Broadwater County
Population 8,493 (2025) 1,192 sq mi
Large wildfires have burned 124,885 acres of Broadwater County since 1984, 25th most of 56 counties in Montana; the largest was the Toston-Maudlow Fire in 2000.
Hazard fingerprint Each spoke is this county’s percentile among U.S. counties where that hazard occurs. How it is computed
- Tornado damage paths since 19501
- Wildfire burn scars since 198412
At a glance
The record for Broadwater County in eight numbers. Each links to its section below.
Acres burned since 1984
124,885
25th of 56 in Montana
12 large fires; the largest was Toston-Maudlow, 2000
DetailsTornadoes since 1950
1
47th of 56 in Montana
Fewer than the typical Montana county, which has had 6
DetailsStrongest tornado
F0
June 12, 1992, 0.1 mile path
Federal disaster declarations
12
Most recent: Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds, 2026
DetailsTornadoes
About one every 76 years since 1950, none rated F3/EF3 or stronger.
Strongest
June 12, 1992
F0, 0.1 mile path
10 yards wide.
Most recent
Friday, June 12, 1992
F0, 0.1 mile path
34 years ago.
Every recorded tornado
| Jun 12, 1992 | F0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 |
- Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Broadwater County: 0.
- Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.
Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.
Hurricanes and tropical storms
No tropical storm or hurricane has tracked within 100 miles since records began in 1851.
Wildfire and smoke
124,885 acres burned in 12 large fires since 1984, equal to 16% of the land.
Largest
August 15, 2000
Toston-Maudlow Fire, 80,319 acres
44,619 acres inside Broadwater County.
Most recent
July 9, 2024
Horse Gulch Fire
15,235 acres in total.
Every large fire
| Horse Gulch | 2024 | 4,940 | 15,235 |
| Matt Staff Rd | 2022 | 177 | 1,440 |
| Woods Creek | 2021 | 17,652 | 55,808 |
| Deep Creek Canyon | 2021 | 4,281 | 4,277 |
| Eustis | 2015 | 8,469 | 8,464 |
| Cabin Gulch | 2015 | 1,435 | 1,432 |
| Toston-Maudlow | 2000 | 44,619 | 80,319 |
| Canyon Ferry Complex (Cave Gulch) | 2000 | 17,930 | 26,977 |
| Canyon Ferry Complex (Bucksnort) | 2000 | 5,667 | 14,831 |
| Angus | 1996 | 1,810 | 1,808 |
| Indian Creek | 1989 | 2,772 | 2,773 |
| Canyon Creek | 1988 | 15,127 | 35,835 |
- Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.
Smoke overhead
Smokiest year
2021: 63 days
Heavy smoke on 46 days in 2021, the most of any year.
Last 10 years
28.0 days a year
Medium or heavy smoke, 2016 to 2025.
2025
15 days
Medium or heavy smoke. 32 so far in 2026.
- A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.
NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.
Floods and flood insurance
2 federal flood insurance claims since 2011, with $6,500 paid.
Flood events since 1996
- Flood3
- Flash Flood2
This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.
River crests
Most severe crest
January 3, 1997
Jefferson River near Three Forks, 9.88 ft
1.88 feet above the 8.0 ft flood stage; major flooding by today’s categories.
Most recent moderate or major crest
June 2, 2018
Missouri River at Toston, 11.08 ft
Moderate flooding.
River gauges
| Jefferson River near Three Forks | 8.0 | 9.88 ft | 5 |
| Missouri River at Toston | 10.5 | 12.22 ft | 1 |
- Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.
NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.
Drought
In severe drought or worse for 292 of 1,581 months since 1895 (18%); the longest spell lasted 44 months.
292
Months in severe drought or worse since 1895
144
Months in extreme drought
18%
Share of all months, severe or worse
Lowest reading
August 1936
−6.96, extreme drought
Longest severe spell
44 months
July 1934 to February 1938.
Latest month
September 2026
−2.80, moderate drought
Last severe month: August 2026.
- The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.
NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.
