Washington natural disasters

The state's storm and disaster record · population 7,699,114 · 39 counties and county equivalents

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 10,042 storm events in Washington since 1950, 9,855 of them since 1996 when every event type began to be recorded, and the Storm Prediction Center counts 136 tornadoes in the state since 1950. The most frequent records are winter storm records (4,060). In NOAA's storm record since 1950, the deadliest event in Washington is the March 22, 2014 debris flow in Snohomish County: 43 deaths, 12 injuries and $74.8 million in damage in 2025 dollars. FEMA has made 223 declarations for Washington since 1956, 219 for natural hazards; 68 were major disasters.

The record, 1950 to 2026

Storm events recorded in Washington each year (2026 to June 30, 2026). Before 1996 NOAA recorded only tornadoes (from 1950), thunderstorm wind and hail (from 1955).

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
1955: wind and hail recorded from 1955
1996: all 48 event types from 1996

Storm events recorded: 10,0421950 to June 30, 2026
Deaths recorded: 3321,263 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars: $6.4Bas filed (scale steps before 1993)
Tornadoes (SPC): 1361950 to 2025
FEMA declarations: 22368 major disasters

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026 (file revision 20260918); tornado count: NOAA Storm Prediction Center, 1950-2025; damage in 2025 dollars (BLS CPI-U). Search the record at NCEI.

What natural disasters happen in Washington?

By NOAA's records, Washington's most frequent hazards are winter storm records (4,060), high wind and dust records (2,210), floods and flash floods (832); the deadliest are landslide and avalanche records (102 deaths). Each hazard is counted over the years NOAA has recorded it everywhere: tornadoes since 1950, hail and thunderstorm wind since 1955, everything else since 1996. Open a hazard for its years, months, counties and worst events.

Washington: records by hazard to June 30, 2026
Hazard	Records	Last 10 years	Killed	Injured	Damage	Counties
Winter storms	4,060	1,888	53	225	$148M	39 of 39
High wind and dust storms	2,210	538	88	500	$1.6B	39 of 39
Floods	832	286	12	2	$795M	39 of 39
Severe thunderstorm wind	626	154	5	35	$37M	33 of 39
Wildfires	542	205	10	19	$2.3B	35 of 39
Hail	395	51	1	16	$376M	31 of 39
Heat	256	206	23	22	$2K	37 of 39
Landslides and avalanches	254	66	102	56	$144M	35 of 39
Heavy rain	239	40	2	26	$380M	36 of 39
Extreme cold	152	75	11	3	$402M	33 of 39
Fog, smoke and funnel clouds	150	57	6	18	$3.3M	30 of 39
Tornadoes	138	18	6	303	$193M	28 of 39
Lightning	106	7	2	35	$5.4M	28 of 39
Drought	40	0	0	0	$18M	22 of 39
Rip currents and high surf	27	12	11	2	$6.7M	16 of 39
Hurricanes and tropical storms	15	0	0	1	$3.5M	10 of 39

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: every record counted once in the state; "last 10 years" is 2017-2026 (2026 to June 30, 2026).

What were the deadliest disasters in Washington?

The storms with the most deaths since 1950, from the National Weather Service's own entries. NOAA files one storm as several records when it crosses forecast zones and counties or changes type, and groups them under one episode; each row here is an episode, with its totals and the narrative of its deadliest record. Before 1996 tornado records carry no episode and stand alone. The narrative says what happened: some deaths the National Weather Service files under a weather type had another cause beside the weather.

