Kootenai County, Idaho

What hazards hit Kootenai County most?

The most frequent records are winter storm records: 1,262 since 1996. 55% of its winter storm records since 1996 fell in December and January. The rank column places the county among Idaho's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Kootenai County had?

NOAA records 2 tornadoes in Kootenai County from 1994 to 1997, the strongest rated F2, with 0 deaths and 0 injuries recorded in the county. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 2 tornadoes whose track touched Kootenai County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 2, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Idaho.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Kootenai County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 16, 2026 wildfire ($1.5 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

The fire start 8 miles from east of Kellogg. It burned an estimated 213 acres of timber, litter, and 3 out buildings. Around 200 people impacted by evacuations around Elizabeth Park and Elk Creek. It was contained on June 23. Wind gusts were into the low 20 mph range. Damage is estimated.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1353402)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Kootenai County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Wildfires in the 2010s: 38 records against 9 in the decade before, 38 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Kootenai County days with a record above.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

55% of its winter storm records since 1996 fell in December and January. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Kootenai County

FEMA's register lists 18 declarations that include Kootenai County: 15 major disasters, 2 emergencies and one fire management assistance declaration. Most were for severe storm (7) and flood (4).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Kootenai County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 56 flood or flash flood records for Kootenai County from 1996 to 2025, on 40 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Kootenai County ranks 1352nd of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $746,000 on 91 claims filed in Kootenai County; the most in one year was 22 in 1997. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Kootenai County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Kootenai County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $45.4 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Kootenai County

1. Kootenai County 1,680
2. Spokane County, WA 1,492
3. Bonner County 827
4. Benewah County 777
5. Shoshone County 609

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in IdahoEvery Idaho tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Winter storms in IdahoThe state's winter storm records, by county, year and month
• The Idaho recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Kootenai CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Kootenai County's FEMA declarations (CSV)18 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis