Tornadoes · United States · Montana

1995 tornadoes in Montana

15 tornadoes touched down in Montana in 1995, 136 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1994 1996 The whole country in 1995

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Montana in 1995

May 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 111:45 PM MDTF0Big Horn0.110

June 6 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 67:05 PM MDTF0Valley0.110

June 16 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 1610:00 PM MDTF1Hill0.110

June 21 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 216:30 PM MDTF0McCone0.110

June 22 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 224:30 PM MDTF0Richland0.110
June 229:36 PM MDTF0Valley0.110

July 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 117:56 PM MDTF2McCone0.580$50,000 to $500,000

August 7 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 72:00 PM MDTF0Missoula0.110

August 26 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 267:45 PM MDTF0Valley0.110
August 268:00 PM MDTF0Valley0.110
August 268:10 PM MDTF0Valley0.110
August 268:45 PM MDTF0Custer0.110
August 2610:45 PM MDTF0Dawson0.110

September 5 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 54:15 PM MDTF0Beaverhead0.110
September 55:15 PM MDTF0Roosevelt0.110

Nearby

Every tornado in Montana since 1950Warnings in force in MontanaThe live radar over Montana

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.