Clay County Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
Hot Minnesota Rankings
The chance of earthquake damage in Clay County is about the same as Minnesota average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Clay County is about the same as Minnesota average and is about the same as the national average.
Earthquake Index, #30
| Clay County | 0.00 |
| Minnesota | 0.01 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #1
| Clay County | 0.0000 |
| Minnesota | 0.0000 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #35
| Clay County | 144.57 |
| Minnesota | 135.90 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 7,379 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Clay County were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 61 | Cold: | 52 | Dense Fog: | 0 | Drought: | 13 |
| Dust Storm: | 0 | Flood: | 550 | Hail: | 3,899 | Heat: | 2 | Heavy Snow: | 32 |
| High Surf: | 0 | Hurricane: | 0 | Ice Storm: | 14 | Landslide: | 0 | Strong Wind: | 31 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 2,405 | Tropical Storm: | 0 | Wildfire: | 1 | Winter Storm: | 75 | Winter Weather: | 0 |
| Other: | 244 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Clay County.
Historical Earthquake Events
No historical earthquake events that had recorded magnitudes of 3.5 or above found in or near Clay County.
No historical earthquake events found in or near Clay County.
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 38 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Clay County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 1.6 | 1957-06-20 | 5 | 46°53'N / 96°46'W | 46°52'N / 96°14'W | 25.00 Miles | 400 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Clay |
| 3.8 | 1975-06-28 | 3 | 46°52'N / 96°35'W | 46°55'N / 96°34'W | 2.30 Miles | 1760 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Clay |
| 8.5 | 1959-06-09 | 2 | 46°43'N / 96°33'W | 46°51'N / 96°19'W | 14.10 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Clay |
| 8.6 | 1952-07-16 | 2 | 46°43'N / 96°32'W | 46°50'N / 96°25'W | 9.40 Miles | 333 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Aitkin |
| 10.1 | 1975-06-28 | 4 | 46°52'N / 96°44'W | 46°57'N / 96°41'W | 5.40 Miles | 1320 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Clay |
| 14.3 | 1996-06-05 | 2 | 46°58'N / 96°13'W | 46°58'N / 96°12'W | 5.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 50K | Clay |
| Brief Description: Extensive damage to farm. | |||||||||||
| 14.3 | 1956-08-30 | 3 | 46°54'N / 96°48'W | 46°59'N / 96°47'W | 5.10 Miles | 60 Yards | 0 | 8 | 250K | 0 | Cass |
| 19.2 | 1960-05-31 | 2 | 46°52'N / 96°54'W | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Cass | |||
| 20.8 | 2005-09-05 | 2 | 46°42'N / 96°51'W | 46°42'N / 96°48'W | 4.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Cass |
| Brief Description: After strong winds and heavy rain hit a farmstead, a tornado followed closely behind. The tornado tracked intermittently along a 4 mile path. A 30 foot concrete silo was lifted and blown onto a machine shed. Concrete pieces spread in a 60 degree arc 40 to 50 feet from the foundation. One-half of the machine shed was demolished by silo debris. Numerous trees were also snapped off. A window was blown in and siding was ripped off the house. The peak wind speeds were estimated at 120 mph. | |||||||||||
| 25.2 | 1950-06-15 | 2 | 46°35'N / 96°20'W | 46°31'N / 96°20'W | 4.60 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 4 | 3K | 0 | Wilkin |
| 26.6 | 1957-06-20 | 5 | 46°54'N / 97°21'W | 46°53'N / 96°46'W | 27.40 Miles | 500 Yards | 10 | 103 | 25.0M | 0 | Cass |
| 27.0 | 1953-05-29 | 2 | 47°09'N / 96°56'W | 47°12'N / 96°52'W | 3.60 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Cass |
| 27.1 | 2002-06-19 | 2 | 46°32'N / 96°17'W | 46°32'N / 96°17'W | 0.20 Mile | 25 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Wilkin |
| Brief Description: A brief tornado touchdown demolished a 76x296 foot roof on a turkey barn. | |||||||||||
| 29.9 | 1965-05-05 | 2 | 46°53'N / 97°19'W | 47°00'N / 96°56'W | 19.60 Miles | 83 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Cass |
| 31.7 | 1964-05-05 | 2 | 46°36'N / 95°59'W | 46°38'N / 95°57'W | 0 | 13 | 250K | 0 | Otter Tail | ||
