Montana winter storms
Every recorded winter storm record since 1996 · 56 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 8,475 winter storm records in Montana from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 294 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the February 13, 2025 winter storm: 5 deaths and 5 injuries across 7 records. Montana ranks 11th of 51 states and territories by count and 36th of 50 per square mile.
Winter storms in Montana, 1996 to 2026
Winter storm 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
- 8,4751996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 294average
- Deaths
- 86166 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $29Mas filed
- Busiest year
- 2013443 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 winter storm records common in Montana?
Montana averages about 294 winter storm records a year since 2000, 11th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2013 (443). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Montana records 582 winter storm records since 1996, 36th of 50 states and territories by that measure.
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 winter storm records?
Per square mile, Lake County leads Montana: 474 days with a winter storm record since 1996, 318.0 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Missoula County has the most winter storm records (994 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).
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 winter storm season in Montana?
Montana's winter storm records by month. The busiest month is December (1,452 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 1,298 · Feb 1,230 · Mar 1,183 · Apr 1,021 · May 364 · Jun 101 · Jul 0 · Aug 2 · Sep 110 · Oct 620 · Nov 1,094 · Dec 1,452 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest winter storm records in Montana?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-02-13 | Winter StormFlathead County and 2 more · forecast zone Flathead/Mission Valleys One storm episode: 7 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's. Severe driving conditions were declared across western Montana due to snow and freezing roads, resulting in moderate impacts. | 5 | 5 | – | |
| 2025-02-07 | Winter WeatherGranite County and 3 more · forecast zone Potomac / Seeley Lake Region One storm episode: 5 records in 5 places; the totals are the episode's. A surface low tracked across southern Idaho, bringing periods of moderate to heavy snow to Ravalli County and areas eastward to the Continental Divide. | 4 | 4 | – | |
| 2014-02-22 | Winter WeatherMissoula County and Ravalli County · forecast zone Missoula / Bitterroot Valleys One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places, 2014-02-22 to 2014-02-23; the totals are the episode's. Heavy snow and blowing snow causes hazardous travel across western Montana. Around a foot of snow falls along the I-90 corridor. | 3 | 3 | – | |
| 2026-02-14 | Winter WeatherGranite County and 3 more · forecast zone Potomac / Seeley Lake Region One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. Following a period of unseasonably mild temperatures in early February, a pattern change introduced mixed precipitation to the Northern Rockies on February 14th and 15th. Freezing rain and light snow developed across western Montana, creating slick travel conditions throughout the region. Impacts were observed ... | 3 | 3 | – | |
| 2009-02-19 | Winter WeatherRosebud County · forecast zone Southern Rosebud One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. An arctic cold front moved across the forecast area during the late evening hours of the 19th and early morning hours of the 20th. Upslope flow developed behind the front. This resulted in heavy snow across the foothills of the Beartooth/Absaroka Mountains with minor accumulations across the plains. However, very ... | 3 | 1 | – | |
| 2025-12-23 | Winter WeatherDeer Lodge County and 3 more · forecast zone Butte / Blackfoot Region Along Interstate 90 between Drummond and Garrison Junction, freezing rain contributed to at least 6 accidents. At 1125MST a small car lost control, slid into the eastbound lane and crashed into a tractor trailer. All three people in the car were declared dead(indirect) on the scene. The road conditions were described ... | 3 | 0 | $8K | |
| 2025-02-16 | Winter StormMissoula County and Ravalli County · forecast zone Missoula / Bitterroot Valleys One storm episode: 8 records in 7 places, 2025-02-16 to 2025-02-17; the totals are the episode's. Multiple waves of subtropical moisture brought periods of moderate to heavy precipitation, primarily as snowfall across the Northern Rockies. Nightly bouts of black ice, often covered by fresh snow, created extremely slick travel conditions. Arctic air remained stalled along and just west of the Divide, occasionally ... | 3 | 0 | – | |
| 2021-12-27 | Winter WeatherBig Horn County · forecast zone Northern Big Horn One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. Several traffic accidents occurred over a 2-day period. Two incidents resulted in two fatalities but it is unknown if these were directly weather related. Dense fog occurred during the morning of the 26th and periods of snow fell on the 26th through the 27th. | 2 | 3 | – | |
| 2018-12-19 | Winter WeatherMineral County and 2 more · forecast zone Lower Clark Fork Region A little bit before 4 am MDT, five semi-tractor trailers and one SUV crashed into each other at the bridge near the Quartz Flat Campground on Interstate 90 due to icy road conditions. As a result, two men in their 30s passed away while three other men were injured. The road conditions were labeled as very icy. The ... | 2 | 3 | $1K | |
