NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Hardin, 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 Hardin, Montana since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 8 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 8
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Hardin
The strongest of the 8 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on June 16, 1965; its path came within 21 miles. Of the 8, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and none has come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on August 23, 1998. Hardin has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 78% of the 73 Montana cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 69 times since 1958, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Hardin has more hail reports within 10 miles than 86% of the 73 Montana cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Hardin
By decade
- 1990s5
- 1970s1
- 1960s2(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 16, 1965 | F3 | 21 mi | 20.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 22, 1996 | F1 | 2 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 9, 1991 | F1 | 4 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 21, 1991 | F1 | 3 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 23, 1998 | F0 | 23 mi | 7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 23, 1998 | F0 | 20 mi | 7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 24, 1978 | F0 | 4 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 12, 1965 | F0 | 19 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 8 of 8, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Hardin
The Storm Prediction Center has 69 hail reports within 10 miles of Hardin since 1958, made on 44 separate days. Of these, 42 were 1 inch across or larger, and 5 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 3 inches (tea cup size), was reported on 2 days, most recently June 22, 1996. The most recent report is from August 7, 2025. June has the most reports, 30.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Hardin
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Hardin, MT, 4 miles southeast of Hardin at 2,880 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 56°F; January is the coolest, at 36°F and 11°F. Highs reach 90°F on about 52 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 166 nights a year. Snowfall averages 27.9 inches a year, most of it in December. That 13.9 inches is more than at 23 of the 58 Montana stations used on this site (40%). Huntley, 32 miles west, has its own station (Huntley Exp Stn, MT): 14.7 inches a year, 0.8 more than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 91°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 36 | 11 | 0.5 | 2 | 6.0 |
| Feb | 41 | 15 | 0.6 | 2 | 6.2 |
| Mar | 53 | 23 | 0.9 | 2 | 3.4 |
| Apr | 62 | 32 | 1.5 | 4 | 1.3 |
| May | 71 | 41 | 2.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 81 | 50 | 1.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 91 | 56 | 1.3 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 90 | 53 | 0.9 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 79 | 44 | 1.4 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 64 | 33 | 1.4 | 3 | 1.6 |
| Nov | 48 | 22 | 0.5 | 2 | 3.1 |
| Dec | 38 | 13 | 0.5 | 2 | 6.3 |
| Year | 63 | 33 | 13.9 | 35 | 27.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Hardin, MT (2,880 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 Hardin
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 41 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Hardin: 37 thunderstorm wind reports and 4 floods. They killed 1 person and injured 14, and the NWS estimated $4.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 115 mph, on July 27, 2001.
July 15, 2022: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Hardin — 1 killed, 14 injured.
NWS: “Around 4:15 PM MDT, a thunderstorm outflow moved through the Hardin area. It produced a wind gust of 62 mph in the 4:35 PM MDT observations from the Big Horn County Airport.”
May 21, 2011: flood 10 miles from the centre of Hardin — $4.0 million damage.
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
Big Horn County, which includes Hardin, has been named in 9 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1978, 6 of them major disasters (by incident: 2 biological emergencies, 2 fires, 2 severe storms, 1 flood). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds, on April 7, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Big Horn County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for hail and inland flooding; Very Low for tornadoes and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $11.2 million a year, the 18th highest of 56 Montana counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $4.5 million (40%), 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 Hardin
- Crow Agency, MT17 mi
- Huntley, MT32 mi
- Shepherd, MT38 mi
- Billings, MT43 mi
- Colstrip, MT48 mi
- Lame Deer, MT50 mi
- Forsyth, MT50 mi
- Laurel, MT54 mi
- Park City, MT65 mi
- Joliet, MT65 mi
- Roundup, MT68 mi
- Sheridan, WY75 mi
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