Sheridan County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Sheridan County: 2.
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.

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. Oct 31, 1999Wildfire$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds sustained at 50 to 60 miles an hour and gusts to near 80 miles an hour caused minor damage throughout northeast Montana. The winds were also responsible for the rapid spread of several wild fires which reeked havoc through several communities. Peak winds were clocked as follows:Glasgow 66 MPHGlendive 62 MPHTampico 71 MPHFort Peck 66 MPH Winnett 67 MPHChain Buttes 68 MPHDry Blood Cr 64 MPHPlentywood 65 MPHWolf PT 67 MPHPoplar 73 MPHN of Oswego 72 MPHZortman 75 MPHSawmill Creek 80 MPHBluff Creek 69 MPHJordan 69 MPHKing Coulee 77 MPHSidney 64 MPHBig Sheep MTN 64 MPHWind driven fires started by the railroad raced into the small community of Outlook. Townspeople were…

2. Nov 1, 2000Winter Storm, Sheridan$2.5 million
   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. Jul 26, 2010Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This was the deadliest tornado in Montana since 1923, and only the fourth EF-3 on record. The supercell thunderstorm developed strong rotation, and rotating wall clouds and brief funnel clouds were reported in Daniels County. As the storm moved southeast, it intensified and a large, long-lived tornado formed. The tornado traveled for 18 miles, mostly through rural areas, but it had devastating impacts as it hit a ranch, killing two people and injuring one. On the morning of July 27th, 2010 two teams of NWS Glasgow staff surveyed the damage area. The first team started in Daniels County and followed the track of the storm to the east-southeast. The second team met with county and…

4. Jun 6, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The strong wind destroyed a barn in the town of Westby.

5. Aug 10, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind associated with a severe thunderstorm caused considerable roof damage to a home. The roof damage was severe enough that rain entered the southern part of the house and caused additional damage to sheetrock, furniture and carpeting.

6. Jan 18, 2010Freezing Fog, Sheridan$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   State DES reported there was extensive electrical pole damage across the area due to rime ice accumulation. Dollar amounts were from Sheridan Electric.

7. Sep 3, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A semi-truck was blown over due to the strong microbust winds within the squall line of thunderstorms that moved through. Other minor damage was reported in the area as well to homes and farm outbuildings.

8. Aug 17, 2005Hail$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Three vehicles had broken windows. The metal roof of a building was damaged.

9. Apr 5, 2000High Wind, Sheridan$12,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An area of low pressure moving through southern Canada in combination with strong high pressure over the pacific coast caused damaging northwest winds to develop over the area. Sustained wind speeds in the 50 to 60 mile an hour range were common with gusts to 70 miles an hour. Mostly minor damage was caused throughout northeast Montana, however, several grain bins were blown down in Peerless and Redstone. Also, buildings suffered roof damage in Richland and Dawson counties. One person sustained minor injuries when an empty semi-truck was blown over on I-94 near Glendive.

10. Sep 4, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Large older trees were blown down, older outbuilding slide 10 feet down its foundation and debris from strong winds broke windows of a home.

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

112°FJul 5, 1937

All-time low

−45°F3 times, most recently Jan 25, 1969

Warmest night

76°FJul 29, 1984

Coldest day

−30°FDec 23, 1983

Wettest day

4.50 inJul 2, 1990

Snowiest day

12.0 in6 times, most recently Nov 2, 2000

Hottest year

2016mean 42.8°F

Coldest year

1951mean 35.3°F

Wettest year

195325.31 in

Driest year

19845.29 in

Snowiest season

74.4 in1942-43

Station Westby (USC00248777), 2,103 ft elevation, 22.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1937 to September 30, 2026; 90.8% 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 USC00248777.
• 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.