How Likely Is a Tornado in Stillwater County, MT?
How likely is a tornado in Stillwater County, MT?
Stillwater County has recorded 1 tornado touches in NOAA's 76-year database, a rate of roughly one every 76.9 years - our Minimal band. Put another way: Stillwater County sees more tornado activity than 5% of US counties. Montana has 56 counties in this dataset; Stillwater County ranks 50 of them by frequency.
Beyond the frequency band: violent history
1 weak and 0 significant tornadoes make up Stillwater County's 1-track record - none violent. NOAA has never logged an EF4 or EF5 crossing this county.
The dollar figure Stillwater County's rating leads to
Cost nationally: $2,890-$13,280, about $7,645 typical. Montana has no state rebate program confirmed here; FEMA's underlying 75% cost-share exists nationwide, but applying through a state program is what usually makes it real, and none was found for Montana this pass.
What a direct hit isn't required for
9,450 people live in Stillwater 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 this number is, and is not
One caveat before relying on Stillwater County's number: it is county-wide, and it covers about 1,797 square miles, so a single touch counts the same as one in a county a fraction of that size. Weaker pre-1990s tornadoes are also documented as undercounted in NOAA's own record. Stillwater County has about 9,450 residents.