| 32.9 | 2007-06-07 | 2 | 46°34'N / 96°00'W | 46°40'N / 95°52'W | 7.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Otter Tail |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: A tornado touched down near the southwest end of Lake Lida, crossed Lake Lida and Crystal Lake (moving north-northeast), and lifted around 4 miles west of Vergas. Several houses were structurally damaged on Lake Lida and Crystal Lake. Boats, docks, travel trailers, and mobile homes were lofted and completely destroyed. Numerous power poles and trees were snapped off, cutting power to nearly 400 customers. Peak winds were estimated at 130 to 135 mph. EPISODE NARRATIVE: By noon on the 7th, a surface low was located near Lake Park, Minnesota, with a trailing cold front extending back into extreme southeast North Dakota. An occluded front also extended to the northeast, toward the Bemidji, MN, area. Surface dew points pooled right around 60 F in the vicinity of the surface low with temperatures in the middle 70s. The cold front was strong for early June, with a noon temperature in Devils Lake, ND, of 48 degrees. This set up a strong surface thermal and moisture boundary along a Wahpeton-Breckenridge to Bemidji line. Storms initially fired across southeast ND and then spread into portions of west central and northwest MN. There was also strong upper level support for these storms, as one severe report north of Embden (in Cass County, ND) occurred well behind the surface boundary. | |||||||||||
| 33.3 | 1959-06-10 | 2 | 46°54'N / 97°12'W | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Cass | |||
| 33.4 | 1960-07-10 | 2 | 47°00'N / 97°12'W | 46°54'N / 97°12'W | 6.90 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Cass |
| 33.5 | 1955-07-02 | 4 | 46°30'N / 97°00'W | 46°30'N / 96°48'W | 9.10 Miles | 150 Yards | 2 | 19 | 250K | 0 | Richland |
| 35.0 | 1965-05-05 | 2 | 46°42'N / 97°12'W | 46°47'N / 97°12'W | 5.70 Miles | 83 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Cass |
| 35.5 | 1955-07-02 | 3 | 46°31'N / 96°42'W | 46°16'N / 96°32'W | 18.70 Miles | 440 Yards | 0 | 3 | 250K | 0 | Wilkin |
| 35.7 | 1973-06-15 | 3 | 46°52'N / 97°15'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Cass | |||
| 36.3 | 1965-05-05 | 2 | 46°47'N / 97°12'W | 46°53'N / 97°19'W | 8.50 Miles | 83 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Cass |
| 36.6 | 1978-07-05 | 2 | 47°20'N / 96°21'W | 47°27'N / 96°04'W | 15.20 Miles | 400 Yards | 3 | 35 | 25.0M | 0 | Norman |
| 41.0 | 1964-06-08 | 2 | 46°16'N / 97°08'W | 46°39'N / 97°01'W | 26.90 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Richland |
| 41.2 | 1976-08-19 | 2 | 46°47'N / 97°21'W | 0.30 Mile | 20 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Cass | |
| 41.5 | 1960-08-25 | 2 | 46°42'N / 95°40'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Otter Tail | |||
| 42.0 | 1973-06-16 | 3 | 47°22'N / 97°04'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Traill | |||
| 44.3 | 1974-07-13 | 2 | 46°19'N / 96°04'W | 46°23'N / 95°57'W | 6.40 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Otter Tail |
| 44.7 | 2005-06-29 | 2 | 46°22'N / 95°57'W | 46°23'N / 95°56'W | 1.50 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Otter Tail |
| Brief Description: The tornado flattened an older barn and uprooted several trees. Two people narrowly escaped the tornado as it hit the barn. The landowner reported that another tornado had hit another barn on same site back in 1933. Peak winds were estimated at 130 mph. | |||||||||||
| 45.3 | 1978-07-05 | 2 | 47°27'N / 96°04'W | 47°30'N / 96°00'W | 3.80 Miles | 400 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Mahnomen |
| 46.6 | 2004-09-05 | 2 | 46°31'N / 95°41'W | 46°34'N / 95°38'W | 4.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Otter Tail |
| Brief Description: A tornado tracked through pasture, forest, and corn fields. Numerous trees were knocked down and one farmstead received extensive barn, shed, and home damage. Twelve head of cattle were killed. Several trees were toppled onto homes near Marion Lake. Farmyard debris was carried as far as Perham, about 7 miles northeast. | |||||||||||
