Storm Records: Washington
Every storm the National Weather Service has filed in Washington: its floods, heat, cold, winter storms, hail, wind, lightning and tornadoes, year by year and county by county, each episode with its narrative.
The worst in Washington on the map
The deadliest and costliest episodes on record here, colored by kind of event.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 10,042
- Deaths
- 332
- Injuries
- 1,263
- Damage
- $5.2 billion
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
Every year
Tap a year for every episode in it.
Deaths each year
By kind of event
| Kind of event | Events | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Snow | 3,207 | 17 | 70 | $67 million |
| High Wind | 1,790 | 59 | 390 | $1.3 billion |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 626 | 5 | 35 | $26 million |
| Flood | 589 | 10 | 0 | $603 million |
| Wildfire | 542 | 10 | 19 | $2.2 billion |
| Winter Weather | 411 | 24 | 140 | $7.7 million |
| Hail | 395 | 1 | 16 | $220 million |
| Strong Wind | 316 | 27 | 27 | $27 million |
| Winter Storm | 282 | 5 | 7 | $5.0 million |
| Heavy Rain | 239 | 2 | 26 | $251 million |
| Flash Flood | 202 | 2 | 2 | $20 million |
| Debris Flow | 188 | 48 | 15 | $113 million |
| Heat | 159 | 6 | 20 | |
| Tornado | 138 | 6 | 303 | $31 million |
| Ice Storm | 127 | 4 | 7 | $16 million |
| Lightning | 106 | 2 | 35 | $3.3 million |
| Funnel Cloud | 103 | 0 | 0 | $2,000 |
| Excessive Heat | 97 | 17 | 2 | $2,000 |
| Dust Storm | 96 | 2 | 78 | $742,000 |
| Avalanche | 66 | 54 | 41 | $2.1 million |
| Cold/Wind Chill | 54 | 9 | 2 | |
| Frost/Freeze | 54 | 1 | 1 | $205 million |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 44 | 1 | 0 | $65 million |
| Coastal Flood | 41 | 0 | 0 | $9.8 million |
| Drought | 40 | 0 | 0 | $12 million |
| Blizzard | 32 | 3 | 1 | $2.2 million |
| Dense Smoke | 26 | 0 | 0 | |
| Storm Surge/Tide | 15 | 0 | 1 | $2.0 million |
| High Surf | 10 | 4 | 0 | $5.0 million |
| Freezing Fog | 10 | 3 | 14 | $2.0 million |
| Dense Fog | 8 | 3 | 4 | $390,000 |
| Dust Devil | 8 | 0 | 5 | $6,000 |
| Rip Current | 8 | 7 | 2 | |
| Astronomical Low Tide | 8 | 0 | 0 | $935,000 |
| Waterspout | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Volcanic Ash | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Sleet | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tsunami | 1 | 0 | 0 |
The deadliest
- Debris Flow in Washington, March 22, 2014A relatively dry October 2013 through early February 2014 period with precipitation running around only 50 percent of normal turned unusually wet one week into February and continued through March.
- Flash Flood and High Wind in Washington, December 14 to 15, 2006A strong Pacific Ocean rain and wind storm struck Washington on the night of Dec 14th through the morning of the 15th.
- Tornadoes in Washington, April 5, 1972
- Avalanche in Washington, December 1 to 2, 2007Two hikers were killed, and one injured, by an avalanche near Snoqualmie Pass. 3 snowboarders are presumed dead near Crystal Mountain.
- Excessive Heat in Washington, June 26 to 29, 2021A high pressure heat dome over the region led to stretch of extreme heat, shattering records from June 26 through June 29.
- Ice Storm and Heavy Snow in Washington, January 11 to 17, 2024A modified Arctic front moved into Western Washington. After producing some locally heavy snowfall on the Olympic Peninsula, it was followed by strong Fraser River outflow winds and several days of cold temperatures when a number of record low temperature records were set.
- High Wind and Strong Wind in Washington, August 29, 2015High 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.
- Tornado and High Wind in Washington, August 26, 1997F0 tornado one mile west of White Swan with a path length of 1 mile and a path width of 25 yards. Wind damage to roofs of pump house, 3 homes, warehouse, storage building, and barn.
- Debris Flow in Washington, January 19, 1997A mudslide kills a family of four while they were sleeping in their home. The house, on Bainbridge Island, slid down a hill into Puget Sound. 20 other homes in the vicinity were evacuated.
