NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lewistown, 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 Lewistown, Montana since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 20 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 20
- 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 Lewistown
The highest rating among the 20 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 2 times; the most recent, on July 8, 2002, came within 15 miles. Of the 20, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 7 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 9. The most recent tornado was on June 27, 2019. Lewistown has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 95% of the 73 Montana cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 44 times since 1956, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Lewistown has more hail reports within 10 miles than 67% of the 73 Montana cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Lewistown
By decade
- 2010s3
- 2000s4
- 1990s12
- 1970s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 8, 2002 | F2 | 15 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 14, 1999 | F2 | 3 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Aug 23, 1998 | F1 | 10 mi | 3.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 27, 2019 | EF0 | 24 mi | 0.25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 2018 | EF0 | 17 mi | 0.69 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 2012 | EF0 | 19 mi | 3.78 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 28, 2005 | F0 | 6 mi | 0.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 5, 2004 | F0 | 20 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 28, 2002 | F0 | 11 mi | 11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 14, 1999 | F0 | 15 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 14, 1999 | F0 | 20 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 30, 1999 | F0 | 11 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 20, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Lewistown
The Storm Prediction Center has 44 hail reports within 10 miles of Lewistown since 1956, made on 37 separate days. Of these, 27 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on June 15, 2025, 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 Lewistown
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Lewistown Municipal Airport, MT, 1 mile east of Lewistown at 4,145 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 82°F and low of 51°F; January is the coolest, at 34°F and 13°F. June is the wettest at 3.4 inches of precipitation on average and February and December the driest at 0.5 inches; the year adds up to 17.4 inches over 48 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 13 days a year, almost all from July to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 184 nights a year. That 17.4 inches is more than at 47 of the 58 Montana stations used on this site (81%).
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 34 | 13 | 0.6 | 2 |
| Feb | 35 | 14 | 0.5 | 2 |
| Mar | 44 | 21 | 0.9 | 3 |
| Apr | 53 | 29 | 1.7 | 5 |
| May | 63 | 37 | 2.9 | 7 |
| Jun | 71 | 45 | 3.4 | 8 |
| Jul | 82 | 51 | 1.8 | 5 |
| Aug | 81 | 50 | 1.7 | 4 |
| Sep | 70 | 42 | 1.4 | 4 |
| Oct | 56 | 31 | 1.3 | 4 |
| Nov | 43 | 21 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Dec | 35 | 14 | 0.5 | 2 |
| Year | 56 | 31 | 17.4 | 48 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Lewistown Municipal Airport, MT (4,145 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 Lewistown
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 45 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lewistown: 33 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 heavy rain events, 4 floods and 3 flash floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $364,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on July 7, 2021.
June 7, 2023: flash flood 4 miles from the centre of Lewistown — $200,000 damage.
NWS: “Fergus County Sheriff's Office and Emergency Management reported portions of Casino Creek Road washed out from heavy rain and flooding of the creek. The road was washed out completely in at least two locations, per a later NWS survey.”
May 19, 2011: flood in Lewistown — $125,000 damage.
NWS: “|Many homes affected and a shelter was set up in Lewistown for flood victims.”
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 Lewistown's ZIP code 59457 have filed 19 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $232,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2011, with 11. Of the 26 Montana cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 9 have fewer than Lewistown.
Fergus County, which includes Lewistown, has been named in 10 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1975, 8 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 severe storms, 1 fire). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm and Flooding, on July 18, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Fergus County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for lightning; Relatively Low for inland flooding; Very Low for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $13.7 million a year, the 16th highest of 56 Montana counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $4.1 million (30%), 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 Lewistown
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- Columbus, MT101 mi
- Park City, MT102 mi
- Laurel, MT102 mi
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