| 47.8 | 1960-08-25 | 2 | 46°18'N / 97°00'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Richland | |||
| 47.8 | 1965-06-26 | 2 | 47°30'N / 97°00'W | 2.00 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Traill | |
| 48.3 | 2008-07-11 | 2 | 47°18'N / 95°49'W | 47°29'N / 95°43'W | 16.00 Miles | 250 Yards | 0 | 0 | 500K | 100K | Mahnomen |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This tornado tracked to the north-northeast for about 16 miles and lifted about 3 miles south-southwest of Lengby, or near Sugar Bowl Lake. Numerous trees and power poles were snapped along the path. Farm sheds were blown down and hay wagons flipped. The damage path was around 250 yards wide where it crossed county road 122 about 2 miles east of Beaulieu. Peak winds were estimated at 115 mph. EPISODE NARRATIVE: An area of surface low pressure near Bismarck (ND) on the morning of the 11th moved to near Grand Forks (ND) by early afternoon, then moved to near Winnipeg in the evening. As it did so, a warm front lifted north ahead of the low and a cold front trailed behind the low. Thunderstorms formed along both boundaries. | |||||||||||
| 49.6 | 2007-07-15 | 2 | 46°30'N / 97°22'W | 46°27'N / 97°19'W | 3.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 1.0M | 1.0M | Ransom |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: The tornado cut a large gap in mature hardwood trees near the Sheyenne River and snapped several wooden power poles. Several sections of a large irrigation system were also tipped over. Peak winds were estimated at 115 mph. Some crops were damaged in Owego Township. EPISODE NARRATIVE: At 3 pm CST on the 15th, a stationary front was located from near Minot (ND) to Jamestown (ND) to near Sisseton (SD). South of the front, mid afternoon temperatures ranged in the mid 80s to lower 90s. To the north of the front, a meso-high had formed, with much cooler and drier air around it. The temperature across the boundary ranged from 89F at Minot, to 73F at Devils Lake, to 64F at Crookston. The upper air pattern had a western ridge and an eastern trough, putting the northern plains in northwest flow aloft. A strengthening upper jet also moved toward eastern North Dakota, giving this system good surface and upper level support. A supercell thunderstorm developed over southern Steele County around 530 pm CST and tracked across western Cass County and into eastern Ransom County before weakening after 7 pm CST. Then, another supercell thunderstorm formed over northern Steele County around 725 pm CST. This storm tracked just west of the path of the first storm, again mainly hitting central Steele County, western Cass County, and eastern Ransom County, before weakening around 915 pm CST. Both thunderstorms tracked south-southeast at speeds between 40 and 50 mph and spawned multiple tornadoes which were embedded within the overall downburst wind and hail pattern. The significant downburst wind and wind driven hail was seen in two partially overlapping paths, with each path from 5 to 7 miles wide and between 60 and 80 miles long (this damage path showed up clearly on satellite images). The strength of these winds is believed to have exceeded 80 mph with speeds over 100 mph in some localized areas. Hail sizes ranged from penny to hen egg sized. Most areas received considerable hail damage at the same time as the strong winds. Law enforcement officials and witnesses stated that the hail often persisted for longer than 5 minutes and completely covered the ground. The hail damaged roofs, windows, and siding in many homes along the damage path. Stripped and decimated corn, bean, and wheat fields were typical along the entire storm path too. The ND Farm Service Administration estimated losses occurred on over 700,000 acres in five counties. Total crop losses may exceed $250 million, with other property losses from $15 to $20 million. Cass and Steele Counties received a Presidential Disaster Declaration. | |||||||||||
| 49.9 | 1959-07-07 | 2 | 46°30'N / 95°37'W | 2.50 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Otter Tail | |
| 49.9 | 1953-06-27 | 2 | 47°30'N / 97°05'W | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Traill | |||
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.