NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Kalispell, 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 Kalispell, Montana since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 5 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 5
- 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 Kalispell
The highest rating among the 5 tornadoes within 25 miles is F0 or EF0, reached 5 times; the most recent, on November 4, 2013, came within 20 miles. Of the 5, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 5 have come since 2000. Kalispell has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 57% of the 73 Montana cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 37 times since 1956, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Kalispell has more hail reports within 10 miles than 64% of the 73 Montana cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Kalispell
By decade
- 2010s1
- 2000s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 4, 2013 | EF0 | 20 mi | 0.75 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 9, 2008 | EF0 | 2 mi | 0.01 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 18, 2007 | EF0 | 15 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 18, 2007 | EF0 | 21 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 10, 2000 | F0 | 15 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 5 of 5, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Kalispell
The Storm Prediction Center has 37 hail reports within 10 miles of Kalispell since 1956, made on 28 separate days. Of these, 23 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on July 7, 2022, the most recent report. July has the most reports, 18.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Kalispell
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Kalispell Glacier Airport, MT, 8 miles north of Kalispell at 2,957 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 48°F; January is the coolest, at 31°F and 16°F. June is the wettest at 2.8 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 0.8 inches; the year adds up to 16.8 inches over 53 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 14 days a year, almost all from July to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 187 nights a year. Snowfall averages 54.4 inches a year, most of it in December. That 16.8 inches is more than at 43 of the 58 Montana stations used on this site (74%). Lakeside, 14 miles south, has its own station (Bigfork 13 S, MT): 21.3 inches a year, 4.5 more than here, and a July average high of 80°F against 82°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31 | 16 | 1.4 | 5 | 13.9 |
| Feb | 36 | 18 | 1.0 | 4 | 8.4 |
| Mar | 45 | 24 | 1.1 | 4 | 5.4 |
| Apr | 55 | 31 | 1.3 | 5 | 1.2 |
| May | 65 | 38 | 1.8 | 6 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 71 | 44 | 2.8 | 7 | 0.3 |
| Jul | 82 | 48 | 1.1 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 82 | 46 | 0.8 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 70 | 38 | 1.2 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 54 | 29 | 1.4 | 5 | 1.1 |
| Nov | 39 | 24 | 1.4 | 5 | 8.0 |
| Dec | 31 | 17 | 1.5 | 5 | 15.9 |
| Year | 55 | 31 | 16.8 | 53 | 54.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Kalispell Glacier Airport, MT (2,957 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 Kalispell
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 23 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Kalispell: 16 thunderstorm wind reports, 4 heavy rain events, 2 floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $546,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 78 mph, on May 31, 2020.
May 31, 2020: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Kalispell — 1 injured, $450,000 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
Flood insurance policyholders in Kalispell's ZIP code 59901 have filed 48 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $120,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1997, with 17. Of the 26 Montana cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 15 have fewer than Kalispell.
Flathead County, which includes Kalispell, has been named in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1974, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 fires, 3 floods, 3 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds, on April 7, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Flathead County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Low for heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $75.4 million a year, the highest of 56 Montana counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $23.8 million (32%), 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 Kalispell
- Lakeside, MT14 mi
- Whitefish, MT15 mi
- Columbia Falls, MT17 mi
- Bigfork, MT24 mi
- Polson, MT36 mi
- Ronan, MT47 mi
- Thompson Falls, MT54 mi
- St Ignatius, MT62 mi
- Browning, MT62 mi
- Trout Creek, MT64 mi
- Arlee, MT72 mi
- Frenchtown, MT80 mi
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