Washington: the 10 storm episodes with the most deaths
Date	Record	Character	Killed	Injured	Damage
2014-03-22	Debris FlowOso, Snohomish County On a warm and dry 22nd of March, 2014, a large landslide occurred four miles east of the town of Oso, Washington. The slide debris, traveling at over 60 miles per hour, crossed the entire river valley, covering an area of over a square mile with an approximate deposit thickness of 15 to 75 feet in some areas. The ...		43	12	$75M
2006-12-14	High WindKing County and Kitsap County · forecast zone Seattle/Bremerton Area One storm episode: 17 records in 15 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong Pacific Ocean rain and wind storm struck Washington on the night of Dec 14th through the morning of the 15th. The storm initially brought one to two inches of heavy rainfall to parts of western Washington on the 14th, producing areas of urban and small stream flooding and overwhelming drainage systems. ...	64 kt wind	15	311	$83M
1972-04-05	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Vancouver, killed 6 (SPC) · TornadoClark County Every tornado record filed in the state that day (4, in 4 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.	F3 8.7 mi x 440 yd	6	301	$25M step
2007-12-01	AvalancheKing County and 2 more · forecast zone West Slopes Central Cascades And Passes One storm episode: 2 records, 2007-12-01 to 2007-12-02; the totals are the episode's. Two hikers were killed, and one injured, by an avalanche near Snoqualmie Pass. 3 snowboarders are presumed dead near Crystal Mountain. The snowfall that led to the avalanches was part of a deep Pacific storm system offshore the also created lowland snow in western Washington, strong winds particularly in the coastal ...		5	1	–
2024-01-12	Cold/Wind ChillKing County · forecast zone Seattle And Vicinity Here's an article excerpt taken from the Seattle Times 01/18/24. At least five people have died from hypothermia in Seattle since Jan. 11, during a stretch of days that saw temperatures plummet well below freezing, according to the King County medical examiner’s office. Authorities have not said whether any of them ...		5	0	–
2021-06-26	Excessive HeatClark County · forecast zone Greater Vancouver Area One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. A high pressure heat dome over the region led to stretch of extreme heat, shattering records from June 26 through June 29. Hot temperatures resulted in many people seeking locations to cool off in local rivers and beaches, which led to one drowning, as well as multiple people going to local hospitals for treatment of ...		5	0	–
2015-08-29	High WindWhatcom County · forecast zone Western Whatcom One storm episode: 6 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's. High wind struck parts of Western Washington beginning around mid morning on Saturday August 29th and continued into the afternoon hours. Widespread tree damage and power outages occurred, about 450,000 in total. Storm force winds developed over the coastal waters and Northern Inland waters. Solid Gale force winds ...	58 kt wind	4	4	$4.4M
1997-08-26	High WindEast Slopes Southern Cascades · forecast zone East Slopes Southern Cascades One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. Four people were killed when high wind blew a tree onto their truck near Bumping Lake. Two people were injured when two trees blew down on their camper trailer near Bumping Lake. Numerous trees fell across Bumping Lake Road. Summer homes along highway 410 were damaged by falling trees...one was destroyed. A large ...		4	4	–
2001-07-09	WildfireWinthrop, Okanogan County The "Thirtymile" wildfire was in the mop-up stages on July 10 when excessively hot and dry conditions that afternoon caused the smoldering fire to blow up. The fire came roaring back to life, quickly spreading from 25 to 2,500 acres in just three hours. The quickly-spreading fire overran a group of 14 firefighters, ...		4	4	–
2012-02-19	AvalancheKing County and 2 more · forecast zone West Slopes Central Cascades And Passes One storm episode: 3 records; the totals are the episode's. A strong front and moist westerly flow in its wake produced heavy snow in the Cascades. 3 different avalanches killed 4 and injured one.		4	1	–

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed in this state, summed over the records of each episode (EPISODE_ID); a forecast-zone record counts the zone's deaths once. A tornado's whole-track deaths (SPC), on the state's tornado page, can be higher when the track crossed a state line. Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest records in Washington

Washington: the 8 records with the most damage since 1993, 2025 dollars
Date	Record	Character	Damage
2020-09-08	High WindCowlitz County and Skamania County · forecast zone South Washington Cascades	58 kt wind	$1.1B
2020-09-17	FloodLongview, Cowlitz County		$285M
1998-08-02	WildfireChelan County		$163M
2014-07-14	WildfireDouglas County and Okanogan County · forecast zone Okanogan Valley		$151M
2014-08-01	WildfireDouglas County and Okanogan County · forecast zone Okanogan Valley		$150M
2008-04-19	Frost/FreezeChelan County and Douglas County · forecast zone Wenatchee Area		$144M
2001-06-27	HailBuena, Yakima County	1.00 in hail	$117M
2022-10-01	WildfireChelan County · forecast zone Central Chelan County		$116M

Before 1993 NOAA filed damage by category, not amount, so the list above starts in 1993. The highest category filed here before then (entered as $25M, in the dollars of the day) holds: April 5, 1972 (tornado, Clark County, 6 killed).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars with the BLS CPI-U. BLS consumer price index.