- High Wind in Washington, October 29 to 30, 1997Winds at the Bellingham airport were sustained 31 mph with gusts to 51 mph through most of the night. Out over the waters around Lummi Island a 58 foot boat, the Miss Lindsay, with 4 people aboard was overturned and the four onboard perished.
- Wildfire in Washington, July 9 to 23, 2001The "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.
- Avalanche and Heavy Snow in Washington, February 17 to 19, 2012A strong front and moist westerly flow in its wake produced heavy snow in the Cascades. 3 different avalanches killed 4 and injured one.
- Dust Storm and High Wind in Washington, November 17, 2015An intense surface low pressure system moved from west to east along the Southern British Columbia border and dragged a cold front through as well.
- Debris Flows and Flooding in Washington, December 2 to 5, 2007Record flooding occurred on the Chehalis, Skokomish, and Elwha Rivers. In addition to the record flooding, major flooding occurred on the Bogachiel River.
- Flood and Heavy Rain in Washington, January 6 to 11, 2022A strong and persistent upper-level low-pressure system developed over the northern Rockies and southern Canada and then slowly migrated westward while continuously directing the jet stream and primary storm track at Washington State.
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Washington, December 1 to 4, 2023A series of shortwaves tracked across Eastern Washington bringing several days of light to moderate snow fall. Snowfall was heaviest in mountains with amounts ranging from 10 to 20 inches. The low lands excluding Okanogan Valley received amounts ranging from 3 to 8 inches.
- Avalanche in Washington, January 11, 1997An avalanche killed 3 hikers. The hikers left on Dec. 27th, didn't return on the 29th as expected and weren't found until Jan 11th. They were found buried in an avalanche near Index.
- High Surf in Washington, February 12, 1997Three Coast Guard crew men were killed when their boat overturned in rough seas. They were on a search and rescue mission off the Quillayute River Bar when their boat capsized throwing all four of the crew overboard. One survived.
- Blizzard in Washington, May 29, 20023 climbers lost their lives near the top of Mt Rainier when high winds destroyed their tents and collapsed their snow caves.
- Strong Wind in Washington, April 30, 2010Strong winds and the resulting waves capsized an 18 foot fishing boat on Lake Celilo near Wishram. Four people were thrown off the boat. Three people drowned and 1 person suffered minor hypothermia.
- Avalanche in Washington, February 19, 2023An incoming system brought heavy mountain snow of at least 18 inches and strong winds of 60 plus MPH.
- Excessive Heat in Washington, July 12 to 18, 2024An upper level ridge of high pressure over the Four Corners region and a dry westerly flow over the PacNW resulted in dry and hot conditions developing across the region. This resulted in moderate to major HeatRisk being observed over the region.
- Wildfire in Washington, August 18 to 31, 2023An incoming system brought strong winds and dry air into the Spokane Area. Two wildfires were started by unknown causes and quickly spread through residential areas. A total of 270 structures were lost or damaged.
- Debris Flow and Flooding in Washington, November 4 to 9, 2006A 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.
- High Wind in Washington, December 2 to 3, 2007A deep Pacific storm system offshore created strong south to north pressure differences along the coast for an extended period of time. The unique characteristic of the high wind was its duration--high wind lasted for about 18 hours on the coast.
The costliest
- High Wind in Washington, September 7 to 8, 2020
- Flood in Washington, September 17 to 18, 2020
- Wildfire in Washington, August 1 to 26, 2014
- Wildfire in Washington, July 14 to 31, 2014
- Debris Flows and Flooding in Washington, December 2 to 5, 2007
- Wildfire in Washington, October 1 to 31, 2022
- Wildfire in Washington, September 9 to 30, 2022
- Frost and Freeze in Washington, April 19 to 22, 2008
- Wildfire in Washington, July 1 to 31, 2024
- Wildfire in Washington, September 1 to 30, 2024
- Wildfire in Washington, October 1 to 3, 2024
- Wildfire in Washington, August 1 to 31, 2024
- Wildfire and Heavy Rain in Washington, August 2 to 30, 1998
- Wildfire in Washington, August 1 to 31, 2018
- Wildfire in Washington, September 1 to 30, 2025
- Wildfire in Washington, October 1 to 19, 2025
- Wildfire in Washington, September 1 to 11, 2023
- Wildfire in Washington, August 18 to 31, 2023
- Debris Flows and Flooding in Washington, January 7 to 10, 2009
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Washington, June 27, 2001
- Debris Flow and Flooding in Washington, November 4 to 9, 2006
- Extreme Cold in Washington, November 1 to 4, 2002
- Debris Flow in Washington, March 22, 2014
- Flash Flood and High Wind in Washington, December 14 to 15, 2006
- Wildfire in Washington, September 1 to 30, 2025
Counties
Every storm event filed in each county, including the zone-filed ones that covered it.
- Adams County367
- Asotin County208
- Benton County304
- Chelan County480
- Clallam County23
- Clark County92
- Columbia County285
- Cowlitz County83
- Douglas County780
- Ferry County359
- Franklin County261
- Garfield County185
- Grant County545
- Grays Harbor County31
- Island County6
- Jefferson County17
- King County84
- Kitsap County17
- Kittitas County180
- Klickitat County388
- Lewis County19
- Lincoln County675
- Mason County17
- Okanogan County928
- Pacific County47
- Pend Oreille County703
- Pierce County34
- San Juan County127
- Skagit County16
- Skamania County27
- Snohomish County54
- Spokane County1,492
- Stevens County732
- Thurston County28
- Wahkiakum County55
- Walla Walla County565
- Whatcom County21
- Whitman County343
- Yakima County451
Counties and zones as filed
The places filed most often, as the offices named them.
| County or zone | Events | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast Mountains zone | 562 | 4 | 9 | $136 million |
| East Slopes Northern Cascades zone | 442 | 8 | 16 | $110 million |
| Spokane Area zone | 385 | 18 | 34 | $201 million |
| Spokane | 249 | 0 | 30 | $29 million |
| Okanogan Highlands zone | 247 | 0 | 0 | $179 million |
| Okanogan | 231 | 5 | 6 | $71 million |
| South Coast zone | 230 | 8 | 2 | $21 million |
| Southwest Interior zone | 210 | 3 | 2 | $23 million |
| Washington Palouse zone | 198 | 5 | 16 | $5.7 million |
| Wenatchee Area zone | 194 | 1 | 30 | $127 million |
| Okanogan Valley zone | 191 | 2 | 2 | $280 million |
| Western Whatcom County zone | 190 | 1 | 17 | $7.2 million |
| Lower Columbia Basin zone | 183 | 11 | 52 | $3.1 million |
| Chelan | 169 | 1 | 7 | $178 million |
| Upper Columbia Basin zone | 164 | 3 | 20 | $15 million |
| Admiralty Inlet Area zone | 149 | 2 | 1 | $22 million |
| Moses Lake Area zone | 138 | 4 | 77 | $13 million |
| South Washington Cascades zone | 137 | 2 | 1 | $950 million |
| Yakima Valley zone | 129 | 7 | 11 | $137 million |
| Whitman | 126 | 0 | 8 | $5.1 million |
| Central Coast zone | 125 | 4 | 12 | $35 million |
| San Juan zone | 122 | 1 | 4 | $4.7 million |
| Waterville Plateau zone | 120 | 0 | 0 | $5.2 million |
| Northwest Blue Mountains zone | 119 | 0 | 0 | $115,000 |
| Stevens | 117 | 0 | 0 | $5.4 million |
| Yakima | 117 | 0 | 5 | $74 million |
| Everett and Vicinity zone | 115 | 7 | 7 | $27 million |
| North Coast zone | 114 | 4 | 2 | $4.6 million |
| West Slopes Central Cascades and Passes zone | 107 | 22 | 28 | $8.6 million |
| West Slopes Northern Cascades and Passes zone | 97 | 10 | 0 | $4.0 million |
| Kittitas Valley zone | 97 | 0 | 1 | $41,000 |
| Blue Mountain Foothills zone | 96 | 1 | 1 | $5.3 million |
| Walla Walla | 90 | 0 | 0 | $12 million |
| Benton | 88 | 0 | 0 | $577,000 |
| Pend Oreille | 88 | 2 | 3 | $10 million |
| Cascades of Whatcom and Skagit Counties zone | 85 | 1 | 1 | $2.3 million |
| Ferry | 84 | 0 | 2 | $11 million |
| East Slopes of the Washington Cascades zone | 84 | 3 | 2 | $8.4 million |
| King | 83 | 2 | 25 | $117 million |
| Lincoln | 82 | 0 | 1 | $30 million |
| Grant | 82 | 0 | 1 | $1.5 million |
| East Puget Sound Lowlands zone | 82 | 8 | 37 | $35 million |
