Maricopa County, Arizona

What hazards hit Maricopa County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 1,520 since 1955. 74% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1955 fell in July and August. The rank column places the county among Arizona'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 Maricopa County had?

NOAA records 73 tornadoes in Maricopa County from 1955 to 2025, the strongest rated F3, with 0 deaths and 58 injuries recorded in the county. That is 1st of 15 Arizona counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. 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 75 tornadoes whose track touched Maricopa County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 73: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Arizona.

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 Maricopa County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the May 11, 2026 wildfire ($2.0 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

A new wildfire named the Jones Fire broke out just southeast of Downtown Wickenburg along a riverbed near a Ford Dealership. The fire was able to spread along the riverbed, jumping U.S. Highway 60 (the main highway corridor connecting Phoenix and Las Vegas) and forcing its closure. At the end, the blaze destroyed approximately eleven RVs, seven vehicles, two trailers, and two outbuildings with 25 people displaced. The fire also damaged some electrical equipment causing a power outage with approximately 176 customers affected. In total, the fire consumed nearly 84 acres. No injuries were reported.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1338680)

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 Maricopa 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).

Heat in the 2010s: 432 records against 9 in the decade before, 432 of them forecast-zone records. High wind and dust storms in the 2010s: 113 records against 29 in the decade before, 109 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 Maricopa 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?

74% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1955 fell in July and August. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Maricopa County

FEMA's register lists 26 declarations that include Maricopa County: 13 major disasters, 2 emergencies and 11 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for fire (11) and flood (9).

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 Maricopa County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 661 flood or flash flood records for Maricopa County from 1996 to 2025, on 259 days, with 19 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Maricopa County ranks 150th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $26.1 million on 2,633 claims filed in Maricopa County; the most in one year was 317 in 1978. 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 Maricopa County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Maricopa County Very High overall, with an expected annual loss of $2.2 billion. 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 Maricopa County

1. Maricopa County 4,461
2. Pima County 2,809
3. Pinal County 1,633
4. Yavapai County 1,160
5. Gila County 780
6. Yuma County 573
7. La Paz County 430

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 ArizonaEvery Arizona tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in ArizonaThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Arizona recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Maricopa CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Maricopa County's FEMA declarations (CSV)26 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis