Yellowstone County, Montana: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Yellowstone County, Montana has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 83.6 out of 100, higher than about 83% of US counties, with winter storms, cold waves and wildfires scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $60 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 12 federal disaster declarations that included Yellowstone County since 1978, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4655-MT (Severe Storm and Flooding, declared 16 June 2022). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 21 tornadoes touching Yellowstone County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 164,624 Buildings worth $39 billion Area 2,676 sq mi Risk rank in Montana 2 of 56 FIPS 30111
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter weather | Very High | 99.1 | $2.3 million | about 18 a year | 347 |
| Cold wave | Relatively High | 97.1 | $19 million | about 3.6 a year | 68 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | 93.4 | $2.9 million | about once every 306 years | — |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 88.2 | $1.3 million | about 32 a year | 178,155 strikes |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 84.5 | $29 million | about once a year | 28 |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 81.5 | $1.1 million | about 2 a year | 76 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 74.7 | $1.3 million | about once every 581 years | — |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 72.3 | $1.2 million | about 2.2 a year | 25 |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 71.4 | $8,012 | about 1.2 a year | — |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 60.2 | $864,716 | about once every 1.2 years | 33 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 35.6 | $51,213 | about 72 a year | 2,002 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 34.2 | $46,597 | about once every 67 years | 0 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 28.9 | $559,851 | about once every 6.8 years | 15 |
| Avalanche | Very Low | 2.0 | — | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Hurricane | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 12
Most common: Fire 7, Flood 2, Severe Storm 2, Hurricane 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1 | Flood |
| 1990s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 4 | Fire ×3, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 2 | Fire, Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 4 | Fire ×3, Flood |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Yellowstone County
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (2005, EM-3253-MT): 56 Montana counties designated.
- Severe Storms and Flooding (2011, DR-1996-MT): 49 Montana counties designated.
- Wildfires (2000, DR-1340-MT): 48 Montana counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Montana also had 18 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 21
| Tornadoes touching the county | 21 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×1 |
| Peak month | June (10) |
| Deadliest | 2 Jul 1958, F2, 0.5 mi path, 0 killed, 2 injured |
| Longest path | 16 Jun 1965, F3, 20.6 mi path |
| Most recent | 21 May 2016, EF1, 2 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 3 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 13 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Yellowstone County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yellowstone County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 83.6 | Winter weather |
| Musselshell County | 63 km | Very Low | 17.0 | Wildfire |
| Treasure County | 83 km | Very Low | 0.5 | Wildfire |
| Big Horn County | 83 km | Relatively Low | 57.2 | Strong wind |
| Golden Valley County | 85 km | Very Low | 1.0 | Wildfire |
| Stillwater County | 92 km | Very Low | 16.8 | Wildfire |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Montana, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Low 20.3 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 82.3 |
| Community risk factor | 0.89 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $60 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Yellowstone County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Montana · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Winter weather: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · Power outages now
- Wildfire: US wildfires now · Wildfire smoke: what protects you
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. 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).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. 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).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Yellowstone County
What natural disasters is Yellowstone County, Montana most at risk from?
Yellowstone County, Montana has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 83.6 out of 100, higher than about 83% of US counties, with winter storms, cold waves and wildfires scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $60 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Yellowstone County had?
OpenFEMA lists 12 federal disaster declarations that included Yellowstone County since 1978, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4655-MT (Severe Storm and Flooding, declared 16 June 2022). Another 18 Montana declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Yellowstone County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 21 tornadoes touching Yellowstone County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 2 Jul 1958, F2, 0.5 mi path, 0 killed, 2 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.