Oregon floods
Every recorded flood since 1996 · 36 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 846 floods and flash floods in Oregon from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 27 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the February 6, 1996 flood in Benton County and 3 more: 7 deaths and $753 million in damage in 2025 dollars. Oregon ranks 45th of 52 states and territories by count and 47th of 51 per square mile.
Floods in Oregon, 1996 to 2026
Flood records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $1 million
- $1 million or more
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- Records
- 8461996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 27average
- Deaths
- 249 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $1.4Bas filed
- Busiest year
- 201282 records
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.
Are floods and flash floods common in Oregon?
Oregon averages about 27 floods and flash floods a year since 2000, 45th of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2012 (82). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Oregon records 88 floods and flash floods since 1996, 47th of 51 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.
Which counties in Oregon have the most floods and flash floods?
Per square mile, Tillamook County leads Oregon: 72 days with a flood since 1996, 65.3 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Coos County has the most flood records (125 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is flood season in Oregon?
49% of its floods and flash floods since 1996 fell in December and January. The busiest month is December (219 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 198 · Feb 85 · Mar 60 · Apr 52 · May 46 · Jun 47 · Jul 24 · Aug 30 · Sep 11 · Oct 8 · Nov 66 · Dec 219 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest floods and flash floods in Oregon?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-02-06 | FloodBenton County and 3 more · forecast zone Central Coast Range Of W Oregon Runoff from heavy rains and melting mountain snow caused major floods upon many northern Oregon rivers. The first rivers reached flood stage on the morning of February 6th while the heaviest rain was still falling. flooding was measured on twenty one rivers in northwestern Oregon. Six rivers set all time high river ... | 7 | 0 | $753M | |
| 1996-11-17 | FloodClackamas County and 3 more · forecast zone Douglas T Nw & E One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. A moist southwest flow aloft produced moderate to heavy rain and strong winds over southwest Oregon between Nov 17 and Nov 21. Storm total rainfall ranged from 8 to 12 inches on the coast with local amounts near 20 inches...3 to 7 inches of rainfall fell inland. Flooding was extensive in Coos, Curry and Douglas ... | 5 | 6 | $80M | |
| 1998-03-21 | FloodBenton County and 2 more · forecast zone Josephine T X Se/Jackson T X S Warm air ahead of a strong Pacific cold front led to heavy rainfall on top of existing snowpack in southern Oregon March 21-22. Ensuing runoff caused localized flooding along streams and small rivers in southern Lake county and all of Josephine county. Bullard Creek in Lake county caused minor street flooding in ... | 2 | 1 | – | |
| 2012-01-18 | FloodFry, Linn County Widespread low-land flooding occurred in Linn County. A car was swept from a Mega Foods parking lot at 7:00 pm PST January 18th, 2011 into the Periwinkle Creek. A family was trapped inside the car. The father and one son were rescued, but the mother and 20-month old child drowned. | 2 | 0 | – | |
| 2007-12-03 | FloodDilley, Washington County One storm episode: 6 records in 5 places, 2007-12-03 to 2007-12-04; the totals are the episode's. Two very powerful storms with origins in the Tropics brought hazardous weather to the Pacific Northwest. The entire forecast area experienced heavy rainfall for an extended period of time. As an example of the extreme accumulations, over fourteen inches of rain fell at Lees Camp in the north Coast Range in a period of ... | 2 | 0 | $107M | |
| 2014-08-12 | Flash FloodZigzag, Clackamas County Heavy rain resulted in the Sandy River to rapidly rise. A foot bridge near Ramona Falls broke loose sending a man into the turbulent waters. The man drowned in the river. | 1 | 1 | – | |
| 2015-12-09 | FloodVernonia, Columbia County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. A moist front produced heavy rain across Northwest Oregon closely following two other moist fronts on December 7th and December 8th. THe heavy rain resulted in additional flooding and land slides across the region. | 1 | 1 | $3.2M | |
| 2009-01-02 | FloodEstacada, Clackamas County Heavy rain combined with snowmelt runoff caused the Clackamas river to overflow its banks and floods areas near Estacada. Flood waters submerged 11 pumps in the waste water treatment plant in Estacada. The water water treatment plant was out of commission for 2 weeks. Significant flood damage also occurred to the ... | 1 | 0 | $344K | |
