Wyoming natural disasters

The state's storm and disaster record · population 576,110 · 23 counties and county equivalents

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 26,150 storm events in Wyoming since 1950, 24,556 of them since 1996 when every event type began to be recorded, and the Storm Prediction Center counts 750 tornadoes in the state since 1950. The most frequent records are high wind and dust records (8,737). In NOAA's storm record since 1950, the deadliest storm in Wyoming is the October 10, 2008 winter storm in Big Horn County and Park County: 4 deaths and 4 injuries across 3 records. FEMA has made 45 declarations for Wyoming since 1963, 42 for natural hazards; 15 were major disasters.

The record, 1950 to 2026

Storm events recorded in Wyoming 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: 26,1501950 to June 30, 2026
Deaths recorded: 116648 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars: $547Mas filed (scale steps before 1993)
Tornadoes (SPC): 7501950 to 2025
FEMA declarations: 4515 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 Wyoming?

By NOAA's records, Wyoming's most frequent hazards are high wind and dust records (8,737), winter storm records (7,057), hail reports (4,924); the deadliest are landslide and avalanche records (53 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.

Wyoming: records by hazard to June 30, 2026
Hazard	Records	Last 10 years	Killed	Injured	Damage	Counties
High wind and dust storms	8,737	4,128	5	53	$6.6M	23 of 23
Winter storms	7,057	2,665	30	225	$29M	25 of 23
Hail	4,924	1,495	0	14	$196M	23 of 23
Severe thunderstorm wind	2,840	1,137	1	67	$11M	23 of 23
Tornadoes	765	108	4	115	$172M	23 of 23
Extreme cold	591	370	2	0	$366K	22 of 23
Floods	568	202	6	6	$82M	23 of 23
Fog, smoke and funnel clouds	219	44	2	30	$84K	22 of 23
Wildfires	165	48	2	20	$46M	21 of 23
Landslides and avalanches	98	31	53	37	$1.7M	15 of 23
Heat	78	78	0	0	–	15 of 23
Lightning	54	5	10	81	$1.9M	19 of 23
Heavy rain	52	3	1	0	$23K	12 of 23
Drought	2	2	0	0	–	1 of 23

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 Wyoming?

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.

Wyoming: the 10 storm episodes with the most deaths
Date	Record	Character	Killed	Injured	Damage
2008-10-10	Winter StormBig Horn County and Park County · forecast zone North Big Horn Basin One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. A large low pressure system tracked from the southern Great Basin across Wyoming bringing heavy snowfall to western and central Wyoming. The slow moving storm pumped abundant moisture north into the state ahead of the main area of low pressure producing heavy snow. Snowfall of 6 to 12 inches occurred at most lower ...		4	4	–
2011-07-19	Flash FloodRyan Park, Carbon County Thunderstorms with heavy rain moved across the Snowy Range and Brush Creek area on State Highway 130 between 9 pm and midnight on July 18. Debris carried down Brush Creek by runoff from the heavy rainfall clogged the drainage culvert at milepost 55.8 on State Highway 130, about 13 miles east of the junction with State ...		4	2	–
2009-02-27	AvalancheSublette County and Teton County · forecast zone Teton & Gros Ventre Mountains A group of four snowmobilers triggered a mile long, 100 yard wide avalanche in the Deadhorse Creek drainage near Alpine in Lincoln County. The group rode into a draw after dropping off a ridge line and the slab broke loose taking the lives of three men as they tried to outrun the slide. The lone survivor was able to ...		3	0	–
2008-01-12	AvalancheLincoln County and Sublette County · forecast zone Salt River & Wyoming Ranges Three men were killed near Cottonwood Lake when an avalanche enveloped them and their snowmobiles. The slide was estimated to have been one-half mile long, 400 yards wide at the bottom, and covered about 10 acres at an average depth of 10 feet in the runout zone. The snow was powerful enough to uproot or snap trees ...		3	0	–
2015-04-20	Dense FogAlbany County · forecast zone Laramie Valley Very low visibility in dense fog and icy road surface contributed to a deadly, multi-vehicle pileup on Interstate 80 18 miles west of Laramie at mile marker 292 about 8 am. A 22,000 gallon tanker was on fire. Interstate 80 and nearby highways 30 and 287 were closed. WYDOT posted Speeds Advised at 45 MPH and Black Ice ...		2	25	–
2026-02-18	Winter WeatherUinta County · forecast zone Uinta Wyoming Highway Patrol in addition to other law enforcement and first responders reported that a multi-vehicle accident occurred on I-80 near Evanston at mile marker 18 at approximately 3:00 PM 2/18/26. The crashes are said to have happened more or less simultaneously, involving 32 vehicles (20 semi trucks, 12 ...		2	24	$4.5M
2005-08-12	Wright · TornadoWright, Campbell County A tornado touched down 1 mile north of Wright and traveled southeast into the town. It crossed Wyoming Highway 387, slammed into a mobile home park, and dissipated a half mile from the highway before reaching the elementary school and Wright Blvd on the southeast edge of the park. It damaged 120 of the approximately ...	F2 1.5 mi x 450 yd	2	13	$7.6M
2020-10-22	Winter WeatherAlbany County and Carbon County · forecast zone Shirley Basin One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. Wyoming Highway Patrol investigated a crash between a dump truck and pickup truck along Interstate 25 west five miles west of Douglas around milepost 145. Around 8:05 PM MDT, a 66-year old male was outside of his pickup truck on the shoulder after sliding off the interstate when a dump truck lost control on the ice ...		2	4	–
2015-05-17	AvalancheSublette County and Teton County · forecast zone Teton & Gros Ventre Mountains Four skiers were climbing the Sickle Couloir on Mount Moran in Grand Teton National Park on Sunday morning, May 17, when a shallow, wet avalanche broke from above. Three of the four skiers were swept 500 feet downhill over rock and ice. One man was killed on the mountain and another succumbed to his injuries three ...		2	1	–
2012-03-07	AvalancheSublette County and Teton County · forecast zone Teton & Gros Ventre Mountains An avalanche on Ranger Peak killed two backcountry skiers Wednesday, March 7. The skiers were found the following day after a family member reported one of them missing. The avalanche occurred at 10,500 feet and swept the skiers 3,000 vertical feet down Waterfalls Canyon. Searchers found one skier 150 feet from the ...		2	0	–

