Natural hazards · Pinesdale

Pinesdale, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pinesdale comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Pinesdale?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Pinesdale to be higher than in 93% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and avalanches.

Wildfire47%Avalanches33%Cold waves10%Inland flooding7%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Pinesdale faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Wildfire

47% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Avalanches

33% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 0% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

7% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 21% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Pinesdale flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Pinesdale.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Pinesdale isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Ravalli County.

Disasters that hit Pinesdale

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Ravalli County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Pinesdale itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into PinesdaleDeclared for Ravalli County only

Ravalli County has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and severe storms.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Pinesdale is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Pinesdale’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Pinesdale. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.