| 2023-12-04 | FloodAloha, Washington County A male age 53, drowned in Bronson Creek, SE of Hillsboro. | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 2020-02-06 | FloodMilton Freewater, Umatilla County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. Summary : Heavy snow on February 4-5, 2020 was followed by a period of heavy rain, February 5-7. Snow levels rose to near 5000 feet. The heavy rain and snow melt lead to moderate flooding and several landslides along the East Slopes of the Washington Cascades. There was record flooding on several rivers, including the ... | 1 | 0 | $46M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest floods and flash floods in Oregon
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-02-06 | FloodBenton County and 3 more · forecast zone Central Coast Range Of W Oregon | 7 | 0 | $753M | |
| 1997-01-01 | FloodBenton County and 2 more · forecast zone Rogue Basin One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $165M | |
| 2007-12-03 | FloodDilley, Washington County One storm episode: 6 records in 5 places, 2007-12-03 to 2007-12-04; the totals are the episode's. | 2 | 0 | $107M | |
| 1996-11-17 | FloodClackamas County and 3 more · forecast zone Douglas T Nw & E One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 5 | 6 | $80M | |
| 2006-11-07 | FloodHood River County One storm episode: 4 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $72M | |
| 2020-02-06 | FloodMilton Freewater, Umatilla County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 1 | 0 | $46M | |
| 2007-12-03 | Coastal FloodClatsop County and Tillamook County · forecast zone Northern Oregon Coast | 0 | 0 | $26M | |
| 2012-01-18 | FloodDenzer Bridge, Lincoln County One storm episode: 11 records in 8 places, 2012-01-18 to 2012-01-20; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $26M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are floods and flash floods becoming more frequent in Oregon?
Oregon's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.
| Decade | Oregon | United States | Oregon's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 131 | 20,986 | 0.62% |
| 2000s | 263 | 54,913 | 0.48% |
| 2010s | 327 | 68,322 | 0.48% |
| 2020-26 | 125 | 43,563 | 0.29% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent floods and flash floods in Oregon
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-22 | FloodBingham Spgs, Umatilla County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-24 | FloodMyrtle Pt, Coos County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2025-04-01 | FloodBurns, Harney County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2025-03-25 | FloodBurns, Harney County | 0 | 0 | $1.0M | |
| 2025-03-16 | FloodRoseburg Felt Airport, Douglas County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2025-03-16 | FloodDads Creek, Douglas County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2025-03-16 | FloodNorway, Coos County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2025-03-16 | FloodDrain, Douglas County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2025-03-16 | FloodMyrtle Pt, Coos County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2025-03-16 | FloodRoseburg, Douglas County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2025-03-16 | FloodBullards, Coos County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2025-03-16 | FloodMarial, Curry County | 0 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.
Federal disaster declarations for floods and flash floods in Oregon
FEMA has declared 29 disasters in Oregon for floods and flash floods, counting its incident type and declarations that name flood in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 29 were major disasters, the latest on April 7, 2026.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-07 | DR-4907 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 11 |
| 2025-07-22 | DR-4881 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 4 |
| 2023-08-28 | DR-4733 | Severe Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 1 |
| 2020-04-03 | DR-4519 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 4 |
| 2019-07-09 | DR-4452 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 6 |
| 2019-05-02 | DR-4432 | Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 5 |
| 2017-08-08 | DR-4328 | Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 4 |
| 2017-01-25 | DR-4296 | Severe Winter Storm and Flooding | 2 |
| 2016-02-17 | DR-4258 | Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 14 |
| 2012-03-02 | DR-4055 | Severe Winter Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 12 |
| 2011-02-17 | DR-1956 | Severe Winter Storm, Flooding, Mudslides, Landslides, and Debris Flows | 6 |
| 2007-12-08 | DR-1733 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 12 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Tillamook County: the county's whole recordThe Oregon county with the most floods and flash floods per square mile
- Floods across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in OregonTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
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