Earthquakes and volcanoes
41 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles since 1900; the largest was magnitude 6.6 in 1925.
53
Magnitude 2.5+ inside the county since 1973
248
Magnitude 3+ within 50 miles since 1973
41
Magnitude 4+ within 50 miles since 1900
13
Magnitude 5+ within 50 miles since 1900
Largest within 50 miles
June 27, 1925
The 1925 Clarkston Valley, Montana Earthquake; inside the county.
Most recent, magnitude 3 or more
April 26, 2026
Magnitude 3.0
16 km ESE of Butte, Montana; 26.4 miles away.
Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles
| Aug 15, 2019 | 4.2 | 6.6 |
| Aug 5, 2019 | 4.1 | 7.4 |
| Jul 13, 2019 | 4.0 | 7.8 |
| Jul 17, 2017 | 4.0 | 42.1 |
| Jul 6, 2017 | 4.4 | 41.0 |
| Jul 6, 2017 | 4.0 | 42.4 |
| Jul 6, 2017 | 5.0 | 44.8 |
| Jul 6, 2017 | 5.8 | 43.1 |
| Sep 3, 2016 | 4.0 | 23.7 |
| Jan 30, 2016 | 4.3 | 39.6 |
| Mar 6, 2009 | 4.0 | 24.3 |
| May 8, 2007 | 4.4 | 37.9 |
| Jun 17, 2006 | 4.1 | 19.8 |
| Nov 10, 2000 | 4.0 | Inside |
| Apr 8, 2000 | 4.1 | Inside |
| Oct 27, 1998 | 4.3 | 24.5 |
| Nov 6, 1997 | 4.0 | 20.3 |
| Aug 7, 1989 | 4.0 | 9.3 |
| Jul 21, 1987 | 4.0 | 19.5 |
| Dec 31, 1983 | 4.0 | Inside |
| Mar 10, 1980 | 4.0 | 17.8 |
| Aug 26, 1977 | 4.5 | 3.7 |
| Mar 10, 1977 | 4.6 | Inside |
| Feb 7, 1975 | 4.0 | 4.8 |
| Jul 16, 1974 | 4.4 | 9.3 |
| Nov 1, 1972 | 4.2 | Inside |
| Mar 7, 1966 | 4.8 | Inside |
| Feb 15, 1963 | 4.5 | 7.1 |
| Nov 28, 1935 | 5.0 | 10.3 |
| Oct 31, 1935 | 5.9 | 3.5 |
| Oct 18, 1935 | 6.1 | 1.7 |
| Oct 12, 1935 | 5.9 | 10.3 |
| Feb 15, 1929 | 4.7 | 2.8 |
| Feb 29, 1928 | 4.9 | 11.2 |
| Dec 12, 1926 | 5.4 | 7.3 |
| Jul 10, 1925 | 5.5 | Inside |
| Jun 27, 1925 | 5.5 | Inside |
| Jun 27, 1925 | 5.5 | Inside |
| Jun 27, 1925 | 6.4 | Inside |
| Jun 27, 1925 | 6.6 | Inside |
| Apr 19, 1910 | 5.4 | 34.5 |
- Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the county boundary (or inside the county).
- Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.
Volcanoes within 100 miles
| Yellowstone | 98.7 | High |
- U.S. volcanoes within 100 miles, from the USGS Volcano Hazards Program. The threat category is the USGS 2018 National Volcanic Threat Assessment, which ranks volcanoes by how hazardous their past eruptions were and how many people and how much infrastructure lie near them. It is not a forecast of eruption.
USGS Volcano Hazards Program, retrieved October 30, 2026.
Severe weather and other events
305 events in the National Weather Service record, 300 of them since 1996.
