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Montana

The recorded hazard history of every county in Montana: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, and National Flood Insurance Program claims since 1978.

Montana has 36,277 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950 across 56 counties, led by damaging wind: 24.9 per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally.

NCEI attributes 166 deaths and 403 injuries to those events, with property damage estimated at $369M. By events per 100 square miles the leading counties are Wibaux, Yellowstone and Cascade.

FEMA lists 113 disaster declarations touching the state since 1953, most recently Sand Creek Fire (14 Aug 2026). NFIP policyholders filed 2,220 flood claims since 1978, $19M paid; 3,070 residential policies are in force.

1,522events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

36,277events since 195024.9 per 100 sq mi (US 56.0)

113disaster declarations since 1953last 14 Aug 2026

2,220NFIP flood claims$19M paid

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. Storm records through 30 Jun 2026; declarations refreshed 29 Sep 2026; claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Compared with the United States

Measure	Montana	US
Recorded events since 1950	36,277	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	24.9	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	328.5	59.6
Deaths recorded by NCEI	166	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$369M	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	2.0	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$12K	$43K
Residential flood policies in force	3,070	3,139,862

Hazard mix

Wind14,438

Winter8,475

Hail8,391

Flood1,175

Cold1,102

Drought798

Other765

Tornado432

Fog315

Wildfire269

Heat65

Lightning51

Tropical1

Hazard	Events	Share of US	Deaths
■ Wind	14,438	2.1%	18
■ Winter	8,475	2.9%	86
■ Hail	8,391	2.0%	—
■ Flood	1,175	0.6%	9
■ Cold	1,102	2.0%	5
■ Drought	798	0.9%	—
■ Other	765	1.7%	28
■ Tornado	432	0.5%	4
■ Fog	315	1.7%	3
■ Wildfire	269	2.8%	2
■ Heat	65	0.1%	2
■ Lightning	51	0.3%	9
■ Tropical	1	0.0%	—

Events by decade

Hail: 137Tornado: 22Wind: 40

Hail: 193Tornado: 38Wind: 128

Hail: 137Tornado: 51Wind: 162

Hail: 190Tornado: 55Wind: 285

Hail: 1204Tornado: 121Flood: 164Wind: 1010Winter: 691Cold: 39Wildfire: 8Lightning: 11Fog: 12Other: 60

Hail: 3069Tornado: 69Flood: 284Wind: 3501Winter: 2839Tropical: 1Heat: 38Cold: 206Drought: 79Wildfire: 104Lightning: 22Fog: 1Other: 190

Hail: 2517Tornado: 59Flood: 591Wind: 4632Winter: 3030Heat: 14Cold: 351Drought: 137Wildfire: 57Lightning: 10Fog: 113Other: 306

Hail: 944Tornado: 17Flood: 136Wind: 4680Winter: 1915Heat: 13Cold: 506Drought: 582Wildfire: 100Lightning: 8Fog: 189Other: 209

1991950s3591960s3501970s5301980s3,3201990s10,4032000s11,8172010s9,2992020s

Recorded events in Montana by decade and hazard group, including events recorded by forecast zone. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtWildfireLightningFogOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Counties by events per 100 square miles

