States › North Dakota › Rolette County

Rolette 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 38079 · 12,048 residents (2021) · 903 sq mi · dominant hazard Winter

Hail · 70Tornado · 16Flood · 13Wind · 83Winter · 105

Rolette 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 29 Sep 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Rolette County, North Dakota, has 346 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them winter storms and snow.

That is 38.3 events per 100 square miles, below the North Dakota figure of 48.3, and 287.2 per 10,000 residents against 430.4 statewide.

9 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 3 deaths and 6 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $11M and crop damage at $650K.

FEMA has designated the county in 25 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 4 claims since 1978, of which 2 were paid, totalling $59K (about $29K per paid claim). FEMA counts 2 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Low" and its expected annual loss as "Very Low" ($11M a year across 18 hazards).

9events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

346events since 19503 deaths, 6 injuries recorded

25disaster declarationslast 13 Jul 2022

4NFIP flood claims$59K paid

Compared with North Dakota and the United States

Measure	Rolette County	North Dakota	US
Recorded events since 1950	346	33,350	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	38.3	48.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	287.2	430.4	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	9	1,019	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	3	100	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$11M	$5.6B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	0.3	17.2	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$29K	$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: 1

Tornado: 2Wind: 1

Hail: 3Tornado: 1Wind: 4

Hail: 4Tornado: 2Wind: 3

Hail: 5Tornado: 1Flood: 2Wind: 4Winter: 13Cold: 3

Hail: 28Tornado: 5Flood: 9Wind: 17Winter: 35Cold: 11Lightning: 1

Hail: 21Tornado: 4Flood: 1Wind: 25Winter: 35Heat: 1Cold: 23Other: 3

Hail: 9Flood: 1Wind: 29Winter: 22Cold: 4Drought: 10Other: 3

11950s31960s81970s91980s281990s1062000s1132010s782020s

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

Trend: 231 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 94 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

Winter105

Wind83

Hail70

Cold41

Tornado16

Flood13

Drought10

Other6

Heat1

Lightning1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Winter	105	1	1.6%	detail
■ Wind	83	1	0.9%	detail
■ Hail	70	—	0.7%	detail
■ Cold	41	—	1.6%
■ Tornado	16	—	0.9%	detail
■ Flood	13	1	1.1%	detail
■ Drought	10	—	1.5%
■ Other	6	—	0.8%
■ 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
9 Jan 1997	Blizzard	Winter	—	$1.5M	—	1	—	Forecast zone
16 Apr 2023	Flood	Flood	—	$20K	—	1	—	County
7 Jul 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	75 mph	—	—	1	—	County
7 Jul 2008	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	$1.5M	—	—	3	County
2 Jun 2026	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	96 mph	—	—	—	2	County
20 Jun 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	90 mph	$600K	—	—	1	County
23 Apr 2022	Blizzard	Winter	—	$4.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
3 Aug 2016	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$600K	$350K	—	—	County
4 Apr 1997	Blizzard	Winter	—	$600K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
20 May 1965	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	—	County
16 Aug 1988	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	—	—	County
3 Aug 2016	Hail	Hail	3.00 in	$100K	$150K	—	—	County
15 Feb 2011	Flood	Flood	—	$200K	—	—	—	County
4 Jul 2016	Hail	Hail	2.75 in	$150K	$50K	—	—	County
24 Jun 2007	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$150K	—	—	—	County
1 Apr 2009	Flood	Flood	—	$145K	—	—	—	County
16 Jun 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	81 mph	$125K	—	—	—	County
20 Jul 1998	Hail	Hail	2.50 in	$5K	$100K	—	—	County
6 Mar 2009	Flood	Flood	—	$105K	—	—	—	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 2017	DR-4323	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Public assistance
29 May 2013	DR-4118	Major disaster	Flood	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
5 Jun 2006	DR-1645	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Ground Saturation	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
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
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
16 Apr 1976	DR-501	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
24 May 1975	DR-469	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding From Rains & Snowmelt	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 Rolette County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19784

Paid claims2

Total paid$59K

Average paid claim$29K

Repetitive-loss properties0

Residential policies in force20.0% of 5,318 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2001	1	1	$23,024	$23,024
1998	2	0	$0	—
1996	1	1	$35,500	$35,500

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 riskRelatively Lowscore 52.9 of 100

Expected annual loss$11MVery Low

Social vulnerabilityVery High

Community resilienceVery Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$3,938,212
Wildfire	Relatively Moderate	$3,302,131
Inland flooding	Very Low	$1,592,822
Winter weather	Relatively High	$530,630
Ice storm	Relatively High	$524,144
Tornado	Relatively Low	$334,811
Strong wind	Relatively Low	$256,916
Hail	Relatively Low	$105,182
Lightning	Relatively Low	$60,089
Heat wave	Very Low	$16,793
Drought	Very Low	$14,042
Earthquake	Very Low	$10,128
Landslide	Relatively Low	$2,069

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 Rolette County, ND?

NCEI records 70 hail events in Rolette County since 1950, in 33 different years; that is about 0.9 recorded events a year. 20 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Rolette County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 16 tornadoes in Rolette County since 1950, 3 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Rolette County?

13 Jul 2022: Severe Winter Storm And Flooding, a major disaster declaration for severe storm. The county appears in 25 declarations since 1953.

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

4 NFIP claims since 1978, 2 of them paid, for $59K in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

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

38.3 recorded events per 100 square miles against 48.3 statewide, and 0.3 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 29 Sep 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 30 Sep 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.