Flathead County, Montana

What hazards hit Flathead County most?

The most frequent records are winter storm records: 804 since 1996. 45% of its winter storm records since 1996 fell in December and January. The rank column places the county among Montana's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Flathead County had?

NOAA records 4 tornadoes in Flathead County from 2000 to 2013, the strongest rated EF0, with 0 deaths and 0 injuries recorded in the county. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 4 tornadoes whose track touched Flathead County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 4, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Montana.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Flathead County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the May 28, 2026 thunderstorm wind ($2,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Flathead County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Extreme cold in the 2010s: 36 records against 12 in the decade before, 36 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Flathead County days with a record above.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

45% of its winter storm records since 1996 fell in December and January. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Flathead County

FEMA's register lists 15 declarations that include Flathead County: 9 major disasters, 2 emergencies and 4 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for fire (5) and flood (3).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Flathead County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 41 flood or flash flood records for Flathead County from 1996 to 2026, on 31 days, with 3 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Flathead County ranks 1163rd of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $690,000 on 132 claims filed in Flathead County; the most in one year was 61 in 1997. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Flathead County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Flathead County Relatively Moderate overall, with an expected annual loss of $75.4 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Flathead County

1. Glacier County 1,904
2. Lewis and Clark County 1,610
3. Pondera County 1,589
4. Missoula County 1,530
5. Flathead County 1,304
6. Teton County 1,225
7. Lake County 1,138
8. Sanders County 1,122
9. Powell County 762
10. Lincoln County 417

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in MontanaEvery Montana tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Winter storms in MontanaThe state's winter storm records, by county, year and month
• The Montana recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Flathead CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Flathead County's FEMA declarations (CSV)15 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis