Richland County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Richland 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. Jul 29, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Some light damage consisting of tree branches down and fence damage was noted south of Lambert. More significant damage was found about 9 miles southeast of Lambert on Rd. 115. At this location, numerous trees were uprooted or snapped, and there was damage to homes and vehicles. Residents reported hail up to 2.5 inches breaking windows in homes.||Major to minor crop damage was seen over a large area from 9 southeast of Lambert to Savage. An irrigation system was destroyed just north of Savage. There was some damage to structures in and near the town of Savage, with the most significant structural damage surveyed occurring on a ranch 6 miles west-northwest of Savage. At this…

2. Nov 1, 2000Winter Storm, Richland$435,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major winter storm hit eastern Montana leaving over 1500 residents without power as nearly 2000 power poles snapped in half. The storm started as rain and produced several hours of sleet before changing to snow. After the ice turned to all snow, strong winds from 30 to 45 mph with gusts to 60 mph developed creating blizzard conditions with 6 to 12 inches of snow. Drifts up to 5 and 6 feet were reported in Sheridan County.

3. Mar 20, 1997Flood, Richland$280,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   After a winter with record setting cold and snow, the rapid snow melt caused the Yellowstone River to rise to flood stage. Many ice jams developed causing low land flooding. While two homes were evacuated, no damage to homes was reported. Small streams draining into the Yellowstone River also were out of their banks. The ice on the Yellowstone River and area streams did major damage to several bridges.

4. Jul 1, 1997Flash Flood$269,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Six inches of rain falling in less than four hours caused flash flooding throughout much of Richland County. Five bridges in the county sustained damage. One family along Lone Tree Creek was evacuated as the normally dry creek rose four feet. Numerous county roads were closed due to washouts and flood waters over the roads. The added water put a strain on the Vaux Dam and there was some concern it would fail.

5. Jun 24, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$162,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Initial reports came from Richland County Sheriff's Department and then also from trained spotters in the area. There were a total of 8 large steel tanks blown over that weigh 12,000-14,000 pounds each. They were empty, and not staked into the ground yet. They stood about 25 feet tall and 8 feet across. Consulted with expert damage assessors with NWS Warning Decision Training Branch and at the University of Oklahoma, who agreed with the NWS Glasgow wind speed estimate of 95 mph winds to blow those tanks over. A 5th wheel camper was also blown over at the site, and an occupant was injured, but was not transported to the closest medical center. A pickup truck was also crushed under the tanks.

6. Aug 5, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Based on photos from emergency management and in discussion with those in the area, the wind speed is estimated to be at least 90 mph. Trees were stripped of their leaves, windows were broken, There was a home with part of the roof torn off, windows broken a shed completely destroyed, and a nearly one hundred year old barn that had been restored in the past two years that was destroyed.

7. Jun 30, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Initial wind gust was from the west-northwest. Straight line wind damage, or a macroburst was the cause of the damage in Sidney. Power was out for several hours in the Sidney area as power lines were broken by fallen trees and branches. The majority of the damage appears to be with uprooted and snapped evergreen trees, although some cottonwoods and poplars were also damaged. A storage building was destroyed just north of Sidney. A window was ripped out of its frame at 405 pm on the east side of town.

8. Jun 19, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large, four-year old roping barn was destroyed by a microburst. The winds peeled the metal roof back, the tresses collapsed, and the east wall was blown eastward. Based on photographs from the Emergency Manager, and archived radar data, the maximum wind gusts from the microburst were estimated at 95 mph.

9. Mar 16, 2003Flood, Richland$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ice jams on the Yellowstone River between March 16th-18th caused flooding of low lying areas. The flooding caused some minor damage in Prairie and Dawson Counties. In addition to the ice jams, heavy rain partially contributed to the flooding of several fields and roads, and later washed out a gravel road in Richland County. On the 17th, 2.00 inches of rain fell at Crane, 1.79 inches of rain fell at Sidney and 1.71 inches of rain fell at Savage. The Yellowstone River at Glendive crested at 60.5 feet at 10 pm on March 16th. The flood stage at Glendive is 53.5 feet. The water receded after the ice jam broke on the afternoon of March 18.

10. Jun 16, 2007Hail$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Nickel to quarter hail covered the ground. Thunderstorm winds estimated at 80 mph accompanied the hail and caused significant crop damage and some damage to windows and roofs on area farms. See entire episode narrative for full details.

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 13, 2026

All-time low

−47°FJan 11, 1912

Warmest night

78°F2 times, most recently Jul 25, 2023

Coldest day

−28°FJan 12, 1916

Wettest day

2.97 inJun 18, 1973

Snowiest day

13.0 inMay 12, 1983

Hottest year

2024mean 52.7°F

Coldest year

1950mean 37.4°F

Wettest year

201021.59 in

Driest year

20207.29 in

Snowiest season

75.5 in1978-79

Station Sidney (USC00247560), 1,933 ft elevation, 2.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1910 to October 26, 2026; 94.1% 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 USC00247560.
• 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.