Which counties in Washington have the most records?

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950 attributed to each county (forecast-zone records count on every county the zone covers).

Every county in Washington

Billion-dollar disasters in Washington

NOAA counted 36 weather or climate disasters from 1980-2024 that cost at least $1 billion (adjusted for inflation) and affected Washington, led by wildfire (15). The most recent: Northwest Winter Storm (2024); Southern/Eastern/Northwestern Drought and Heat Wave (2024); Southern/Midwestern Drought and Heatwave (2023).

Washington: billion-dollar disasters by type, 1980-2024
Type	Events	Total cost (NOAA's range)
Wildfire	15	$2.0B-$5.0B
Drought	13	$2.0B-$5.0B
Flooding	3	$1.0B-$2.0B
Winter Storm	3	$1.0B-$2.0B
Freeze	1	$100M-$250M
Severe Storm	1	$5M-$100M

Every one of the 36, newest first

Northwest Winter Storm2024
Southern/Eastern/Northwestern Drought and Heat Wave2024
Southern/Midwestern Drought and Heatwave2023
Central and Eastern Winter Storm and Cold Wave2022
Western Wildfires2022
Western/Central Drought and Heat Wave2022
Western Wildfires2021
Northwest, Central, Eastern Winter Storm and Cold Wave2021
Western Drought and Heat Wave2021
Western Wildfires - California, Oregon, Washington Firestorms2020
Western/Central Drought and Heat Wave2020
Western Wildfires, California Firestorm2018
Western Wildfires, California Firestorm2017
Western/Southeast Wildfires2016
Western and Alaskan Wildfires2015
Western Drought2015
Western Drought2014
Western/Plains Drought/Heat Wave2013
Western Wildfires2012
Southwest/Great Plains Drought2009
U.S. Wildfires2008
Western, Central and Northeast Severe Weather2008
U.S. Drought2008
Western Wildfires2007
Numerous Wildfires2006
Midwest Drought2005
California Wildfires2003
Western/Central Drought/Heat Wave2003
Western Fire Season2000
West Coast Flooding1997
Pacific Northwest Severe Flooding1996
Western Fire Season1994
U.S. Drought1991
Western Fire Season1990
Freeze/Cold Wave1983
Western Storms and Flooding1982

Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters, state summary for Washington, 1980-2024 (NCEI's last update; the product is archived). A disaster that affected several states counts in each. NCEI billion-dollar disasters.

Federal disaster declarations in Washington

FEMA has made 223 declarations for Washington since 1956: 68 major disasters, 11 emergencies and 144 fire management assistance declarations. The most common incident types are fire (155), flood (35), severe storm (20).

1950s 2
1960s 4
1970s 12
1980s 10
1990s 27
2000s 43
2010s 65
2020s 60

The 15 most recent declarations in Washington
Declared	Number	Type	Title	Areas named
2026-08-03	EM-3650	Fire	Wildfires	9
2026-08-02	FM-5659	Fire	Autumn Lane Fire	2
2026-08-02	FM-5658	Fire	Fairview Fire	1
2026-08-01	FM-5657	Fire	Sinlahekin Fire	1
2026-08-01	FM-5656	Fire	Old Trails Fire	1
2026-07-30	FM-5653	Fire	Modrite Fire	2
2026-07-26	FM-5651	Fire	Ransier Fire	2
2026-07-26	FM-5649	Fire	Signal Peak Fire	2
2026-07-17	FM-5646	Fire	Kaiser Canyon Fire	2
2026-06-16	FM-5638	Fire	Upriver Fire	1
2026-04-07	DR-4906	Flood	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides	49
2025-12-12	EM-3629	Flood	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides	17
2025-09-26	FM-5614	Fire	Lower Sugarloaf Fire	1
2025-07-19	FM-5601	Fire	Burdoin Fire	1
2024-11-26	DR-4849	Fire	Wildfires	1

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Flood insurance claims in Washington

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $367 million on 15,931 claims in 39 Washington counties. Claims count insured losses only.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk across Washington's counties

How FEMA's National Risk Index rates Washington's counties overall: a model of expected future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of events.

Very High 1
Relatively High 4
Relatively Moderate 15
Relatively Low 11
Very Low 8

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