Teton County
Population 6,496 (2025) 2,272 sq mi
Large wildfires have burned 91,281 acres of Teton County since 1984, 29th most of 56 counties in Montana; the largest was the Fool Creek Fire in 2007.
Hazard fingerprint Each spoke is this county’s percentile among U.S. counties where that hazard occurs. How it is computed
- Tornado damage paths since 19504
- Wildfire burn scars since 198417
At a glance
The record for Teton County in eight numbers. Each links to its section below.
Acres burned since 1984
91,281
29th of 56 in Montana
17 large fires; the largest was Fool Creek, 2007
DetailsTornadoes since 1950
4
30th of 56 in Montana
Fewer than the typical Montana county, which has had 6
DetailsStrongest tornado
F2
July 2, 1966, 0.8 mile path
Federal disaster declarations
12
Most recent: Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds, 2026
DetailsTornadoes
About one every 19 years since 1950, none rated F3/EF3 or stronger.
Strongest
July 2, 1966
F2, 0.8 mile path
50 yards wide.
Most recent
Sunday, June 29, 1986
F0, 0.2 mile path
40 years ago.
Every recorded tornado
| Jun 29, 1986 | F0 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 2, 1966 | F2 | 0.8 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 2, 1964 | F1 | 27.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jun 5, 1963 | F0 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 |
- Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Teton County: 0.
- 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.
Hurricanes and tropical storms
No tropical storm or hurricane has tracked within 100 miles since records began in 1851.
Wildfire and smoke
91,281 acres burned in 17 large fires since 1984, equal to 6.3% of the land.
Largest
June 28, 2007
Fool Creek Fire, 53,902 acres
21,767 acres inside Teton County.
Most recent
August 25, 2017
Strawberry Fire
17,775 acres in total.
Every large fire
| Strawberry | 2017 | 8,389 | 17,775 |
| Scalp | 2017 | 132 | 20,337 |
| Elk Hill | 2016 | 1,344 | 1,348 |
| Sheep Mountain | 2015 | 413 | 4,180 |
| Moose Ridge | 2015 | 7,168 | 11,396 |
| Red Shale | 2013 | 1,532 | 13,705 |
| Fool Creek | 2007 | 21,767 | 53,902 |
| Nanny Creek | 2006 | 2,342 | 2,345 |
| Hazard Lake Wfu | 2005 | 3,205 | 4,905 |
| Pishkun | 2002 | 3,450 | 3,444 |
| Biggs Flat | 2001 | 6,050 | 7,296 |
| Bunyan Point-Ear Mtn. Complex (Ear Mountain) | 2000 | 2,660 | 2,662 |
| Bowl Mtn. | 1998 | 73 | 3,259 |
| Freezeout Lake | 1993 | 9,801 | 9,794 |
| Power | 1992 | 1,290 | 1,289 |
| Power | 1991 | 3,822 | 3,818 |
| Gates Park | 1988 | 17,835 | 42,484 |
- 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
Smokiest year
2021: 51 days
Heavy smoke on 32 days in 2021, the most of any year.
Last 10 years
28.4 days a year
Medium or heavy smoke, 2016 to 2025.
2025
19 days
Medium or heavy smoke. 41 so far in 2026.
- 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.
Floods and flood insurance
5 federal flood insurance claims since 1991, with $31,000 paid.
Claims by ZIP code
| 59422 | 5 | $31,000 |
Flood events since 1996
- Flood6
- Heavy Rain6
- Flash Flood3
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
Most severe crest
June 9, 1964
Teton River near Dutton, 20.48 ft
11.48 feet above the 9.0 ft flood stage; minor flooding by today’s categories.
River gauges
| North Fork Sun River near Augusta | 9.0 | — | 0 |
| Teton River near Choteau below South Fork | 9.0 | 9.25 ft | 0 |
| Teton River near Dutton | 9.0 | 20.48 ft | 0 |
- 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.
Drought
In severe drought or worse for 226 of 1,581 months since 1895 (14%); the longest spell lasted 24 months.
226
Months in severe drought or worse since 1895
84
Months in extreme drought
14%
Share of all months, severe or worse
Lowest reading
August 1919
−5.90, extreme drought
Longest severe spell
24 months
May 1936 to April 1938.
Latest month
September 2026
−1.87, mild drought
Last severe month: August 2026.
- 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.