County	Events	Last 12 mo	Per 100 sq mi	Per 10k residents	Dominant	Tornadoes	Hail	Declarations	NFIP claims	NRI risk
Wibaux County	460	8	51.7	4,925.1	Wind	8	127	5	3	Very Low
Yellowstone County	1,121	38	42.6	67.1	Hail	21	507	14	272	Relatively Moderate
Cascade County	1,114	19	41.3	131.8	Wind	12	253	7	257	Relatively Moderate
Sheridan County	693	28	41.3	1,964.8	Wind	10	197	6	1	Very Low
Daniels County	528	16	37.0	3,131.7	Hail	10	163	8	0	Very Low
Richland County	758	29	36.4	671.8	Wind	13	217	8	8	Relatively Low
Dawson County	853	26	36.0	958.0	Wind	15	244	10	7	Relatively Low
Fallon County	501	19	30.9	1,660.6	Hail	14	187	8	1	Very Low
Prairie County	527	17	30.3	4,830.4	Hail	3	185	7	0	Very Low
Judith Basin County	553	5	29.6	2,705.5	Wind	16	149	9	0	Very Low
McCone County	748	32	28.3	4,353.9	Wind	9	241	10	0	Very Low
Roosevelt County	637	13	27.1	588.7	Wind	16	248	8	9	Relatively Low
Valley County	1,269	14	25.8	1,683.7	Wind	44	470	13	250	Very Low
Musselshell County	474	11	25.4	968.1	Hail	5	230	15	60	Very Low
Treasure County	232	5	23.7	3,020.8	Hail	3	87	11	0	Very Low
Petroleum County	389	32	23.5	7,495.2	Wind	8	115	12	0	Very Low
Hill County	657	45	22.7	406.1	Wind	7	112	13	17	Relatively Low
Gallatin County	582	7	22.3	47.4	Winter	4	94	9	76	Relatively Moderate
Liberty County	315	18	22.0	1,618.7	Wind	4	53	10	4	Very Low
Toole County	409	6	21.4	816.2	Wind	6	58	12	1	Very Low
Powder River County	703	21	21.3	4,130.4	Hail	18	377	12	7	Very Low
Golden Valley County	241	9	20.5	2,900.1	Hail	0	123	10	0	Very Low
Fergus County	822	25	18.9	707.6	Wind	27	251	10	27	Relatively Low
Garfield County	885	27	18.9	7,320.1	Wind	12	291	13	5	Very Low
Carter County	627	16	18.8	4,390.8	Hail	18	298	8	0	Very Low
Stillwater County	329	4	18.3	363.8	Hail	1	185	16	60	Very Low
Custer County	686	19	18.1	575.7	Wind	8	239	9	156	Very Low
Broadwater County	198	9	16.6	271.7	Wind	1	27	12	2	Very Low
Jefferson County	248	4	15.0	198.9	Winter	1	56	11	5	Very Low
Chouteau County	572	16	14.4	966.9	Wind	15	152	10	0	Very Low
Rosebud County	619	19	12.4	761.9	Hail	9	333	15	12	Relatively Low
Phillips County	624	11	12.1	1,488.5	Hail	14	276	10	39	Very Low
Wheatland County	172	5	12.1	835.4	Hail	7	107	10	19	Very Low
Meagher County	280	1	11.7	1,425.7	Winter	3	45	10	6	Very Low
Sweet Grass County	214	5	11.5	574.8	Hail	2	130	10	10	Very Low
Silver Bow County	82	2	11.4	23.2	Hail	0	43	7	10	Very Low
Blaine County	474	6	11.2	679.1	Wind	7	102	13	50	Relatively Low
Madison County	395	3	11.0	443.0	Wind	2	29	7	6	Very Low
Park County	300	17	10.7	171.7	Wind	2	58	14	141	Relatively Low
Missoula County	274	5	10.6	22.9	Hail	2	118	21	172	Relatively Low
Teton County	221	14	9.7	352.5	Hail	4	103	12	5	Very Low
Big Horn County	476	11	9.5	367.4	Hail	10	248	9	16	Relatively Low
Carbon County	193	4	9.4	177.9	Hail	3	118	13	59	Relatively Low
Lewis and Clark County	317	8	9.2	43.9	Hail	4	118	16	102	Relatively Low
Pondera County	141	6	8.7	235.2	Hail	0	76	14	0	Very Low
Ravalli County	181	5	7.6	39.4	Hail	3	85	13	36	Relatively Low
Lake County	112	2	7.5	35.0	Hail	4	48	8	12	Relatively Low
Beaverhead County	397	11	7.2	416.8	Wind	13	53	6	12	Relatively Low
Deer Lodge County	46	0	6.2	48.5	Hail	1	21	10	9	Very Low
Glacier County	174	5	5.8	126.2	Hail	3	75	12	8	Relatively Low
Powell County	103	1	4.4	147.2	Hail	2	65	17	18	Very Low
Flathead County	209	7	4.1	19.3	Hail	4	103	15	132	Relatively Moderate
Mineral County	41	1	3.4	84.4	Wind	0	14	10	5	Very Low
Granite County	57	1	3.3	170.5	Hail	2	31	8	7	Very Low
Sanders County	66	3	2.4	50.9	Wind	1	23	16	9	Relatively Low
Lincoln County	71	2	2.0	34.6	Wind	0	14	14	39	Relatively Low

Events are county-recorded plus zone-recorded events whose zone is named for the county. NRI risk is FEMA's National Risk Index overall rating (December 2025).