20
Hail reports, 1 inch or larger
1
Hail, 2 inches or larger
47
Damaging gusts, 58 mph+
91
Winter weather events since 1996
0
Heat events since 1996
17
Cold events since 1996
Largest hail
August 10, 2019
2.00 inches
Strongest measured or estimated gust
August 2, 2013
85 mph
More event types since 1996
| Lightning | 1 | 1 |
| Avalanches | 1 | 0 |
Costliest events since 1996
- Jun 10, 2023Flash Flood$100,000
National Weather Service narrative
Portions of N Creek Road as well as Highway 12 were closed due to debris flows and flash flooding in the Deep Creek Burn Scar area. The Deep Creek Picnic area was closed for over two months as a result of the flooding.
- Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.
NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.
Weather records
From Townsend 3SE, 4.5 miles from the county’s population centre, with records from 1948.
- All-time high
- 105°FAug 6, 1961
- All-time low
- −39°F2 times, most recently Jan 27, 1957
- Warmest night
- 69°F3 times, most recently Aug 8, 2001
- Coldest day
- −19°FJan 13, 2024
- Wettest day
- 2.10 inJun 19, 1979
- Snowiest day
- 14.0 inDec 26, 1971
- Hottest year
- 2015mean 47.2°F
- Coldest year
- 1985mean 40.5°F
- Wettest year
- 198016.63 in
- Driest year
- 19606.61 in
- Snowiest season
- 42.7 in1948-49
Median first snow
November 8
Earliest: September 11, 1949
Median last snow
April 7
Latest: May 31, 2008
0 of 48 winters had no measurable snow.
Station Townsend 3SE (USC00248324), 3,964 ft elevation, 4.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 96.2% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.
NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.
Federal disaster declarations
12 since 1953. The most recent: Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds, April 7, 2026.
| Apr 7, 2026 | Straight-Line Winds | DR-4902-MT |
| Jul 12, 2024 | Fire | FM-5507-MT |
| Mar 31, 2020 | Biological | DR-4508-MT |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | EM-3476-MT |
| Apr 17, 2014 | Flood | DR-4172-MT |
| Jun 17, 2011 | Severe Storm | DR-1996-MT |
| Sep 13, 2005 | Hurricane | EM-3253-MT |
| Aug 30, 2000 | Fire | DR-1340-MT |
| Jul 24, 2000 | Fire | FM-2314-MT |
| Jul 25, 1997 | Severe Storm | DR-1183-MT |
| May 27, 1981 | Flood | DR-640-MT |
| Jun 28, 1975 | Flood | DR-472-MT |
This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.
How this compares
Where Broadwater County stands among 56 counties in Montana and 3,143 in the United States.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 1 | 47 / 56 |
| Tornadoes rated F3/EF3 or stronger | 0 | — |
| Tropical cyclones within 50 mi | 0 | — |
| Hurricane-strength passes within 50 mi | 0 | — |
| Wildfire acres since 1984 | 124,885 | 25 / 56 |
| Flood insurance claims | 2 | 43 / 56 |
| Flood insurance paid | $6,500 | 42 / 56 |
| Disaster declarations | 12 | 19 / 56 |
| Flood events since 1996 | 5 | 55 / 56 |
| Hail and wind events since 1996 | 176 | 46 / 56 |
| Winter storm events since 1996 | 91 | 37 / 56 |
| Reported damage since 1996 | $100,000 | 50 / 56 |
| River crests at major flood stage | 6 | 7 / 56 |
| High tide flooding days a year, last 10 years | 0.0 | — |
| Months in severe drought since 1895 | 292 | 2 / 56 |
| Medium or heavy smoke days a year, last 10 years | 28.0 | 42 / 56 |
| Earthquakes M4+ within 50 mi since 1900 | 41 | 10 / 56 |
| Earthquakes M2.5+ in the county since 1973 | 53 | 8 / 56 |
Neighbouring counties
| Gallatin County | 4 | 0 |
| Jefferson County | 1 | 0 |
| Lewis and Clark County | 6 | 0 |
| Meagher County | 3 | 0 |
Sources and vintage
Every number on this page comes from these public records.
- Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
- Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
- Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
- Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
- Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
- Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
- Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00248324.
- River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
- Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
- Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
- Volcanoes USGS Volcano Hazards Program, U.S. volcanoes and 2018 threat assessment.
- Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.
Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.