Earthquakes
15 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles since 1900; the largest was magnitude 5.8 in 2017.
0
Magnitude 2.5+ inside the county since 1973
186
Magnitude 3+ within 50 miles since 1973
15
Magnitude 4+ within 50 miles since 1900
2
Magnitude 5+ within 50 miles since 1900
Largest within 50 miles
July 6, 2017
11 km SE of Lincoln, Montana; 45.4 miles away, 7.6 miles deep.
Most recent, magnitude 3 or more
October 4, 2026
Magnitude 3.1
12 km N of Ovando, Montana; 35.8 miles away.
Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles
| Jan 29, 2026 | 4.2 | 9.0 |
| Jul 17, 2017 | 4.0 | 44.2 |
| Jul 6, 2017 | 4.4 | 46.5 |
| Jul 6, 2017 | 4.0 | 48.5 |
| Jul 6, 2017 | 5.8 | 45.4 |
| Jan 30, 2016 | 4.3 | 39.2 |
| Jul 19, 2002 | 4.0 | 16.4 |
| Apr 14, 1998 | 4.1 | 34.9 |
| Apr 1, 1992 | 4.0 | 34.8 |
| Apr 1, 1985 | 4.8 | 30.0 |
| Mar 17, 1983 | 4.2 | 6.0 |
| Mar 10, 1980 | 4.0 | 33.4 |
| Nov 10, 1978 | 4.3 | 47.7 |
| Apr 23, 1978 | 4.5 | 49.2 |
| Mar 31, 1952 | 5.5 | 37.4 |
- 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).
- 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.
Severe weather and other events
1,030 events in the National Weather Service record, 984 of them since 1996.
74
Hail reports, 1 inch or larger
7
Hail, 2 inches or larger
87
Damaging gusts, 58 mph+
226
Winter weather events since 1996
0
Heat events since 1996
23
Cold events since 1996
Largest hail
July 27, 1958
3.00 inches
Strongest measured or estimated gust
May 16, 1993
92 mph
More event types since 1996
| Dense fog and smoke | 6 | 0 |
| Debris flows | 1 | 0 |
Costliest events since 1996
- Jun 8, 2002Winter Storm, Southern Rocky Mountain Front$1.6 million
National Weather Service narrative
A major late season winter storm affected much of the Rocky Mountain Front from June 8th to June 10th. The snow began to fall at higher elevations on Friday evening, with rain at the lower elevations. Buy Saturday morning, heavy snow was falling across the entire Rocky Mountain Front. The snow was heavy at times throughout Saturday. On Saturday night, blizzard conditions were experienced over the Northern Rocky Mountain Front. The snow began to diminish in intensity on Monday evening. By then, snow accumulations ranged from 3 to 4 feet over the Plains, to 5 to 7 feet above 5000 feet.This snow had a very high moisture content, which caused 301 power poles to break, 232 power pole…
- Dec 7, 2022Blizzard, Southern Rocky Mountain Front$1.0 million
National Weather Service narrative
Trained spotter approximately 17 miles west-southwest of Bynum (close to the border of MT zones 307 and 308) reported blizzard conditions for 7 hours. A local volunteer fire department submitted photos from Stonewall Mountain of a communications tower being downed due to the weight of significant riming from snow/ice/wind. The downed tower had been there for 30 years and was the communications tower for multiple emergency response agencies.
- Jan 15, 2020Flood$250,000
National Weather Service narrative
An ice jam along the Spring Creek on the northeastern side of Choteau sent flood waters up to a couple feet in depth into a small section of the city with minor impacts. The flooding may have also played a partial role in the basement flooding reported by up to 80 houses in the city. Information was provided by the city of Choteau Facebook and by NWS field inspection.
- Jan 4, 2001High Wind, Southern Rocky Mountain Front$70,000
National Weather Service narrative
Choteau 10 NW...damaging winds at Blackleaf...damage as a result of an overturned tractor trailer (trailer unit only) near Bynum...damage to large crop sprinkler units just north of Choteau...damage to windows and trampoline at residence in Choteau.
- Jun 8, 2023Debris Flow$50,000
National Weather Service narrative
The Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest submitted a video showing South Fork Teton Road experiencing washouts and debris flows.
