NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Bozeman, MT
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Bozeman, Montana since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 3 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 3
- EF3 or stronger
- 0
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Bozeman
The strongest of the 3 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F1 on June 15, 1960; its path passed within a mile of the city centre. The most recent tornado was on July 2, 1997. Of the 73 Montana cities on this site, 59% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Bozeman. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 57 times since 1958, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Bozeman has more hail reports within 10 miles than 73% of the 73 Montana cities.
Compare Bozeman's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Bozeman
By decade
- 1990s2
- 1960s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 15, 1960 | F1 | in town | 1.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 2, 1997 | F0 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 2, 1997 | F0 | 18 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 3 of 3, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Bozeman
The Storm Prediction Center has 57 hail reports within 10 miles of Bozeman since 1958, made on 26 separate days. Of these, 45 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on June 30, 2010. The most recent report is from August 6, 2024. July has the most reports, 22.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Bozeman
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Bozeman Montana State Univ, MT, 2 miles southeast of Bozeman at 4,913 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 52°F; December is the coolest, at 33°F and 15°F. June is the wettest at 3.3 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.8 inches; the year adds up to 19.9 inches over 58 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 12 days a year, almost all from July to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 178 nights a year. Snowfall averages 91.3 inches a year, most of it in December. That 19.9 inches is more than at 50 of the 58 Montana stations used on this site (86%). Belgrade, 12 miles northwest, has its own station (Bozeman Gallatin Field, MT): 13.2 inches a year, 6.7 less than here, and a July average high of 85°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 34 | 15 | 0.9 | 3 | 12.7 |
| Feb | 37 | 17 | 0.8 | 3 | 13.0 |
| Mar | 46 | 24 | 1.4 | 5 | 13.1 |
| Apr | 55 | 31 | 2.5 | 7 | 12.9 |
| May | 63 | 39 | 2.9 | 8 | 3.6 |
| Jun | 72 | 46 | 3.3 | 8 | 0.8 |
| Jul | 82 | 52 | 1.3 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 81 | 50 | 1.3 | 4 | 0.1 |
| Sep | 71 | 42 | 1.4 | 4 | 0.4 |
| Oct | 57 | 32 | 1.8 | 5 | 6.0 |
| Nov | 42 | 22 | 1.3 | 4 | 12.5 |
| Dec | 33 | 15 | 1.0 | 4 | 16.2 |
| Year | 56 | 32 | 19.9 | 58 | 91.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Bozeman Montana State Univ, MT (4,913 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Bozeman
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 63 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Bozeman: 56 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 floods and 2 flash floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 79 mph, on August 30, 2021.
April 10, 2023: flood 8 miles from the centre of Bozeman — $1.0 million damage.
NWS: “Churchill area saw pretty good runoff occur. Several locations around Amsterdam (Camp and Godfrey Creeks) had water up against houses.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Bozeman's 2 ZIP codes have filed 48 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $226,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 2% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 26 Montana cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 15 have fewer than Bozeman.
Gallatin County, which includes Bozeman, has been named in 9 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1981, 5 of them major disasters (by incident: 3 fires, 2 biological emergencies, 2 severe storms, 1 flood). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 31, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Gallatin County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for hail; Relatively Low for inland flooding and strong wind; Very Low for tornadoes and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $65.8 million a year, the 2nd highest of 56 Montana counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $15.5 million (24%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Bozeman
- Belgrade, MT12 mi
- Manhattan, MT15 mi
- Gallatin Gateway, MT20 mi
- Three Forks, MT27 mi
- Ennis, MT41 mi
- Townsend, MT52 mi
- Whitehall, MT54 mi
- Big Timber, MT57 mi
- Boulder, MT60 mi
- Clancy, MT70 mi
- East Helena, MT73 mi
- Butte, MT73 mi
All Montana cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Bozeman with another place →