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Special Weather Statement
West Glacier Region; Flathead/Mission Valleys; Potomac/Seeley Lake Region
Flathead County, Montana severe weather history spans 203 recorded events between 1955 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 49.3% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,430 nationally and #33 in Montana.
203
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
5
Direct injuries
$11.8M
Property damage
The record
What the Flathead County, Montana severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Flathead County, Montana severe weather history averages 2.9 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 67 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 35 events fall before 1990 and 168 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Flathead County, Montana record is thunderstorm wind, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is flash flood, with $7.5M in reported property damage. In total, 10 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Flathead County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 100 | 0 | $1.7M | 2.75 | 1956–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 64 | 1 | $2.5M | 83 | 1955–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 12 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2004–2025 |
| Flood | 11 | 0 | $35K | 0 | 1996–2022 |
| Flash Flood | 5 | 0 | $7.5M | 0 | 2004–2022 |
| Tornado | 4 | 0 | $8K | F0 | 2000–2013 |
| Funnel Cloud | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2014 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | $1K | 0 | 2008–2013 |
| Debris Flow | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2021–2021 |
| Wildfire | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2003–2003 |
Decade by decade
Flathead County, Montana severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
5 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 4 touched down inside it and 1 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-11-04 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2008-04-09 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2007-07-18 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2007-07-18 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2000-09-10 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Flathead County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 23, 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | BIGFORK | 1 | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 17, 1987 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 2 | $0 | |
| May 31, 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | SOMERS | 0 | 1 | $450K |
| Aug 1, 1989 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
There were multiple reports from Kalispell, MT of 1.75 to 2.5 hail which caused extensive body and windshield damage to vehicles. Additionally, multiple homes sustained damage, especially roofs that needed to be replaced. One homeowner spent $80,000 US dollars to replace their roof. A patio umbrella in Evergreen, MT was shredded. The property damage estimate could be underdone.
Several areas of flooding and debris flows occurred, mainly on June 15. Trumbull Creek west of Columbia Falls, flooded a dozen homes near Highway 2 with water on to the highway. Flooding also occurred on North Hilltop Road along Garnier Creek and Blankenship Road near Columbia Falls with water running across Highway 2 from nearby hillsides. Debris flows occurred on the west side of Hungry Horse Reservoir forcing the closure of West Side Road in the Graves Creek area.
Widespread high winds were reported as a line of thunderstorms, in the form of a squall line, moved north-northeastward across the region. While wind gusts of 50 to 60 miles per hour were common, a person from the public in Kila reported a measured peak wind gust of 78 miles per hour, and the ASOS at Glacier Park International Airport recorded a peak wind gust of 69 miles per hour. Numerous trees were either snapped in half or uprooted,��which resulted in over 200 power outages and 37,000 customers without power. Several houses and vehicles were destroyed as trees fell onto them. Highway 2 and Montana Highway 83 were both covered by fallen trees for a time. A local electric coop remarked that this wind event may be the largest, most damaging outage event in our history.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk rating
110,695
Population (ACS)
$536K
Median home value
15
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 7, 2026 | Straight-Line Winds | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR |
| Jun 16, 2022 | Flood | SEVERE STORM AND FLOODING | DR |
| Mar 31, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jun 17, 2011 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Sep 13, 2005 | Hurricane | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Flathead County, Montana?
203 events are on record between 1955 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $11.8M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Flathead County?
Hail, with 100 recorded events — 49.3% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Flathead County?
5 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 4 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Flathead County?
15 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Flathead County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Flathead County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Flathead County as relatively moderate risk, placing it in the 86 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Flathead County, Montana severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Fergus County 515
- Gallatin County 237
- Fallon County 348
- Garfield County 619
- Deer Lodge County 46
- Glacier County 171
Cite this page
“Flathead County, Montana.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/montana/flathead-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.