- Mar 6, 2003Winter Storm, Southern Rocky Mountain Front$15,000
National Weather Service narrative
Heavy snow fell over the entire Rocky Mountain Front from March 6th to March 10th. Snowfall amounts generally ranged from 6 to 10 inches per day. However, in a 24 hour period starting at 0400 MST on the 7th, some areas did receive over 2 feet of snow. By the end of the storm, many locations above 5000 feet had received between 3 and 5 feet of snow.The amount of the snowfall over this 5 day period caused a car port to collapse, crushing a vehicle underneath it.Here is a list of some of the snowfalls reported for the total storm:56 inches at East Glacier; 48 inches at Landers Park; 37 inches at Lincoln 6N (SNOTEL); 36 inches at Lincoln; 32 inches at Many Glacier; 26 inches at Pike…
- Jun 10, 2003Hail$10,000
National Weather Service narrative
A severe thunderstorm produced 0.88 inch hail at Dutton 17E. Hail damage occurred to cars, roofs, and crops.
- Jun 5, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$1,000
- 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.
Weather records
From Choteau, 8.2 miles from the county’s population centre, with records from 1893.
- All-time high
- 106°FAug 26, 1894
- All-time low
- −50°FFeb 15, 1936
- Warmest night
- 74°FJul 21, 1920
- Coldest day
- −29°FFeb 3, 1893
- Wettest day
- 4.10 inJun 8, 1964
- Snowiest day
- 14.0 in2 times, most recently Nov 27, 2019
- Hottest year
- 1987mean 49.4°F
- Coldest year
- 1951mean 39.2°F
- Wettest year
- 192721.93 in
- Driest year
- 19735.19 in
- Snowiest season
- 110.8 in2019-20
Median first snow
October 23
Earliest: August 23, 1992
Median last snow
April 18
Latest: June 8, 1950
1 of 93 winters had no measurable snow.
Station Choteau (USC00241737), 3,845 ft elevation, 8.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 26, 2026; 95.0% 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.
Federal disaster declarations
12 since 1953. The most recent: Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds, April 7, 2026.
| Apr 7, 2026 | Straight-Line Winds | DR-4902-MT |
| Jul 18, 2024 | Severe Storm | DR-4801-MT |
| Mar 31, 2020 | Biological | DR-4508-MT |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | EM-3476-MT |
| Sep 12, 2017 | Fire | FM-5212-MT |
| May 24, 2016 | Severe Storm | DR-4271-MT |
| Jun 17, 2011 | Severe Storm | DR-1996-MT |
| Sep 13, 2005 | Hurricane | EM-3253-MT |
| Aug 30, 2000 | Fire | DR-1340-MT |
| Mar 15, 1986 | Flood | DR-761-MT |
| Aug 22, 1977 | Drought | EM-3050-MT |
| Jun 28, 1975 | Flood | DR-472-MT |
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.
How this compares
Where Teton County stands among 56 counties in Montana and 3,143 in the United States.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 4 | 30 / 56 |
| Tornadoes rated F3/EF3 or stronger | 0 | — |
| Tropical cyclones within 50 mi | 0 | — |
| Hurricane-strength passes within 50 mi | 0 | — |
| Wildfire acres since 1984 | 91,281 | 29 / 56 |
| Flood insurance claims | 5 | 37 / 56 |
| Flood insurance paid | $31,000 | 31 / 56 |
| Disaster declarations | 12 | 19 / 56 |
| Flood events since 1996 | 15 | 40 / 56 |
| Hail and wind events since 1996 | 697 | 6 / 56 |
| Winter storm events since 1996 | 226 | 18 / 56 |
| Reported damage since 1996 | $3.0 million | 25 / 56 |
| River crests at major flood stage | 0 | — |
| High tide flooding days a year, last 10 years | 0.0 | — |
| Months in severe drought since 1895 | 226 | 11 / 56 |
| Medium or heavy smoke days a year, last 10 years | 28.4 | 36 / 56 |
| Earthquakes M4+ within 50 mi since 1900 | 15 | 21 / 56 |
| Earthquakes M2.5+ in the county since 1973 | 0 | — |
Neighbouring counties
| Cascade County | 13 | 0 |
| Chouteau County | 17 | 0 |
| Flathead County | 4 | 0 |
| Lewis and Clark County | 6 | 0 |
| Pondera County | 0 | 0 |
Sources and vintage
Every number on this page comes from these public records.
- 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 USC00241737.
- 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.