Carter County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Carter County: 0.
2. 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.

Every large fire

1. 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

1. 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.

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

1. 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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. 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).
2. 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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 1, 2008Winter Storm, Carter$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A very strong spring storm system brought significant precipitation to southeast Montana and portions of south central Montana during the first two days of the month. The heaviest precipitation occurred over the higher terrain of southeast Montana. Enough cold air was generated by the storm system that heavy snow developed. In addition, deep surface low pressure that was situated over western South Dakota resulted in strong northwest surface winds. These strong winds that combined with the snow resulted in blizzard conditions and whiteout conditions at times. Total losses for this storm are not known except for Carter County where upwards of $3 million of losses were reported.…

2. Mar 29, 2009Blizzard, Carter$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ekalaka received 8-10 inches of snow along with blizzard conditions. Many livestock and new born calves were buried in the snow. Records show $1,049,659 in losses for livestock in Carter County. This figure does not include what would be an average death loss during calving season, this was above and beyond the usual. This number is from about 140 livestock producers in the county. About 60 more producers probably had losses, but did not report or may not have hit the threshold for reporting. The average for producers reporting was about $7500 of loss. It was very stressful for ranchers with back-to-back storms with snow so deep there was no place left to put livestock. However,…

3. May 20, 2011Flood$320,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Record to near record flooding reported on rivers and streams across Carter County. A total of 10 homes were reported as damaged by floodwaters. Damage estimates were based on FEMA reports and Individual Assistance approvals. On Boxelder Creek, at it's highest levels, water was flowing across Highway 277 between Hammond and Ridgeway and across Highway 323 (3 miles north of Belltower) about a half mile wide in spots. On the Little Missouri River, record flooding was reported. Significant flooding noted in the Albion area where one individual had to be rescued as floodwaters surrounded their house. Two dams also breached due to the high waters. Widespread farmland flooding occurred…

4. Apr 14, 2009Flood$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rapid snowmelt caused streams within Carter County to run high. In addition to Box Elder Creek, minor flooding was also reported along the Little Missouri River and other streams. Residents along Box Elder Creek from near Hammond to Ridgeway, Belltower and Mill Iron also experienced minor flooding. In addition, heavy rain showers resulted in additional rises to the streams. One rancher reported fence repairs totally $80,000.

5. Jul 23, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$3,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A cold front moved through south central Montana during the late afternoon and evening hours of the 23rd. Very little moisture was present at the surface. As a result...high-based thunderstorms developed which produced strong dry microburst winds in many areas.

1. 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.

All-time high

109°FJul 12, 2026

All-time low

−51°FDec 22, 1989

Warmest night

81°FJul 22, 1960

Coldest day

−22°F2 times, most recently Feb 2, 1989

Wettest day

4.00 inApr 23, 2022

Snowiest day

30.0 inMar 23, 2009

Hottest year

1981mean 47.5°F

Coldest year

1978mean 40.0°F

Wettest year

201924.52 in

Driest year

19885.81 in

Snowiest season

112.5 in2008-09

Station Ridgeway 1 S (USC00247034), 3,316 ft elevation, 13.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1956 to October 26, 2026; 95.1% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00247034.
• 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.
• 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.