	Relatively Moderate	$468,960
Lightning	Very Low	$46,499
Heat wave	Very Low	$26,520
Drought	Very Low	$22,960
Earthquake	Very Low	$7,219
Landslide	Very Low	$420

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

58301 870
58325 220
58327 10
58362 10
58382 5

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 Ramsey County, ND?

NCEI records 221 hail events in Ramsey County since 1950, in 44 different years; that is about 2.9 recorded events a year. 22 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Ramsey County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 50 tornadoes in Ramsey County since 1950, 3 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Ramsey County?

13 Jul 2022: Severe Winter Storm And Flooding, a major disaster declaration for severe storm. The county appears in 29 declarations since 1953.

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

1,103 NFIP claims since 1978, 642 of them paid, for $38M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Ramsey 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 "Very High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

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

68.8 recorded events per 100 square miles against 48.3 statewide, and 95.3 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.