Phillips County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Phillips 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. Jun 29, 2011Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A farm/ranch was significantly damaged by a tornado and damaging downburst winds. The storm stripped trees bare, four car garages were either destroyed or damaged. A 1000 gallon fuel tank that was filled that day was blown off it's stand. The houses received significant damage from hail and the high winds,and the majority of the windows on the two homes were busted out by the wind and hail. A 2x6 piece of lumber was blown and implanted into the side of one of the houses. The majority of the damage was downstream with the storm system. The peak gust was recorded at 86 mph before the sensor was destroyed. Quarter size hail fell with the storm as well, wiping out nearby field. The…

2. Jun 20, 2005Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The large hail caused roof, siding, window, and gutter damage to eight houses.

3. Jul 4, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A total of 19 three-phase poles and 11 single phase were reported damaged. This included poles broken at ground level, as well as cross arms broken and wires snapped. The radar indicated a bow echo through the area and wind speeds are estimated. Damage is estimated at $75k to 80k.

4. Jul 11, 2004Hail$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The hail broke vehicle windows and caused damage to several roofs. Crop damage was also reported.

5. May 21, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of thunderstorms produced severe winds across southern Phillips County. The damaging winds were generally less than 70 mph, but one RAWS site at Zortman did measure a 74 mph gust. A group of researchers just north of the UL Bend had significant damage to trailer they were using to stay in while conducting research. Three trailers were completely toppled, and another had the side caved in.

6. Jul 14, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm wind gust blew a Ford Bronco SUV into a house and downed 5 power poles in Zortman. Several trees and a sign were also blown down by the wind.

7. Jul 14, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm wind gusts in Landusky blew away 2 grain bins and blew down a wooden building and 20 acres of hay. There was also a roof blown off a building in Landusky.

8. Jul 6, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Outflow from thunderstorms 10 to 15 miles south produced wind damage. The strong wind lasted about 30 to 40 seconds. A camper was blown approximately 30 yards and destroyed. Branches were twisted off of trees and power lines were downed by the wind. The roofs were blown off of two barns.

9. Jul 21, 1999Hail$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two supercell thunderstorms moved across northeast Montana causing a path of damage that extended from southern Phillips county to the North Dakota border. The hardest hit was the community of Glasgow where 4.5 inch hail fell damaging cars, roofs, windows and trees as it passed. The largest hail fell from downtown Glasgow near the courthouse northeast to the local Ford dealership. The storms continued east where they produced at least two tornado touchdowns in rural areas. Large hail continued to be reported along the Highway 2 corridor. A tornado touchdown was reported in Bainville where railroad cars were blown off of the tracks.

10. Aug 10, 2007Tornado$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several outbuildings on the property were leaning to the east, and shingles were found at least 100 yards away. A refrigerator was flipped off the front porch of a house, and water was sucked up out of a four foot tall pool in the back yard. A windmill was also twisted and a steer barn collapsed. Based on the NWS damage survey the damage was estimated as EF1 where the steer barn collapsed, and the remainder of the damage was estimated at EF0.

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°FAug 11, 2018

All-time low

−45°F2 times, most recently Dec 21, 1989

Warmest night

75°FJul 18, 2011

Coldest day

−24°FDec 9, 1972

Wettest day

3.61 inJul 10, 1983

Snowiest day

9.0 inMar 6, 2002

Hottest year

2016mean 48.1°F

Coldest year

1996mean 37.2°F

Wettest year

201624.17 in

Driest year

20218.09 in

Snowiest season

51.6 in2022-23

Station Malta 7 E (USC00245338), 2,231 ft elevation, 6.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1972 to September 30, 2026; 97.0% 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 USC00245338.
• 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.