States › North Dakota › 1997

North Dakota, 1997

The year's recorded storm events, federal disaster declarations and flood insurance claims.

736events recorded939 in 1996

16deaths recorded122 injuries

$3.7Bproperty damage (estimates)$13M crop damage

2disaster declarations4,701 NFIP claims, $97M paid

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.

Events by hazard

Winter313

Hail198

Wind132

Flood46

Tornado31

Lightning14

Cold1

Other1

Includes events recorded by forecast zone. The state's yearly total for 1997 was 736 against 939 in 1996.

Counties with the most recorded events

County	Events in 1997
Cass County	43
Barnes County	36
Grand Forks County	34
Richland County	29
Sargent County	26
Benson County	21
Nelson County	21
Ramsey County	21
Stutsman County	20
Walsh County	18
Burleigh County	17
Ransom County	17
Stark County	17
Steele County	17
Traill County	16
Bottineau County	15
Pembina County	15
Cavalier County	14
Eddy County	14
McLean County	14
Ward County	14
Griggs County	13
Kidder County	13
McHenry County	13
Towner County	13

Notable events

Date	County	Event type	Magnitude	Property damage	Deaths	Injuries
18 Apr 1997	Grand Forks	Flood	—	$3,000,000,000	—	—
15 Jan 1997	Logan	Blizzard	—	$900,000	2	—
21 Mar 1997	Forecast zone	Flood	—	$600,000	2	—
20 Nov 1997	Burleigh	Winter Weather	—	$20,000	1	12
27 Nov 1997	McKenzie	Frost/Freeze	—	$15,000	1	3
23 Jul 1997	Renville	Tornado	F2	$46,000	1	2
1 Jul 1997	Cass	Lightning	—	—	1	2
4 Apr 1997	Emmons	Blizzard	—	$1,750,000	1	1
4 Apr 1997	Forecast zone	Blizzard	—	$1,520,000	1	1
5 Mar 1997	Wells	Winter Weather	—	$15,000	1	1
4 Nov 1997	Stutsman	Winter Weather	—	$15,000	1	1
5 Apr 1997	Forecast zone	Blizzard	—	$6,000,000	1	—
9 Jan 1997	Foster	Blizzard	—	$1,530,000	1	—
9 Jan 1997	Rolette	Blizzard	—	$1,530,000	1	—
9 Jan 1997	Pembina	Blizzard	—	—	1	—
16 Apr 1997	Cass	Flood	—	$150,000,000	—	—
8 Apr 1997	Cass	Flood	—	$100,000,000	—	—
9 Jan 1997	Williams	Blizzard	—	$1,530,000	—	6
9 Jan 1997	Morton	Blizzard	—	$1,530,000	—	5
9 Jan 1997	Burleigh	Blizzard	—	$1,530,000	—	5
5 Apr 1997	Richland	Flood	—	$50,000,000	—	—
9 Jan 1997	Stark	Blizzard	—	$1,530,000	—	4
9 Jan 1997	Bottineau	Blizzard	—	$1,530,000	—	4
15 Jan 1997	Stutsman	Blizzard	—	$900,000	—	4
21 Jan 1997	Kidder	Blizzard	—	$790,000	—	4
21 Jan 1997	Stutsman	Blizzard	—	$790,000	—	4
12 Mar 1997	Ward	Winter Storm	—	$15,000	—	4
9 Jan 1997	Stutsman	Blizzard	—	$1,530,000	—	3
9 Jan 1997	Sioux	Blizzard	—	$1,530,000	—	3
15 Jan 1997	Kidder	Blizzard	—	$900,000	—	3
13 Apr 1997	Richland	Flood	—	$25,000,000	—	—
4 Apr 1997	Morton	Blizzard	—	$2,400,000	—	2
4 Apr 1997	Ward	Blizzard	—	$1,780,000	—	2
9 Jan 1997	Kidder	Blizzard	—	$1,530,000	—	2
9 Jan 1997	Grant	Blizzard	—	$1,530,000	—	2
9 Jan 1997	Ward	Blizzard	—	$1,530,000	—	2
9 Jan 1997	McKenzie	Blizzard	—	$1,530,000	—	2
4 Apr 1997	Sioux	Blizzard	—	$1,300,000	—	2
4 Jan 1997	Burleigh	Blizzard	—	$250,000	—	2
4 Jan 1997	McLean	Blizzard	—	$250,000	—	2

Up to 40 events with deaths, injuries, damage of $50,000 or more, or a tornado rating, ranked by deaths, injuries and damage.

Federal disaster declarations in 1997

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
7 Apr 1997	DR-1174	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Flooding,Severe Winter Storms, Snowmelt, Spring Rains	53
12 Jan 1997	DR-1157	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms And Blizzard Conditions	53

Flood insurance claims with a 1997 date of loss

4,701 NFIP claims, 4,192 of them paid, for $97,408,075.

Sources: NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 (1 Oct 2026); OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 (8 Sep 2026). Built 1 Oct 2026.