| Tacoma Area zone | 77 | 9 | 44 | $18 million |
| Clark | 73 | 6 | 306 | $29 million |
| Cascades of Snohomish and King Counties zone | 73 | 3 | 0 | $4.5 million |
| Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca zone | 72 | 3 | 1 | $3.1 million |
| Northeast Blue Mountains zone | 72 | 0 | 0 | $35 million |
| Seattle and Vicinity zone | 69 | 8 | 3 | $3.5 million |
| Central Chelan County zone | 68 | 2 | 8 | $983 million |
| Cascades of Pierce and Lewis Counties zone | 67 | 3 | 2 | |
| Hood Canal Area zone | 65 | 2 | 1 | $9.5 million |
| Greater Vancouver Area zone | 62 | 10 | 3 | $106 million |
| Olympics zone | 61 | 0 | 2 | $2.2 million |
| Cowlitz | 59 | 1 | 6 | $256 million |
| Western Whatcom zone | 56 | 9 | 0 | $6.9 million |
| Lower Garfield & Asotin zone | 56 | 0 | 0 | $37 million |
| Southern Washington Cascade Foothills zone | 56 | 1 | 0 | $1,000 |
| Snohomish | 54 | 44 | 13 | $84 million |
| Lower Columbia zone | 54 | 1 | 1 | $1.9 million |
| Western Skagit County zone | 54 | 0 | 1 | $5.7 million |
| Douglas | 50 | 0 | 2 | $17 million |
| Central Columbia River Gorge zone | 50 | 0 | 0 | $5.0 million |
| Asotin | 48 | 0 | 0 | $1.8 million |
| Stevens/Pend Oreille/X N Spokane zone | 48 | 0 | 0 | $585,000 |
| Wahkiakum | 47 | 0 | 0 | $769,000 |
| Eastern Columbia River Gorge zone | 47 | 0 | 0 | |
| Simcoe Highlands zone | 46 | 0 | 0 | $4.5 million |
| Franklin | 45 | 1 | 4 | $3.8 million |
| W Pacific zone | 44 | 0 | 0 | $23,000 |
| Western Columbia Gorge zone | 43 | 0 | 0 | $29,000 |
| East Slopes Southern Cascades zone | 42 | 7 | 4 | $73,000 |
| Kittitas | 41 | 0 | 0 | $17 million |
| Adams | 38 | 1 | 1 | $8.3 million |
| W Okanogan/C&w Chelan zone | 37 | 3 | 3 | $25,000 |
| Western Chelan County zone | 37 | 3 | 1 | $53 million |
| Hood Canal/Kitsap Peninsula zone | 36 | 6 | 0 | $540,000 |
| Seattle/Bremerton Area zone | 36 | 11 | 303 | $25 million |
| Pierce | 34 | 0 | 2 | $49 million |
| Seattle Metropolitan Area zone | 34 | 2 | 1 | $26 million |
| Northwest Interior zone | 33 | 1 | 0 | $14 million |
| East Slopes of the Southern Cascades zone | 33 | 0 | 0 | |
| East Slopes of the Central Cascades zone | 32 | 1 | 8 | $26 million |
| Western Okanogan County zone | 32 | 1 | 0 | $7.7 million |
| Grays Harbor | 31 | 3 | 0 | $12 million |
| Western Strait of Juan de Fuca zone | 31 | 0 | 0 | $2.2 million |
| Benton/Franklin/Walla Walla T Se/E Klickitat zone | 31 | 0 | 0 | $89,000 |
| East Columbia River Gorge zone | 30 | 3 | 1 | $2,000 |
| W Kittitas/W Yakima/W Klickitat T X Sw zone | 29 | 3 | 3 | $83,000 |
| Thurston | 28 | 0 | 2 | $26 million |
| Pacific | 28 | 0 | 0 | $11 million |
| Ne Okanogan/Ferry zone | 28 | 0 | 0 | $220,000 |
| Klickitat | 28 | 0 | 1 | $21,000 |
| Columbia | 26 | 0 | 0 | $153,000 |
| Bremerton and Vicinity zone | 26 | 1 | 2 | $1.4 million |
| Garfield | 25 | 0 | 0 | $3.2 million |
| E Kittitas zone | 25 | 0 | 0 | $2,000 |
| Vancouver Area zone | 24 | 0 | 0 | $100,000 |
| N Columbia/Se Walla Walla T X Se zone | 23 | 0 | 0 | $230,000 |
| Sw Clark zone | 23 | 0 | 0 | $480,000 |
| S Garfield/Sw Asotin zone | 23 | 0 | 0 | $5,000 |
| Western Columbia River Gorge zone | 23 | 0 | 0 | $16,000 |
