Montana

Storm History: Dawson County, Montana

548 episodes, 853 events since 1953

Every storm the National Weather Service has filed in Dawson County, Montana: floods, hail, damaging wind, tornadoes, winter storms, heat and the rest, with the most serious on record. Events filed by forecast zone count for every county the zone covers.

The record

Events
853
Deaths
2
Injuries
11
Damage
$12 million
Episodes
548

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Open the live radar over Dawson County

Every year

From 1996 the record holds 48 kinds of event with each office’s narrative; before that, tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind only, and before 1955 tornadoes alone.

By kind of event

Counted under the kind that heads each episode.

Kind of eventEventsDeathsInjuriesDamage
Hail27411$5.9 million
Flash Flood9700$2.2 million
High Wind9102$26,000
Tornado8001$3.2 million
Thunderstorm Wind6500
Drought4800$990,000
Blizzard3602$50,000
Flood3300$50,000
Winter Storm3000
Dense Fog2400
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill1900
Cold/Wind Chill1400
Heavy Snow1100$7,000
Winter Weather1100
Wildfire600
Ice Storm504
Heat300
Lightning201$11,000
Excessive Heat210
Funnel Cloud200

The deadliest

The costliest

Damage within this county, in the dollars of its year.

The largest hail

The largest stone in each episode, which may have fallen in a neighboring county of the same episode.

The strongest tornadoes

Every tornado in Dawson County, with its track

Every episode, newest first

Earlier years, state by state:

More

Tornadoes in Dawson CountyEvery warning in Dawson County since 1986Every county in Montana

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24.