Tornado Risk in Hill County, MT
How likely is a tornado in Hill County, MT?
7 tornado tracks have crossed Hill County since 1962 by NOAA's count, roughly one every 10.9 years - the Low band on this site's scale. That is the 21st percentile nationally for tornado frequency. Among 56 Montana counties in this dataset, Hill County ranks 23 for how often a tornado touches down.
The number that matters more than frequency
No violent (EF4-5) tornado has been recorded in Hill County in NOAA's 76-year database. Of its 7 recorded tracks, 6 were weak (EF0-1) and 0 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 Hill County homeowner should expect the full national range: $2,890-$13,280, $7,645 typical.
Power after the storm, not just shelter during it
The storm that misses Hill County outright can still take its power out - outbreak-scale outages across Montana are common well beyond the tracked path. A battery-backup unit handles that without a generator's setup or fuel.
What Hill County's figure does not tell you
Hill County's figure is county-wide, not address-specific. Hill County covers about 2,899 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. Hill County has about 16,065 residents.