Tornado Risk in Beaverhead County, MT
Beaverhead County, MT: what NOAA's tornado record says
14 tornado tracks have crossed Beaverhead County since 1959 by NOAA's count, roughly one every 5.4 years - the Low band on this site's scale. That is the 38th percentile nationally for tornado frequency. Within Montana alone, Beaverhead County ranks 12 of 56 counties for tornado frequency.
The number that matters more than frequency
No violent (EF4-5) tornado has been recorded in Beaverhead County in NOAA's 76-year database. Of its 14 recorded tracks, 12 were weak (EF0-1) and 2 significant (EF2-3).
Shelter and safe-room economics
Montana does not currently have a confirmed state rebate layered on top of FEMA's 75% Hazard Mitigation cost-share, so a Beaverhead County homeowner should expect the full national range: $2,890-$13,280, $7,645 typical.
Power after the storm, not just shelter during it
10,006 people live in Beaverhead County, and a tornado outbreak's power loss usually reaches far more of Montana than the tracks themselves touch. A portable battery unit is the faster, no-fuel way to bridge that outage.
What Beaverhead County's figure does not tell you
Beaverhead County's figure is county-wide, not address-specific. Beaverhead County covers about 5,543 square miles, so a single touch here counts the same as a single touch in a county a fraction of that size. NOAA also documents that older records undercount weaker tornadoes from before Doppler radar became standard. Beaverhead County has about 10,006 residents.