Montana

Storm History: Powell County, Montana

506 episodes, 762 events since 1962

Every storm the National Weather Service has filed in Powell 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
762
Deaths
21
Injuries
31
Damage
$2.8 million
Episodes
506

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 Powell 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
Heavy Snow23421$181,000
Winter Storm196512$919,000
Hail7710$163,000
Winter Weather5764$8,000
High Wind5501$445,000
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill3000
Blizzard2912
Flood1800$140,000
Thunderstorm Wind1100$1,000
Ice Storm1100
Tornado900$850,000
Cold/Wind Chill800
Avalanche641$500
Strong Wind500$17,000
Frost/Freeze500
Flash Flood400$500
Excessive Heat200
Heavy Rain100
Dust Storm118
Wildfire100
Debris Flow100$600
Freezing Fog112$50,000

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 Powell CountyEvery warning in Powell 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.