| Clallam | 22 | 0 | 0 | $13 million |
| Whatcom | 21 | 1 | 2 | $50 million |
| X Se Walla Walla/S Columbia zone | 21 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bellevue and Vicinity zone | 21 | 2 | 0 | $2.0 million |
| West Slopes Southern Cascades and Passes zone | 20 | 0 | 0 | $100,000 |
| Ne Lincoln/Spokane X Extreme N Part zone | 20 | 0 | 0 | $2.0 million |
| Lewis | 19 | 3 | 2 | $71 million |
| Thurston T X Se/Sw Mason/C&se Grays Harbor/W Lewis zone | 19 | 1 | 1 | $2.9 million |
| E Yakima zone | 19 | 0 | 0 | $65 million |
| Mason T Sw & Nw/Kitsap T X Se/Ec&se Jefferson zone | 18 | 0 | 1 | $635,000 |
| Whitman & Extreme Se Spokane zone | 18 | 0 | 0 | $5.8 million |
| Mason | 17 | 1 | 1 | $18 million |
| Kitsap | 17 | 1 | 5 | $34 million |
| Nc&s Okanogan X Extreme Se Part/Extreme N Douglas zone | 17 | 0 | 0 | $25 million |
| Island/Ne Jefferson zone | 16 | 0 | 0 | $420,000 |
| Sw Snohomish zone | 16 | 0 | 0 | $465,000 |
| W Skagit/Nw Snohomish zone | 16 | 0 | 0 | $22,000 |
| Jefferson | 16 | 1 | 0 | $11 million |
| Skagit | 16 | 1 | 7 | $19 million |
| West Columbia River Gorge zone | 15 | 0 | 0 | $500,000 |
| W Pierce zone | 15 | 0 | 0 | $152,000 |
| C King/C Pierce/X Ne Thurston/C Lewis zone | 15 | 0 | 0 | $400,000 |
| Lower Chehalis Valley Area zone | 15 | 2 | 1 | $3.8 million |
| W King/X Se Kitsap zone | 14 | 1 | 0 | $8.2 million |
| Douglas X Extreme W&n Parts/Nw Grant zone | 14 | 0 | 0 | $25,000 |
| X Sw Klickitat zone | 14 | 0 | 0 | |
| Central Cascade Foothills zone | 13 | 3 | 3 | $25 million |
| Skamania T X S & X Sw/X E Cowlitz zone | 13 | 0 | 0 | |
| W Grays Harbor zone | 13 | 0 | 0 | $3.2 million |
| Central Casade Foothills zone | 12 | 1 | 0 | $380,000 |
| E King/E Pierce/E Lewis zone | 12 | 8 | 13 | $50,000 |
| E Chelan/Extreme W Douglas zone | 12 | 0 | 0 | $85,000 |
| Northern Cascade Foothills zone | 11 | 0 | 0 | $505,000 |
| Southern Cascade Foothills zone | 11 | 0 | 0 | $50,000 |
| Ne Grant/X Ne Douglas/X Se Oknogan/Lincoln X Ne/Adams X Sw zone | 11 | 0 | 0 | $278,000 |
| Skamania | 11 | 0 | 0 | $628,000 |
| South Washington Coast zone | 11 | 0 | 0 | $170,000 |
| C Cowlitz/N&ne Clark/P X Sw Skamania zone | 10 | 0 | 0 | $115,000 |
| Upper Slopes of the Est Washington Cascade Crest zone | 10 | 2 | 1 | |
| Ne Clallam zone | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| C Skagit/C Snohomish zone | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| Northern Casade Foothills zone | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| S Grant & Sw Adams zone | 9 | 0 | 4 | $325,000 |
| X S Skamania/X Se Clark zone | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| N Garfield & Ne Asotin zone | 8 | 0 | 0 | $535,000 |
| W Cowlitz/Wiakiakum/E Pacific zone | 8 | 0 | 0 | |
| W Clallam/W Jefferson zone | 8 | 1 | 0 | $25,000 |
| Willapa Hills zone | 8 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lower Slopes of the Est Washington Cascade Crest zone | 7 | 0 | 0 |
Every year
More
Every tornado in WashingtonEvery warning in Washington since 1986River gauges in WashingtonEvery state
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24.