Lincoln County, Montana

What hazards hit Lincoln County most?

The most frequent records are winter storm records: 260 since 1996. 48% 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.

When was the last damaging storm in Lincoln County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the May 28, 2026 thunderstorm wind ($5,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

A quasi-linear convective system produced widespread wind damage across the county. Fallen trees blocked Highway 2 northwest of Troy, while snapped large cottonwoods caused minor damage to a carport on Missoula Avenue. Severe blowdown forced the closure of Callahan Creek Park disc golf course, and utility damage left 1,440 customers without power.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1329765)

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 Lincoln 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: 18 records against 6 in the decade before, 17 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 Lincoln 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?

48% 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 Lincoln County

FEMA's register lists 14 declarations that include Lincoln County: 7 major disasters, 4 emergencies and 3 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for fire (4) 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 Lincoln County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 18 flood or flash flood records for Lincoln County from 1996 to 2025, on 18 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Lincoln County ranks 1784th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $447,000 on 39 claims filed in Lincoln County; the most in one year was 20 in 1996. 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 Lincoln County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Lincoln County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $15.6 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 Lincoln County

1. Flathead County 1,304
2. Sanders County 1,122
3. Bonner County, ID 827
4. Boundary County, ID 768
5. 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

• 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 Lincoln CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Lincoln County's FEMA declarations (CSV)14 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis