Drought in North Dakota

Events

677

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Damage

None recorded

• Drought in North Dakota, May 1 to 31, 202136 eventsMay started with a D3 drought over all of western and central North Dakota. Of the 36 NWS Bismarck forecast area counties, 34 were entirely in D3 with only the eastern parts of LaMoure and Dickey counties still in D2.
• Drought in North Dakota, July 1 to 31, 202136 eventsJuly started with a D3 to D4 drought over most of western and central North Dakota. The exceptions were parts of the James River Valley, a large portion of southwest North Dakota, and a small portion of Northwest North Dakota. Most of the exception areas were in a D2 drought.
• Drought in North Dakota, August 1 to 31, 202136 eventsAugust continued with D3 to D4 drought over most of western and central North Dakota, for at least part of the month. Parts of counties had more significant rain and saw the drought severity lessen to D2.
• Drought in North Dakota, September 1 to 30, 202136 eventsSeptember started with most of central and part of western North Dakota in a D3 drought, with a small part of the central and far southwest in D4. The rest of the area was designated D2. Through the month some areas received significant rain, but not the northwest.
• Drought in North Dakota, June 1 to 30, 202136 eventsJune started with a D3 to D4 drought over almost all of western and central North Dakota. Of the 36 NWS Bismarck forecast area counties, 31 were almost entirely in D3 or D4, with the exceptions being parts of Stark, Hettinger, Stutsman, LaMoure and Dickey counties in D2.
• Drought in North Dakota, April 1 to 30, 202129 eventsAfter a very wet 2019 precipitation cut off in 2020 and Western and Central North Dakota entered a drought for 2021. The D3 drought started in the northwest part of the state in March and expanded across most of western and central North Dakota by the start of April.
• Drought in North Dakota, November 1 to 30, 202128 eventsNo major changes occurred to the ongoing drought during the month of November. Most of western and central North Dakota along and north of Interstate 94 remaining in D2 along with the four southwest corner counties.
• Drought in North Dakota, October 1 to 31, 202128 eventsOctober started with a small area of D4 designation in Golden Valley County, much of western and north central North Dakota in D3, and remaining areas in D2. At least some part of every county was in D2 or worse drought to start the month.
• Drought in North Dakota, December 1 to 31, 202121 eventsGradual improvement occurred in the drought through the month of December, mainly over central North Dakota. Drought at the beginning of December was similar to the end of November.
• Drought in North Dakota, April 1 to 30, 202516 eventsSevere to extreme drought conditions, D2-D3, continued through the month of April over much of western into parts of central North Dakota. A few changes did occur during the month.
• Drought in North Dakota, October 1 to 31, 201215 eventsDry conditions remained over most of eastern North Dakota through early October, but then a welcome rain fell across a majority of the area from the 17th through the 19th. Rainfall amounts of one to two inches were common during this time frame.
• Drought in North Dakota, December 1 to 31, 202415 eventsSevere to extreme drought conditions, D2-D3, continued through the month of December over western into parts of central North Dakota.
• Drought in North Dakota, November 1 to 30, 202415 eventsSignificant to extreme drought conditions, D2-D3, continued through the month of November over western and into central North Dakota.
• Drought in North Dakota, March 1 to 31, 202515 eventsSevere to extreme drought conditions, D2-D3, continued through the month of March over western into parts of central North Dakota.
• Drought in North Dakota, January 1 to 31, 202515 eventsSevere to extreme drought conditions, D2-D3, continued through the month of January over western into parts of central North Dakota.
• Drought in North Dakota, February 1 to 28, 202515 eventsSevere to extreme drought conditions, D2-D3, continued through the month of February over western into parts of central North Dakota.
• Drought in North Dakota, February 1 to 28, 202213 eventsDrought continued over the western third of North Dakota through the month of February, although there was modest improvement, mainly on the eastern side of the D2 and D3 designated areas. Renville County was able to improve to D1 by February 15th. Refer to the U.S.
• Drought in North Dakota, January 1 to 31, 202213 eventsImprovement continued in the drought through central North Dakota through the first week of January, to the point where many counties went from D2 to D1.
• Drought in North Dakota, March 1 to 31, 202213 eventsThe ongoing drought continued over the western third of North Dakota during March 2022. Divide, Williams and McKenzie counties had D3 drought while the remaining counites were D2. Refer to the U.S. Drought Monitor for details.
• Drought in North Dakota, July 25 to 31, 200611 eventsWarmer than normal temperatures and a lack of rain both contributed to a D2 drought designation (per the U.S. Drought Monitor) across portions of northeast and east central North Dakota on July 25th. The dry trend started in May, but became much worse by June and July.
• Drought in North Dakota, May 1 to 31, 202511 eventsSevere to extreme drought conditions, D2-D3, continued into the month of May over much of western into parts of central North Dakota. Very limited changes occurred through mid-May, but widespread rains over central into parts of western North Dakota led to some improvement.
• Drought in North Dakota, September 1 to 30, 201210 eventsDrought conditions worsened across eastern North Dakota through the month of September. At the Fargo and Grand Forks climate stations, only 0.12 and 0.21 inches of rain fell respectively, which was about 2 inches below the monthly normal. When the September 25 U. S.
• Drought in North Dakota, November 1 to 30, 202210 eventsAbnormally dry conditions led to multiple counties in SE and east central ND being in D2 drought for the month of November.
• Drought in North Dakota, August 1 to 29, 20069 eventsThe average monthly temperatures for August at Devils Lake and Grand Forks turned out about a degree above normal. No daily high temperatures ever rose above 90 degrees, which was a pretty substantial difference from the hot month of July.
• Drought in North Dakota, August 1 to 31, 20129 eventsLack of consistent precipitation kept portions of eastern North Dakota in a D2 drought designation per the U. S. Drought Monitor. Despite several very warm days during the month of August, the average monthly temperature at both Fargo and Grand Forks was a little below normal.

Drought everywhereEvery kind of event in North Dakota

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24.