Valley County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Valley 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 16, 2007Hail$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to three inches in size accompanied by winds around 70 mph caused significant damage throughout the city of Glasgow and outlying areas to the west, south and east. See entire episode narrative for full details.

2. Jun 16, 2007Hail$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   One hundred percent of the businesses and homes in the town were damaged from the combination of large hail and damaging winds. Many vehicles also had significant damage. Damages included roofing, windows, gutters, siding, trees and gardens. See entire episode narrative for full details.

3. Jul 21, 1999Hail$1.5 million
   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.

4. Aug 24, 2014Flood$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall in the basin with amounts ranging from 4 to 10 inches over a four day period caused significant flooding in all the streams in the basin, and eventually the rivers. Willow Creek, Antelope Creek, Cherry Creek, Larb Creek, Brazil Creek all flooded during this time frame, blocking off many gravel roads around the county. Valley County had at least 36 locations with damages and DES reported to FEMA the totals were $1.2 million. Willow Creek Road from Fort Peck to the Pines had a very large area completely wiped out with a large culvert gone.

5. Jun 20, 2005Hail$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The hail caused extensive damage to roofs, siding, windows, gutters, and screens in the town of Fort Peck. Many vehicles also had hail damage.

6. Jul 3, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds in excess of 80 mph knocked down power lines and trees and caused roof damage. A double wide trailer 8 miles north of Glasgow was almost completely destroyed by the winds. The occupants were saved by taking shelter in an interior bathroom. Over 50 power poles were blown down around Glasgow leaving residents in the dark some longer than 24 hours. The roof of the Cottonwood Inn Restaurant was blown off. A new record wind gust of 82 mph was set at the Glasgow International Airport.

7. Jun 21, 1999Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Over almost a four hour period, numerous severe thunderstorms moved from southwest to northeast across northeast Montana. These storms produced winds to 92 miles an hour, several small tornadoes and hail to a size of 1.75 inches. The community of Opheim was hit hardest by straight line winds and a weak tornado. Most of downtown Opheim was damaged including the front wall of the local hotel taken down. Power was out for most of the Opheim area for more than 18 hours. A state disaster declaration was declared for the Opheim area. The town of Froid suffered damage from straight line winds which pushed a concrete grain elevator off of its foundation. At the Fort Peck Lake Marina,…

8. Jun 7, 2005Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding was reported along Antelope Creek approximately 9.5 miles west-nothwest of Glasgow. Antelope Creek went from being dry to running out of its banks, and flooded Billingsly Road and caused severe damage to a ranch. Water flowing across Billingsly road was as up to 5 feet deep in spots. A basement was flooded and three vehicles were damaged. All fences around the property were wiped out, and one sheep was drown. Water flooded the ranch up to 6 feet deep, and did not recede for 8 hours.

9. Jun 20, 2005Hail$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The hail caused extensive damage to roofs, siding, windows, gutters, and screens in Duck Creek.

10. Aug 24, 2014Flash Flood$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The initial report of flash flooding came from an NWS employee who reported that Cherry Creek on the northwest side of Glasgow has risen out of its banks and is flooding with several inches of water over Skylark Road at Martin Coulee. The Creek was actually flooding in the area about 4 miles north of Glasgow westward and then southward to the Milk River. Many homeowners evacuated and had to move livestock and trailers out of the flooded waters. This is the second highest the river has been in at least 4 decades (2011 was higher). There were over a dozen homes with water in the basements and crawl spaces, and the water was so high, many people were unable to leave their homes…

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°FJul 19, 2021

All-time low

−50°FJan 26, 1950

Warmest night

75°F2 times, most recently Jul 21, 2007

Coldest day

−24°FDec 21, 1989

Wettest day

2.96 inAug 2, 1985

Snowiest day

13.0 inMar 4, 2018

Hottest year

1987mean 47.6°F

Coldest year

1950mean 37.8°F

Wettest year

201122.95 in

Driest year

20216.62 in

Snowiest season

108.6 in2010-11

Station Glasgow (USW00094008), 2,384 ft elevation, 4.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00094008.
• 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.