NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Missoula, 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 Missoula, Montana since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 2 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 2
- 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 Missoula
The highest rating among the 2 tornadoes within 25 miles is F0, reached 2 times; the most recent, on March 3, 1991, came within 17 miles. Of the 73 Montana cities on this site, 73% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Missoula. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 55 times since 1958, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Missoula has more hail reports within 10 miles than 71% of the 73 Montana cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Missoula
By decade
- 1990s1
- 1980s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 3, 1991 | F0 | 17 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 20, 1983 | F0 | 4 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 2 of 2, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Missoula
The Storm Prediction Center has 55 hail reports within 10 miles of Missoula since 1958, made on 46 separate days. Of these, 32 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on July 3, 1998. The most recent report is from July 31, 2025. June has the most reports, 18.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Missoula
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Missoula 2 NE, MT, 3 miles northeast of Missoula at 3,420 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 52°F; December is the coolest, at 33°F and 20°F. June is the wettest at 2.6 inches of precipitation on average and July and August the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 17.4 inches over 53 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 22 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 163 nights a year. Snowfall averages 50.2 inches a year, most of it in December. That 17.4 inches is more than at 47 of the 58 Montana stations used on this site (81%). Florence, 16 miles south, has its own station (Stevensville, MT): 12.4 inches a year, 5.0 less than here, and the same July average high, 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 34 | 20 | 1.2 | 5 | 12.5 |
| Feb | 39 | 22 | 1.1 | 3 | 7.9 |
| Mar | 49 | 27 | 1.2 | 4 | 7.4 |
| Apr | 57 | 33 | 1.7 | 5 | 1.4 |
| May | 67 | 41 | 2.3 | 6 | 0.3 |
| Jun | 73 | 47 | 2.6 | 7 | 0.2 |
| Jul | 85 | 52 | 1.0 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 84 | 51 | 1.0 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 44 | 1.1 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 57 | 34 | 1.4 | 5 | 0.7 |
| Nov | 41 | 26 | 1.4 | 4 | 6.9 |
| Dec | 33 | 20 | 1.4 | 5 | 12.9 |
| Year | 58 | 35 | 17.4 | 53 | 50.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Missoula 2 NE, MT (3,420 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 Missoula
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 70 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Missoula: 47 thunderstorm wind reports, 21 floods and 2 heavy rain events. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $3.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on April 26, 2012.
July 10, 1998: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Missoula — 1 killed, $260,000 damage.
July 8, 2002: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Missoula — 1 injured.
June 23, 2012: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Missoula — $1.5 million damage.
NWS: “Multiple tree branches were broken across the Pleasant View subdivision. Lawn furniture swing was thrown 10 yards from the back to front yard of a residence.”
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 Missoula's 5 ZIP codes have filed 117 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $774,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1997, with 39. Of the 26 Montana cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 21 have fewer than Missoula.
Missoula County, which includes Missoula, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1974, 11 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 fires, 4 severe storms, 3 floods, 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 Missoula County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for lightning; Relatively Low for inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes and hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $56.7 million a year, the 4th highest of 56 Montana counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $19.0 million (34%), 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 Missoula
- Florence, MT16 mi
- Frenchtown, MT17 mi
- Lolo, MT18 mi
- Bonner, MT18 mi
- Arlee, MT21 mi
- Stevensville, MT23 mi
- St Ignatius, MT31 mi
- Victor, MT34 mi
- Corvallis, MT38 mi
- Hamilton, MT45 mi
- Ronan, MT47 mi
- Polson, MT58 mi
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