Custer County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Custer 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.

Claims by ZIP code

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

River gauges

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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 20, 2011Flood$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant flooding occurred on creeks and streams across Custer County with numerous county roads flooded, closing roads and resulting in significant damage. At the height of the flooding, emergency only travel was advised due to the magnitude of the event. The Powder River near Locate rose above flood stage from May 10th through May 23rd. The river crested four times at 11.29 feet, 11.70 feet, 11.27 feet and 9.28 feet on the 10th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd respectively. In addition, Pumpkin Creek was reported to be flowing over Highway 59 southeast of Miles City. Pumpkin Creek had a record crest of 13.98 feet on May 20th and 21st. The Yellowstone River at Miles City went above flood…

2. Jul 4, 1998Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several streets were closed in Miles City because of flash flooding. Basements of several homes and businesses were flooded.

3. May 25, 2010Flood$130,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains on the 24th and 25th caused widespread low land flooding across rural Custer County, mainly south of Miles City. Heavy rainfall also caused numerous roads and culverts to wash out in Custer County. A five day total of 4.08 inches at Volborg was reported on the 25th . On the morning of May 25th, a cooperative observer reported that Pumpkin Creek was out of its banks 5 miles north of Volborg with low land flooding. In addition, runoff from recent heavy rains also caused water levels to rise on the Tongue River below the Twelve Mile Dam.

4. Jul 18, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful thunderstorm moved across Rosebud and Custer Counties during the late afternoon and early evening hours of the 18th. Large hail and significant wind damage was reported in the Forsyth and Miles City areas. ||Damage occurred on/near I-94 between exits 135 and 148. A speed limit sign was blown from its pole and carried 20 yards at exit 135. A large blue services road sign was snapped in the middle and blown backwards. Some of the 2ft sheets of metal from the sign were not found. HRH Hospital light pole signs were damaged. About 1.5 miles east on I-94 another large green route sign was snapped in half and 2ft sheets of metal from the sign were blown across the interstate…

5. Jul 18, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful thunderstorm moved across Rosebud and Custer Counties during the late afternoon and early evening hours of the 18th. Large hail and significant wind damage was reported in the Forsyth and Miles City areas. ||Damage occurred on/near I-94 between exits 135 and 148. A speed limit sign was blown from its pole and carried 20 yards at exit 135. A large blue services road sign was snapped in the middle and blown backwards. Some of the 2ft sheets of metal from the sign were not found. HRH Hospital light pole signs were damaged. About 1.5 miles east on I-94 another large green route sign was snapped in half and 2ft sheets of metal from the sign were blown across the interstate…

6. Jul 20, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm wind gusts of at least 48 mph caused several trees and a billboard to be blown down, a camping trailer to be blown over and some broken windows in and around Miles City.

7. Jul 4, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   11 telephone poles snapped from 1-mile wide microburst on Kinsey Road

8. Jul 9, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   2 inch diameter hail. Crop and window damage. Foot of water over Frontage Road along Interstate 94. Interstate 94 closed for one hour due to water over the road. Car accident near mile marker 160 with two injuries.

9. Jul 4, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$2,000
10. Jul 1, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$1,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A spotter reported winds gusts to 60 mph which blew branches off trees and shingles off of a roof.

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

115°FJul 12, 2026

All-time low

−38°FDec 24, 1983

Warmest night

79°FJul 24, 2007

Coldest day

−25°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

2.91 inApr 24, 2016

Snowiest day

15.0 inApr 27, 1989

Hottest year

2012mean 50.1°F

Coldest year

1950mean 41.2°F

Wettest year

197820.28 in

Driest year

19885.27 in

Station Miles City Airport (USW00024037), 2,625 ft elevation, 3.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1937 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00024037.
• 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.