Chouteau County, Montana severe weather history spans 331 recorded events between 1957 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 45.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,599 nationally and #20 in Montana.
331
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
7
Direct injuries
$3.1M
Property damage
The record
What the Chouteau County, Montana severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Chouteau County, Montana severe weather history averages 4.9 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 119 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 34 events fall before 1990 and 297 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $2.9M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Chouteau County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 152 | 0 | $0 | 2.75 | 1958–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 142 | 0 | $67K | 87 | 1957–2025 |
| Tornado | 15 | 0 | $2.9M | F3 | 1960–2018 |
| Heavy Rain | 12 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2006–2022 |
| Flood | 7 | 0 | $194K | 0 | 2011–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2002–2011 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2000 |
Decade by decade
Chouteau County, Montana severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
16 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 16 touched down inside it and 0 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988-07-05 | EF3 | 0 | 2 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1988-07-05 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1988-07-05 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1998-06-19 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1980-06-01 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-07-10 | EF1 | 0 | 5 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2018-06-23 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 1.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2012-06-05 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1999-07-07 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1994-06-26 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Chouteau County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 10, 1965 | Tornado | 0 | 5 | $2.5M | |
| Jul 5, 1988 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $250K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Storm chaser recorded video of non-mesocyclonic tornado near Highwood around 3:55 PM MDT. This tornado lasted about 5-minutes. No damage, injuries, or deaths reported. Location and path of tornado estimated via radar. Width also estimated.
Flooding occurred over North Central Montana on June 10th. Between 2 and 5 inches of rain fell over the plains during the morning and early afternoon hours resulting in many rivers rising to bank full along with urban street flooding. The water began to recede below bank full early on the 11th.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
5,906
Population (ACS)
$208K
Median home value
10
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 18, 2024 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND FLOODING | DR |
| Mar 31, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jul 10, 2013 | Flood | FLOODING | DR |
| Jun 17, 2011 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Jul 10, 2010 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Chouteau County, Montana?
331 events are on record between 1957 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $3.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Chouteau County?
Hail, with 152 recorded events — 45.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Chouteau County?
16 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 16 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Chouteau County?
10 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Chouteau County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Chouteau County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Chouteau County as very low risk, placing it in the 39 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Chouteau 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
- Cascade County 620
- Custer County 544
- Carter County 457
- Daniels County 278
- Carbon County 191
- Dawson County 544
Cite this page
“Chouteau County, Montana.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/montana/chouteau-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.