Counties by flood claims per 100 policies in force

County	Claims, last 10 years	Policies in force	Claims per 100 policies	Claims since 1978	Paid
Lewis and Clark County	40	176	22.7	102	$432K
Yellowstone County	46	233	19.7	272	$2.3M
Missoula County	38	215	17.7	172	$973K
Cascade County	16	246	6.5	257	$855K
Gallatin County	13	323	4.0	76	$340K
Flathead County	11	372	3.0	132	$690K
Custer County	6	687	0.9	156	$400K

Counties with at least 100 residential policies in force. Claims by year of loss in the ten years to 2026, divided by residential policies in force as of 3 Aug 2026; a rough ratio, since policies in force today differ from those in force when the losses occurred.

Federal disaster declarations by year

195319902026

Declarations touching Montana by year declared, 1953 to 2026; each disaster number counted once.

Incident type	Declarations
Fire	68
Flood	19
Severe Storm	14
Straight-Line Winds	3
Biological	3
Winter Storm	1
Other	1
Tornado	1
Hurricane	1
Drought	1

Most recent declarations (each disaster number once, with the number of counties designated):

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
14 Aug 2026	FM-5671	Fire management assistance	Fire	Sand Creek Fire	1
29 May 2026	DR-4915	Major disaster	Straight-Line Winds	Severe Winter Storm And Straight-Line Winds	0
29 May 2026	DR-4914	Major disaster	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Straight-Line Winds	0
7 Apr 2026	DR-4902	Major disaster	Straight-Line Winds	Severe Winter Storm And Straight-Line Winds	28
7 Apr 2026	DR-4901	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	1
19 Dec 2025	EM-3630	Emergency	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	2
11 Sep 2025	DR-4887	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	0
26 Aug 2025	FM-5611	Fire management assistance	Fire	Windy Rock Fire	1
14 Nov 2024	DR-4847	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storm And Straight-Line Winds	0
23 Aug 2024	DR-4813	Major disaster	Straight-Line Winds	Straight-Line Winds	2
18 Jul 2024	DR-4801	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Flooding	10
12 Jul 2024	FM-5507	Fire management assistance	Fire	Horse Gulch Fire	2
11 Oct 2023	DR-4745	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	10
19 Aug 2023	FM-5480	Fire management assistance	Fire	River Road East Fire	1
12 Aug 2023	DR-4726	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	7

Flood insurance claims by year

197820022026

NFIP claims in Montana by year of loss, 1978 to 2026.

2,220 claims, 1,641 paid, $19M in total; 88 repetitive-loss and 3 severe repetitive-loss properties. ZIP codes in Montana with flood claims (82).

Year by year

Each year's events, declarations and claims: 2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011 · 2010 · 2009 · 2008 · 2007 · 2006 · 2005 · 2004 · 2003 · 2002 · 2001 · 2000 · 1999 · 1998 · 1997 · and earlier years back to 1952

Questions and answers

Which Montana counties have the most recorded tornadoes?

Valley (44), Fergus (27) and Yellowstone (21), by NCEI count since 1950. Larger counties record more events; the state table also ranks by events per 100 square miles.

Which Montana counties have the most flood insurance claims?

Yellowstone (272), Cascade (257) and Valley (250) since 1978, in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file.

How many federal disaster declarations has Montana had?

113 declarations since 1953 (major disaster, emergency and fire management assistance declarations combined), 5 of them in 2026 so far.

How does Montana compare with the national rate?

24.9 recorded events per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally; 2.0 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 8.1.

Provenance

NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 refreshed 29 Sep 2026; OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026); FEMA National Risk Index December 2025; US Census Bureau 2021 population and area. Built 30 Sep 2026. Methodology.