Judith Basin County, Montana

What hazards hit Judith Basin County most?

The most frequent records are high wind and dust records: 228 since 2001. 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 Judith Basin County had?

NOAA records 16 tornadoes in Judith Basin County from 1957 to 2022, the strongest rated F2, with 0 deaths and 1 injury recorded in the county. That is 3rd of 56 Montana counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. 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 18 tornadoes whose track touched Judith Basin County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 16: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); 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 Judith Basin County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 14, 2021 wildfire (5 injuries).

The Woods Creek Fire began on June 13th when a fallen tree caused a downed power line. Over the course of the fire, three single-family homes were destroyed, along with four other structures. In addition, a Montana DNRC helicopter fighting the fire crash-landed, causing it to catch on fire. All five people on board survived the crash with minor injuries. Total cost of fighting the fire was estimated to be $5.8 million USD as of January 2022. An estimated 4,648 acres burned.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 965934)

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

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

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 Judith Basin 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).

High wind and dust storms in the 2010s: 85 records against 25 in the decade before, 85 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 Judith Basin 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?

Records by month in Judith Basin County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Judith Basin County

FEMA's register lists 9 declarations that include Judith Basin County: 7 major disasters, 2 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (3) and biological (2).

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.

FEMA's modeled risk for Judith Basin County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Judith Basin County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $3.4 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 Judith Basin County

1. Cascade County 1,305
2. Fergus County 1,027
3. Chouteau County 768
4. Wheatland County 720
5. Judith Basin County 684
6. Meagher County 392

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
• High wind and dust storms in MontanaThe state's high wind and dust 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 Judith Basin CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Judith Basin County's FEMA declarations (CSV)9 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis