Tornado Risk in Pierce County, ND
Pierce County, ND: what NOAA's tornado record says
17 tornado tracks have crossed Pierce County since 1973 by NOAA's count, roughly one every 4.5 years - the Moderate band on this site's scale. That is the 44th percentile nationally for tornado frequency. Among 53 North Dakota counties in this dataset, Pierce County ranks 44 for how often a tornado touches down.
The number that matters more than frequency
No violent (EF4-5) tornado has been recorded in Pierce County in NOAA's 76-year database. Of its 17 recorded tracks, 16 were weak (EF0-1) and 1 significant (EF2-3).
Shelter and safe-room economics
North Dakota does not currently have a confirmed state rebate layered on top of FEMA's 75% Hazard Mitigation cost-share, so a Pierce County homeowner should expect the full national range: $2,890-$13,280, $7,645 typical.
Power after the storm, not just shelter during it
The storm that misses Pierce County outright can still take its power out - outbreak-scale outages across North Dakota are common well beyond the tracked path. A battery-backup unit handles that without a generator's setup or fuel.
What Pierce County's figure does not tell you
Pierce County's figure is county-wide, not address-specific. Pierce County covers about 1,018 square miles, so a single touch here counts the same as a single touch in a county a fraction of that size. NOAA also documents that older records undercount weaker tornadoes from before Doppler radar became standard. Pierce County has about 3,853 residents.