Powder River County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jun 21, 2010Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Cache Creek Tornado was 100 yards wide and on the ground for approximately a half mile. The tornado lasted just over ten minutes. Damage consisted of a house roof and front porch blown off, broken windows, as well as the house being shifted off of its foundation. Winds were estimated at 111-135 mph.

2. May 23, 2011Flood$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall amounts ranging from 4-6 inches resulted in significant flooding across Powder River County. Most tributaries feeding the Powder and Little Powder River reported flooding. The Little Powder River subsequently flooded with water reported as flooding Highway 59 in several spots. This flooding resulted in numerous roads being washed out. Flood damage estimates were based on FEMA reports and Individual Assistance approvals.

3. Jun 21, 2010Tornado$107,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Otter Tornado was on the ground for approximately one mile with a 200 yard wide path of damage. Numerous trees were snapped off and uprooted. The Otter Post Office and an adjacent home received partial roof damage.

4. Jun 21, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$56,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Boyes microburst winds were estimated to be 80 to 100 mph. Five grain bins were blown several hundred yards and three power poles were blown down. In addition, portions of rooftops were peeled back on two metal structures. There was some other minor damage as well.

5. Jun 23, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A cluster of thunderstorms produced large hail over Carter and Fallon Counties in southeastern Montana. Flash flooding was reported south of Baker as a creek overflowed its banks. Wind gusts to 56 mph in Powder River County produced several thousand dollars of property damage in the Broadus area. Roofs were blown off of several buildings and residences, a barn was blown down and a greenhouse was damaged.

6. Aug 5, 2025Flash Flood$2,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Report of creeks flowing out of their banks. Fences were damaged and water tanks floated downstream. A few fields were flooded as well.

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

110°F3 times, most recently Jul 12, 2026

All-time low

−47°FDec 22, 1989

Warmest night

78°F2 times, most recently Jul 23, 2020

Coldest day

−20°F2 times, most recently Dec 24, 1983

Wettest day

3.71 inJun 17, 1944

Snowiest day

16.0 inMar 29, 1977

Hottest year

2016mean 51.0°F

Coldest year

1978mean 41.2°F

Wettest year

201924.09 in

Driest year

20207.49 in

Station Broadus (USC00241127), 3,032 ft elevation, 6.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1920 to October 26, 2026; 94.8% 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 USC00241127.
• 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.