7 Montana Counties Are Among The Snowiest In The US

It might not seem like we've gotten much snow across Montana this year so far (we haven't) but we know that most of our mountain snowpack is accumulated in February, March, and April. It snows everywhere in the Treasure State, but some counties get significantly more wintery conditions than others. Read on to see which are the snowiest.

Credit: Johnny Vincent, Townsquare Media

There are 3,143 counties in the United States.

Delaware has just three, while in Montana we have 56. To commemorate Groundhog Day on February 2nd, lawn care company Lawn Love used various metrics to rank the snowiest counties in the country. Not surprisingly, Alaska claims seven out of the top ten most-snowiest counties while Florida, Texas, and Hawaii have some of the fewest snowy counties.

Graphic courtesy Lawn Love

According to historical weather data collected from 256 available reporting counties in the US, Montana historically has several of the snowiest counties in all of the United States. The authors of the report included annual snowfall, 1-day and 3-day snow records, average historical annual temperature, and the number of days with temperatures below freezing.

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Credit: pabradyphoto, Getty Images

#12. Lewis and Clark County

Montana has two counties in the Top 20, with Lewis and Clark ranked the snowiest county in Montana. Helena has an altitude of 4,058 feet and Lewis and Clark County is mostly mountainous, which typically results in more snowfall.

Imagine via YouTube/skiwhitefish

#14. Flathead County

With Glacier National Parks' stunning peaks in the background, cities like Kalispell, Big Fork, and Columbia Falls in Northwest Montana receive some of the most snow in the nation.

Snow blankets downtown Great Falls. Image via YouTube/WFMY

#31 Cascade County

When the jet stream blows arctic air into Big Sky County, Great Falls is typically in the direct path. Cascade County frequently records some of the coldest low temps in Montana, and it seems like it's always windy.

Expect a lot of this in Hill County, MT. Credit Canva

#33 Hill County

Fewer than 20,000 people live in this county in Northern Montana. The Hi-Line is well known for its brutal winters.

View from the top of Snowbowl near Missoula. Credit Jared Maynard

#50 Missoula County

Missoula County is the 3rd most populated in Montana and this vibrant community can receive quite a bit of snow.

Snowy streets cause an accident in Billings. Photo by Rachel Helgeson, Townsquare Media

#58 Yellowstone County

We're not sure about the accuracy regarding Billings being one of the snowiest places in the US. I've lived here for decades and we rarely get more than a couple of inches of snow at a time.

Image via YouTube/Rafe Sigmundstad

#96 Valley County

When you share a border with Canada, the odds are good that winters are extreme. This sparsely populated county squeaks into the Top 100 snowiest counties in the US.

We found it interesting that Park County, Gallatin County, Stillwater County, and Beaverhead County didn't make this report. Places like Cooke City and West Yellowstone surely receive more snow than Havre, Glasgow, and Billings.