North Dakota Annual Rainfall see below for individual cities 


 

North Dakota city precipitation totals

City

Avg Annual Precip

Avg Snow Annual

Avg # days of Precip

Avg # thunderstorm days

Avg # hail days
Bismarck 16.84 43.8 96 34 1
Fargo 21.19 40.8 99 31 2
Williston 14.16 42.3 93 28 1
State Average - 17.82", 43rd wettest in the U.S. 


North Dakota Precipitation Records

  • Driest location ranked by lowest annual average precipitation: Sherwood, northern North Dakota, 13.13"
  • Wettest location ranked by highest annual average precipitation: Wahpeton, southeastern North Dakota, 21.87"
  • Snowiest location ranked by highest annual average snowfall: Bowman, southwestern North Dakota, 56.5"
  • State precipitation record for 24 hours - Litchville, southeastern North Dakota, 6/29/1975, 8.10"
  • State precipitation record for 1 year - Milnor, southeastern North Dakota, 1944, 37.98"
  • State snowfall record for 24 hours - Berthold Agency, northwestern North Dakota, 2/25/1930, 24.0" 
  • State snow record for 1 season - Fargo, southeastern North Dakota, 1996-1997, 117.0"
  • From November through February, North Dakota averages only 0.50 inches of precipitation per month,
    mainly as snow
  • Contrary to popular belief, blizzards are not frequent events in North Dakota. On average there are only two or 
    three blizzards per year in the State
  • On July 21, 1987, thunderstorms produced severe weather in North Dakota, spawning a dozen tornadoes.
    Thunderstorms also produced baseball-size hail at Clifford which caused four million dollars damage and 
    high winds toppled two of eighty-foot towers, cutting off power to the town of Blanchard.

Precipitation data for other U.S. states
Data source: National Data Climatic Center