| 2025-01-03 | Winter WeatherMineral County and 2 more · forecast zone Lower Clark Fork Region One storm episode: 7 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's. An anomalously moist Pacific system interacted with an arctic air mass that gradually moved west across the Continental Divide. The higher impact area with the combination of precipitation and cold air ended up being across northwest Montana due to icy roads. The Glacier Region experienced freezing rain, snow, low ... | 2 | 2 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest winter storm records in Montana
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-02-08 | Winter StormFlathead County and Lake County · forecast zone West Glacier Region One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $5.9M | |
| 2000-11-01 | Winter StormSheridan County · forecast zone Sheridan One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $5.7M | |
| 2008-05-01 | Winter StormCarter County · forecast zone Carter | 0 | 0 | $4.1M | |
| 2002-06-08 | Winter StormGlacier County and Pondera County · forecast zone North Rocky Mountain Front One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $2.6M | |
| 2009-03-29 | BlizzardCarter County · forecast zone Carter | 0 | 0 | $2.1M | |
| 2001-04-09 | Heavy SnowBig Horn County · forecast zone Big Horn | 0 | 0 | $2.0M | |
| 2001-06-04 | Heavy SnowMissoula County and Ravalli County · forecast zone Missoula / Bitterroot Valleys | 0 | 0 | $1.3M | |
| 2022-12-07 | BlizzardLewis and Clark County and Teton County · forecast zone Southern Rocky Mountain Front | 0 | 0 | $1.0M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are winter storm 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.
| Decade | Montana | United States | Montana's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 691 | 32,893 | 2.1% |
| 2000s | 2,839 | 88,805 | 3.2% |
| 2010s | 3,030 | 103,626 | 2.9% |
| 2020-26 | 1,915 | 62,015 | 3.1% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent winter storm records in Montana
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-28 | Heavy SnowBeaverhead County · forecast zone Northwest Beaverhead County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-20 | Winter StormCarbon County and 3 more · forecast zone Absaroka / Beartooth Mountains | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-16 | Winter WeatherMineral County and 2 more · forecast zone Lower Clark Fork Region | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-16 | Winter WeatherFlathead County and 2 more · forecast zone Flathead/Mission Valleys | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-16 | Winter WeatherFlathead County and Lake County · forecast zone West Glacier Region | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-15 | Winter WeatherGranite County and 2 more · forecast zone Bitterroot / Sapphire Mountains | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-05-14 | Winter WeatherFlathead County and 2 more · forecast zone Kootenai/Cabinet Region | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-04-24 | Heavy SnowHill County and 2 more · forecast zone Bears Paw Mountains And Southern Blaine | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-04-24 | Winter WeatherMissoula County and Ravalli County · forecast zone Missoula / Bitterroot Valleys | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-04-23 | Winter WeatherGranite County and 3 more · forecast zone Potomac / Seeley Lake Region | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-04-23 | Winter WeatherGranite County and 2 more · forecast zone Bitterroot / Sapphire Mountains | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-04-23 | Winter WeatherFlathead County and Lake County · forecast zone West Glacier Region | 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 winter storm records in Montana
FEMA has declared 11 disasters in Montana for winter storm, counting its incident type and declarations that name snow or winter storm or ice storm or blizzard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 11 were major disasters, the latest on May 29, 2026.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-29 | DR-4915 | Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds | 1 |
| 2026-05-29 | DR-4914 | Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds | 1 |
| 2026-04-07 | DR-4902 | Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds | 32 |
| 2024-07-18 | DR-4801 | Severe Winter Storm and Flooding | 12 |
| 2016-05-24 | DR-4271 | Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds | 5 |
| 2008-06-13 | DR-1767 | Severe Winter Storm | 4 |
| 2001-07-07 | DR-1385 | Severe Winter Storms | 3 |
| 2001-05-28 | DR-1377 | Severe Winter Storms | 2 |
| 2000-12-06 | DR-1350 | Severe Winter Storms | 7 |
| 1997-07-25 | DR-1183 | Severe Storms,Ice Jams, Snow Melt, Flooding | 23 |
| 1964-12-18 | DR-182 | Severe Winter Storm | 1 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Lake County: the county's whole recordThe Montana county with the most winter storm records per square mile
- Winter storms across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in MontanaTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
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- Severe thunderstorm wind in Montana6,635 records