Washington floods
Every recorded flood since 1996 · 39 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 832 floods and flash floods in Washington from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 28 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the November 4, 2006 flood: 2 deaths and $41.6 million in damage in 2025 dollars across 8 records. Washington ranks 46th of 52 states and territories by count and 45th of 51 per square mile.
Floods in Washington, 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
- 8321996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 28average
- Deaths
- 122 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $795Mas filed
- Busiest year
- 201764 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 Washington?
Washington averages about 28 floods and flash floods a year since 2000, 46th of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2017 (64). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Washington records 125 floods and flash floods since 1996, 45th 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 Washington have the most floods and flash floods?
Per square mile, Wahkiakum County leads Washington: 62 days with a flood since 1996, 235.8 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Chelan County has the most flood records (81 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 Washington?
Washington's floods and flash floods by month. The busiest month is January (131 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 131 · Feb 75 · Mar 62 · Apr 46 · May 110 · Jun 90 · Jul 53 · Aug 24 · Sep 24 · Oct 26 · Nov 101 · Dec 90 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest floods and flash floods in Washington?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-11-04 | FloodPackwood, Lewis County One storm episode: 8 records in 8 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong, warm and very wet Pacific weather system brought copious amounts of rainfall to Washington from November 2 through 7, with subsequent major flooding that extended through November 11. This storm fueled in part from sub-tropical moisture associated with former western Pacific typhoon Cimaron, produced rain ... | 2 | 0 | $42M | |
| 2022-01-06 | FloodIndependence, Grays Harbor County Heavy rainfall of 6 to 10 inches, along with melting of remaining snow at lower elevations, lead to river flooding, significant urban and small stream flooding, and landslides. The peak of the rainfall was January 5 through January 7. Major flooding occurred on the Chehalis River and moderate flooding on the Satsop ... | 2 | 0 | $3.4M | |
| 2007-12-02 | FloodDoty, Lewis County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places, 2007-12-02 to 2007-12-03; the totals are the episode's. Record flooding occurred on the Chehalis, Skokomish, and Elwha Rivers. In addition to the record flooding, major flooding occurred on the Bogachiel River. Flooding also occurred on the Nooksack, Skagit, Stillaguamish, SF Stillaguamish, Snohomish, Skykomish, Snoqualmie, Puyallup, Deschutes, Nisqually, Skookumchuck, ... | 2 | 0 | $71M | |
| 1997-01-01 | FloodKing County · forecast zone Seattle Metropolitan Area Melting snow and rain caused mudslides and sinkholes in conjuction with the late December storms. Redmond got an inch of rain in 12 hrs. About 30 roads in King County were closed due to flooding or mudslides. A 58 year old woman died under a collapsed roof from the weight of the snow. Mercer Island had 7 major ... | 1 | 0 | $37M | |
| 1996-12-29 | FloodCosmopolis, Grays Harbor County The snow changed to rain by 10 am causing numerous flooded streets, basement apartments and mudslides. By that evening anywhere from an inch to an inch and a half of rain fell on top of the snow cover and temperatures rose to near 50 degrees. By the next day, seatac nearly had a record high. Road and urban flooding ... | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 2021-11-28 | FloodBlanchard, Skagit County One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. Heavy rain of 5 to 10 inches caused flooding on many rivers, including the Bogachiel, Nooksack, Samish, Skagit, Skokomish, Stillaguamish Rivers. There was urban and small stream flooding as well. The heavy rain also triggered landslides throughout the area. Significant flooding on the Nooksack River, for the second ... | 1 | 0 | $13M | |
| 2021-11-14 | FloodWickersham, Whatcom County One storm episode: 6 records in 6 places, 2021-11-14 to 2021-11-15; the totals are the episode's. An upper level trough Gulf Low continued off the west coast that brought a series of atmospheric rivers resulting in flooding across parts of western Washington. This second atmospheric river episode of the month was a set of three atmospheric rivers back-to-back-to-back. Water vapor transport into Western Washington ... | 1 | 0 | $60M | |
