NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Valley City, ND
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Valley City, North Dakota since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 85 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 85
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Valley City
The strongest of the 85 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on July 18, 2004; its path came within 20 miles. Of the 85, 10 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 39 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 32. The most recent tornado was on June 20, 2025. Valley City has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 72% of the 37 North Dakota cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 86 times since 1957, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Valley City has more hail reports within 10 miles than 67% of the 37 North Dakota cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Valley City
By decade
- 2020s8(1 EF3+)
- 2010s20
- 2000s11(1 EF3+)
- 1990s8
- 1980s9
- 1970s12(1 EF3+)
- 1960s12(1 EF3+)
- 1950s5(3 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 18, 2004 | F4 | 20 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 20, 2025 | EF3 | 21 mi | 10.94 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 20, 1974 | F3 | 19 mi | 17.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 23, 1968 | F3 | 25 mi | 8.5 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Sep 6, 1958 | F3 | 3 mi | 2.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 16, 1957 | F3 | 23 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 13, 1950 | F3 | 11 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 20, 2025 | EF2 | 4 mi | 5.79 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 20, 2025 | EF2 | 24 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 26, 2010 | EF2 | 18 mi | 13.77 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 15, 2007 | EF2 | 20 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 18, 2004 | F2 | 17 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 85, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Valley City
The Storm Prediction Center has 86 hail reports within 10 miles of Valley City since 1957, made on 67 separate days. Of these, 59 were 1 inch across or larger, and 14 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 4 days, most recently August 18, 1994. The most recent report is from July 26, 2025. August has the most reports, 26.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Valley City
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Valley City 3 NNW, ND, 2 miles north of Valley City at 1,210 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 57°F; January is the coolest, at 18°F and -2°F. June is the wettest at 3.6 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 21.4 inches over 50 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 10 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 192 nights a year. That 21.4 inches is more than at 21 of the 31 North Dakota stations used on this site (68%). Jamestown, 33 miles west, has its own station (Jamestown State Hosp, ND): 21.0 inches a year, 0.4 less than here, and a July average high of 82°F against 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 18 | -2 | 0.5 | 2 |
| Feb | 23 | 1 | 0.5 | 2 |
| Mar | 36 | 14 | 0.8 | 3 |
| Apr | 53 | 28 | 1.2 | 3 |
| May | 67 | 41 | 3.2 | 7 |
| Jun | 76 | 53 | 3.6 | 8 |
| Jul | 81 | 57 | 3.0 | 6 |
| Aug | 80 | 54 | 2.6 | 4 |
| Sep | 71 | 45 | 2.7 | 5 |
| Oct | 56 | 32 | 1.9 | 4 |
| Nov | 38 | 18 | 0.7 | 3 |
| Dec | 24 | 6 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Year | 52 | 29 | 21.4 | 50 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Valley City 3 NNW, ND (1,210 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Valley City
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 53 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Valley City: 47 thunderstorm wind reports, 3 flash floods, 1 flood, 1 heavy rain event and 1 lightning strike. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $10.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 112 mph, on June 24, 2003.
July 15, 2007: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Valley City — $5.0 million damage.
NWS: “Penny to quarter sized hail and downburst winds affected much of Weimer and Oriska Townships.”
June 17, 2007: flood 6 miles from the centre of Valley City — $3.4 million damage.
NWS: “Several rural roads were closed due to high water levels. There were 38 of 42 townships which reported damage to culverts, roadbeds, and driveways.”
June 24, 2003: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Valley City — $1.4 million damage.
NWS: “Eighteen 80 foot tall 345 kV high voltage power transmission towers were blown down in several sections to the Cass county line. A section of Highway 32 north of Oriska was briefly closed where the wires fell on the road.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Valley City's ZIP code 58072 have filed 375 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $2.5 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 82 claims (22% of all) and $172,000, then Not a named storm in 1979 with 68 and Flooding in 1997 with 37. 50% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 20 North Dakota cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 12 have fewer than Valley City.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 82 | $172,000 |
| Not a named storm1979 | 68 | $85,000 |
| Flooding1997 | 37 | $162,000 |
Barnes County, which includes Valley City, has been named in 35 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 31 of them major disasters (by incident: 19 floods, 12 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 coastal storm). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes, on October 22, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Barnes County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes and inland flooding; Very Low for lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $12.6 million a year, the 10th highest of 53 North Dakota counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $4.4 million (35%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Valley City
- Jamestown, ND33 mi
- Lisbon, ND38 mi
- Casselton, ND39 mi
- Mayville, ND51 mi
- West Fargo, ND53 mi
- Hillsboro, ND55 mi
- Horace, ND56 mi
- Fargo, ND57 mi
- Oakes, ND58 mi
- Moorhead, MN60 mi
- Carrington, ND61 mi
- Dilworth, MN62 mi
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