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 Wyoming

Wyoming: the 8 records with the most damage since 1993, 2025 dollars
Date	Record	Character	Injured	Damage
2010-05-26	HailGillette, Campbell County	1.75 in hail	0	$62M
2002-08-26	HailCheyenne, Laramie County	2.75 in hail	0	$49M
2003-06-21	HailGillette, Campbell County	2.75 in hail	0	$27M
2022-06-12	FloodMt Washburn, Park County		0	$25M
2010-06-04	FloodSinks Canyon Sp, Fremont County		0	$16M
2013-08-01	HailWright, Campbell County	1.75 in hail	0	$13M
2024-08-21	WildfireJohnson County · forecast zone Northeast Johnson County		0	$12M
2018-09-18	WildfireSublette County · forecast zone Upper Green River Basin Foothills		1	$12M

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: July 16, 1979 (tornado, Laramie County, 1 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 Wyoming 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 Wyoming

Billion-dollar disasters in Wyoming

NOAA counted 32 weather or climate disasters from 1980-2024 that cost at least $1 billion (adjusted for inflation) and affected Wyoming, led by drought (11). The most recent: Southern/Eastern/Northwestern Drought and Heat Wave (2024); Central Severe Weather (2023); Rockies Hail Storms and Central and Eastern Severe Weather (2023).

Wyoming: billion-dollar disasters by type, 1980-2024
Type	Events	Total cost (NOAA's range)
Drought	11	$2.0B-$5.0B
Severe Storm	11	$1.0B-$2.0B
Wildfire	9	$1.0B-$2.0B
Freeze	1	$5M-$100M

Every one of the 32, newest first

Southern/Eastern/Northwestern Drought and Heat Wave2024
Central Severe Weather2023
Rockies Hail Storms and Central and Eastern Severe Weather2023
Western/Central Drought and Heat Wave2022
Western Wildfires2021
Western Drought and Heat Wave2021
Western Wildfires - California, Oregon, Washington Firestorms2020
Western/Central Drought and Heat Wave2020
Rockies, Central and Northeast Tornadoes and Severe Weather2019
Rockies and Plains Hail Storms2018
Mountain West Severe Weather2018
Western Wildfires, California Firestorm2018
Midwest Severe Weather2017
Western Wildfires, California Firestorm2017
Rockies and Northeast Severe Weather2016
Western/Southeast Wildfires2016
Western and Alaskan Wildfires2015
Rockies/Central Plains Severe Weather2014
Western/Plains Drought/Heat Wave2013
Western Wildfires2012
U.S. Drought/Heat Wave2012
Rockies and Midwest Derecho2011
Midwest Tornadoes and Severe Weather2008
Western/Eastern Drought/Heat Wave2007
Midwest/Plains/Southeast Drought2006
Numerous Wildfires2006
Western/Central Drought/Heat Wave2003
U.S. Drought2002
Western Fire Season2000
U.S. Drought/Heat Wave1988
Western Severe Storms and Flooding1986
Freeze/Cold Wave1983

Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters, state summary for Wyoming, 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 Wyoming

FEMA has made 45 declarations for Wyoming since 1963: 15 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 27 fire management assistance declarations. The most common incident types are fire (28), flood (7), severe storm (3).

1960s 1
1970s 3
1980s 2
1990s 1
2000s 13
2010s 14
2020s 11

The 15 most recent declarations in Wyoming
Declared	Number	Type	Title	Areas named
2025-08-15	FM-5608	Fire	Red Canyon Fire	1
2024-11-13	DR-4845	Fire	Wildfires	2
2024-09-30	FM-5539	Fire	Elk Fire	1
2024-08-22	FM-5531	Fire	House Draw Fire	1
2024-07-30	FM-5523	Fire	Pleasant Valley Fire	1
2024-03-01	FM-5490	Fire	Happy Jack Fire	1
2023-09-11	DR-4739	Flood	Flooding	1
2020-09-26	FM-5375	Fire	Mullen Fire	2
2020-09-05	FM-5347	Fire	316 Fire	1
2020-04-11	DR-4535	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	24
2020-03-13	EM-3479	Biological	Covid-19	24
2018-09-18	FM-5276	Fire	Roosevelt Fire	1
2018-06-11	FM-5241	Fire	Badger Creek Fire	1
2017-08-05	DR-4327	Flood	Flooding	3
2017-03-21	DR-4306	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds	1

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

Flood insurance claims in Wyoming

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $3.7 million on 551 claims in 22 Wyoming 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 Wyoming's counties

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

Relatively Low 9
Very Low 14

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