Montana

Storm History: Lake County, Montana

643 episodes, 1,138 events since 1961

Every storm the National Weather Service has filed in Lake 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
1,138
Deaths
33
Injuries
52
Damage
$22 million
Episodes
643

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 Lake 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
Winter Storm332714$12 million
Heavy Snow31934$415,000
High Wind9011$2.6 million
Winter Weather80718$7,000
Hail7200$594,000
Blizzard4624$200,000
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill4200
Thunderstorm Wind2500$161,000
Ice Storm2100$30,000
Cold/Wind Chill1700$1,000
Flood1730$1.8 million
Strong Wind1620$76,000
Frost/Freeze1400
Avalanche1371
Tornado900$65,000
Debris Flow502$5,000
Excessive Heat500
Heavy Rain300
Lightning200$140,000
Storm Surge/Tide200
Wildfire200
Funnel Cloud100
Dust Storm118
Dense Fog100
Flash Flood100$3.6 million
Freezing Fog100
Heat100

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.

Every episode, newest first

Earlier years, state by state:

More

Tornadoes in Lake CountyEvery warning in Lake 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.