PlainHazard

Montana drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 27 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 798 drought records in Montana from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 59 a year since 2000. The costliest was the May 1, 2004 drought ($1.5 million in 2025 dollars). Montana ranks 30th of 51 states and territories by count and 43rd of 50 per square mile.

Drought in Montana, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
7981996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
59average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$1.5Mas filed
Busiest year
2021201 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in Montana?

Montana averages about 59 drought records a year since 2000, 30th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2021 (201). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Montana records 55 drought records since 1996, 43rd of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466
  11. 43. Montana 55

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Montana have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Wibaux County leads Montana: 45 days with a drought record since 1996, 50.6 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Phillips County has the most drought records (129 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Wibaux County 50.6 (45)
  2. Daniels County 37.9 (54)
  3. Sheridan County 31.0 (52)
  4. Roosevelt County 27.2 (111)
  5. Richland County 26.9 (56)
  6. Prairie County 25.3 (44)
  7. Petroleum County 21.7 (36)
  8. Dawson County 20.2 (48)
  9. McCone County 19.3 (51)
  10. Valley County 11.6 (101)
  11. Phillips County 10.9 (129)
  12. Garfield County 9.0 (42)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in Montana?

Montana's drought records by month. The busiest month is August (105 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 57 · Feb 74 · Mar 56 · Apr 47 · May 52 · Jun 66 · Jul 47 · Aug 105 · Sep 86 · Oct 73 · Nov 70 · Dec 65 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The costliest drought records in Montana

Montana: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2004-05-01 DroughtDawson County · forecast zone Dawson 0 0 $1.5M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in Montana?

Montana's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: Montana and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeMontanaUnited StatesMontana's share
1996-9905,6000
2000s7918,5710.4%
2010s13731,4410.4%
2020-2658230,1471.9%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in Montana

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-01 DroughtMcCone County · forecast zone McCone 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtPrairie County · forecast zone Prairie 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtWibaux County · forecast zone Wibaux 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtDawson County · forecast zone Dawson 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtRichland County · forecast zone Richland 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtRoosevelt County · forecast zone Western Roosevelt 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtRoosevelt County · forecast zone Eastern Roosevelt 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtSheridan County · forecast zone Sheridan 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtDaniels County · forecast zone Daniels 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtPetroleum County · forecast zone Petroleum 0 0 –
2026-05-26 DroughtPetroleum County · forecast zone Petroleum 0 0 –
2026-05-19 DroughtDaniels County · forecast zone Daniels 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in Montana

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in Montana for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on August 22, 1977.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1977-08-22EM-3050Drought6

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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