| 2006-12-14 | Flash FloodSeattle, King County In the Madison Valley area of Seattle, heavy rainfall produced excessive street runoff, flooding about 25 basements and drowning one woman trapped in her basement by rapidly rising water. | 1 | 0 | $1.1M | |
| 2001-07-12 | Flash FloodOroville, Okanogan County Three to five inches of rain caused a significant 100+ year flash flood over the higher terrain of northeast Okanogan County on the evening of July 12. The weather pattern showed an upper level high pressure ridge over the western United States with monsoonal moisture extending northward into Washington. Early in the ... | 1 | 0 | $2.5M |
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 Washington
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-09-17 | FloodLongview, Cowlitz County | 0 | 0 | $285M | |
| 2007-12-02 | FloodDoty, Lewis County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places, 2007-12-02 to 2007-12-03; the totals are the episode's. | 2 | 0 | $71M | |
| 2009-01-07 | FloodSnoqualmie, King County One storm episode: 9 records in 9 places, 2009-01-07 to 2009-01-08; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $70M | |
| 2021-11-14 | FloodWickersham, Whatcom County One storm episode: 6 records in 6 places, 2021-11-14 to 2021-11-15; the totals are the episode's. | 1 | 0 | $60M | |
| 2006-11-04 | FloodPackwood, Lewis County One storm episode: 8 records in 8 places; the totals are the episode's. | 2 | 0 | $42M | |
| 1997-01-01 | FloodKing County · forecast zone Seattle Metropolitan Area | 1 | 0 | $37M | |
| 2009-01-07 | FloodEaston, Kittitas County One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places, 2009-01-07 to 2009-01-08; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $17M | |
| 2003-10-20 | FloodSkagit County and Snohomish County · forecast zone Northwest Interior | 0 | 0 | $15M |
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 Washington?
Washington'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 | Washington | United States | Washington's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 85 | 20,986 | 0.41% |
| 2000s | 259 | 54,913 | 0.47% |
| 2010s | 318 | 68,322 | 0.47% |
| 2020-26 | 170 | 43,563 | 0.39% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent floods and flash floods in Washington
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-12 | Flash FloodManning, Whitman County | 0 | 0 | $10K | |
| 2026-03-20 | FloodMonitor, Chelan County | 0 | 0 | $2K | |
| 2026-03-20 | FloodStehekin, Chelan County | 0 | 0 | $1K | |
| 2026-03-18 | FloodCashmere, Chelan County | 0 | 0 | $10K | |
| 2026-03-14 | FloodArmstrong, Whitman County | 0 | 0 | $5K | |
| 2026-03-14 | FloodPullman, Whitman County | 0 | 0 | $30K | |
| 2026-03-14 | FloodWaitsburg, Walla Walla County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-03-14 | FloodDayton, Columbia County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2025-12-10 | FloodChumstick, Chelan County | 0 | 0 | $200K | |
| 2025-12-10 | FloodTelma, Chelan County | 0 | 0 | $200K | |
| 2025-12-09 | FloodBrief, Chelan County | 0 | 0 | $1K | |
| 2025-12-08 | FloodStehekin, Chelan County | 0 | 0 | $100K |
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 Washington
FEMA has declared 52 disasters in Washington 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); 48 were major disasters, the latest on April 7, 2026.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-07 | DR-4906 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 49 |
| 2025-12-12 | EM-3629 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 17 |
| 2024-04-28 | DR-4775 | Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 17 |
| 2023-01-12 | DR-4682 | Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 9 |
| 2022-03-29 | DR-4650 | Severe Winter Storms, Snowstorms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding | 24 |
| 2022-01-05 | DR-4635 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 12 |
| 2021-04-08 | DR-4593 | Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 18 |
| 2020-04-23 | DR-4539 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides | 15 |
| 2019-03-04 | DR-4418 | Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, Mudslides, Tornado | 8 |
| 2018-08-17 | DR-4384 | Flooding | 1 |
| 2017-04-21 | DR-4309 | Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, Mudslides | 15 |
| 2016-02-02 | DR-4253 | Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, Mudslides, and A T | 10 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Wahkiakum County: the county's whole recordThe Washington 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 WashingtonTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
- Winter storms in Washington4,060 records
- High wind and dust storms in Washington2,210 records
- Severe thunderstorm wind in Washington626 records