Montana Tornados: What Are The Odds Of A Deadly Strike?

Now that spring is in full tilt and we're getting ready to head into summer, parts of the country are seeing severe weather outbreaks.

Mother Nature has unleashed severe thunderstorms and tornadoes across the Midwest and the Southern part of the country, which has resulted in death and destruction. Of course, this isn't new; each year, we see the videos of the aftermath of these devastating storms and just how quickly life can change.

I was born and raised in Missouri, which is part Midwest and part Southern, and all tornado alley. More than once, growing up, a tornado would come through our town and do significant damage.

My Dad worked at a factory that was destroyed by a tornado on his first day shift. (It just so happened that it struck about an hour after he got home; had he not switched shifts, he would have been in the building when it was hit.)

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Of course, living in Montana, the threat of a devastating tornado is almost zero, right?

Well, not quite, we do have tornadoes here in Big Sky Country, we just don't have very many. According to Ground Zero Shelters, Montana sees about 2 tornadoes per year on average.

The biggest tornado(s) to hit the state happened back in July 1952. On July 19th, a couple of EF3 tornados ripped through Montana which resulted in lots of damage and one death.

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As far as the deadliest tornado to hit the state, that happened back on July 26th, 2010. Once again, EF3, the tornado tore through Sheridan County and was on the ground for 18 miles. The deadly tornado took 2 lives. So, while the odds for a deadly tornado attack in Montana are slim, there is still a possibility.