355
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
3
Direct injuries
$3.2M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Yellowstone County, Montana: 355 recorded events between 1958 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 91. That places the county #292 nationally and #2 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Yellowstone County, Montana: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Yellowstone County is the 2010s, when 132 of the county's 355 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Yellowstone County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 37.6% of all recorded severe weather across 10 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #292 for this hazard and #2 within Montana, putting it in the 90.7 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Yellowstone County with 125 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 26, 1985 | 0 | 2 | 0 | $0 | |
| Aug 6, 2020 | BILLINGS | 61 | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Jul 27, 1998 | BILLINGS LOGAN ARPT | 52 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 1, 2025 | LOCKWOOD | 50 | $0 |
| Jul 29, 2025 | HUNTLEY | 57 | $0 |
| Jul 29, 2025 | LOCKWOOD | 54 | $0 |
| Jul 23, 2025 | ACTON | 50 | $0 |
| Jul 5, 2025 | BILLINGS LOGAN ARPT | 55 | $0 |
| Jun 20, 2025 | LOCKWOOD | 53 | $0 |
| Jun 20, 2025 | LOCKWOOD | 61 | $0 |
| Jun 16, 2025 | LOCKWOOD | 53 | $0 |
| Jun 16, 2025 | BILLINGS | 51 | $0 |
| Jun 16, 2025 | WORDEN | 66 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Yellowstone County
- Hail 506
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A microburst hit the Montana Fair at the Billings Fairgrounds. Three tents were blown over with two employees receiving minor injuries. In addition, numerous tree limbs were blown down along with some minor damage to vehicles.
Some wind damage occurred on Bench Boulevard. A large cottonwood tree split in half and fell on a fence causing damage to the fence. A dead pine also fell with the root ball being exposed. The strong winds occurred from convection aloft but no lightning was detected.
Multiple power poles near the intersection of King Avenue West and Shiloh Road were knocked down due to a microburst. As a result, thousands of West End homes and businesses lost power. The thunderstorm knocked down eight poles and left about 5,200 customers and two substations without power. One of the large poles snapped about 10 feet above the ground, dragging down other power poles and light poles along the road.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Yellowstone County, Montana?
355 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Yellowstone County between 1958 and 2025, causing 2 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Yellowstone County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Yellowstone County measured 91.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Yellowstone County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Thunderstorm Wind in Yellowstone County, Montana.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/montana/yellowstone-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.