Hill County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Hill 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. Apr 12, 2023Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Mountain snowpack in the Milk River basin melted out very quickly and contributed significant flooding. Virtually the entire Milk River system flooded in a matter of days as a result, starting near the headwaters in Hill County. Big Sandy Creek near Havre crested at 12.07 feet on April 13, which (as of entry) was the fourth highest crest on record. Route 50 was greatly flooded as well as some businesses . Farther north, Lodge Creek below McRae Creek approached Major Flood stage before cresting at 10.59 feet on April 18th. Much of rural northern Hill County experienced flooding as a result. The Milk River gauge near Havre remained below flood stage, although river levels did come…

2. May 7, 2024Flood$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hill County Department of Emergency Services and MT Department of Emergency Services reported flooding in and around the Bears Paw Mountains. Total damage done totaled $1,205,267. The main expenses were to roads & bridges ($368,000) and to parks, recreational, or other facilities ($836,000).

3. Jun 27, 1998Flash Flood$233,000
4. Jun 20, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm produced a 60 mph wind gust at Havre 11S, blowing over a semi trailer.

5. Aug 22, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$45,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 40 x 60 metal shed destroyed from collapsing thunderstorm wind gusts. Nearby observations recorded wind gusts in excess of 70 mph.

6. Aug 7, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   OVERTURNED A TRAILER...DAMAGED FENCES AND ROOFS

7. Jun 18, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two power poles snapped at the base. Road signs reported to be blown over.

8. Sep 1, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm produced a wind gust to 65 mph at Havre. A roofer sustained minor injuries when he was blown off the building he was working on. The thunderstorm overturned an unoccupied trailer, knocked down numerous power and phone lines and broke the windshields of a dozen vehicles at two car dealerships.

9. May 13, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$3,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   ASOS station KHVR Havre Airport thunderstorm wind gust. Social media also relayed a report of major damage to 2 garage sheds in Havre.

10. May 13, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$2,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Social media relayed reports of 2 roofs being damaged in Box Elder due to a severe thunderstorm moving through.

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

111°FAug 5, 1961

All-time low

−52°FJan 24, 1969

Warmest night

75°FJul 27, 1984

Coldest day

−33°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

2.59 inMay 7, 2024

Snowiest day

20.7 inMay 28, 1982

Hottest year

1987mean 46.7°F

Coldest year

1996mean 39.3°F

Wettest year

201619.28 in

Driest year

19886.38 in

Snowiest season

93.3 in1981-82

Station Havre Airport Asos (USW00094012), 2,586 ft elevation, 2.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1961 to October 26, 2026; 99.7% 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 USW00094012.
• 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.