Salem

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Marion County, the county that contains Salem.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Marion County, the county that contains Salem.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Marion County, the county that contains Salem.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Volcanoes within 100 miles

1. U.S. volcanoes within 100 miles, from the USGS Volcano Hazards Program. The threat category is the USGS 2018 National Volcanic Threat Assessment, which ranks volcanoes by how hazardous their past eruptions were and how many people and how much infrastructure lie near them. It is not a forecast of eruption.

USGS Volcano Hazards Program, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Landslides mapped in Marion County.

Mapped by OR DOGAMI (4,576), NASA (32).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 12, 2001Wildfire$4.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A lightning started wildfire burned 2719 acres in the Mt Hood National Forest in the area of Olallie Lake. Total cost of fighting the fire was $4.3 million. No buildings were lost and there were no injuries or deaths.

2. Dec 14, 2010Tornado$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   On December 14th at 11:40 AM PST, a tornado with an Enhanced Fujita Scale rating of EF2 moved northeast across the community of Aumsville, Oregon. The estimated length of the tornado path was 5 miles with a width of 150 yards. There were two minor injuries, fifty structures damaged, more than thirty large trees blown down or snapped off, five sheds damaged and two semi-trailers tipped over. The estimated value of the damage was $1.2 million.

3. Jan 20, 2012Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused the Willamette River at Salem to overflow its banks and flood low lying areas. The Willamette River crested at 29.4 feet on January 20th at 8 pm PST, 1.4 feet above flood stage.

4. May 17, 2014Lightning$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple sources reported that lightning struck a residence in Woodburn, OR on the Oregon Golf Association Golf Course causing a significant fire. The second floor of the home was completely destroyed.

5. Oct 12, 2017Tornado$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado started on Boones Ferry Rd NE, west of the Aurora airport. Greenhouses in the area sustained damage, and the tornado continued to travel east across the airport property. Two planes were flipped at Willamette Aviation Services. The tornado ended near Airport Rd NE.

6. May 1, 1998Lightning$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck two houses in Woodburn, causing minor fires.

7. Oct 24, 2022Tornado$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A weak tornado occurred in rural Woodburn, confirmed by video and supported by damage photos obtained from the public. Rated EF-0 with winds estimated between 61-74 mph. Damage to two residential properties.

8. Apr 11, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms formed over Western Oregon. A thunderstorm produced a downburst which destroyed a barn near Salem.

9. May 31, 1997Tornado$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down near Chemawa Road and Highway 99 near Keizer at 1010 AM. Several people reported seeing the tornado on the ground for about 2 minutes. Three 30-40 foot tall trees were uprooted and a barn was damaged.

10. Mar 28, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$15,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A strong wind gust toppled a 60 foot tree, which was approximately a foot to a foot and a half in diameter. The tree fell on a car, trapping a man inside. The man was later helped out of the car, and no injuries were reported.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

117°FJun 28, 2021

All-time low

−12°FDec 8, 1972

Warmest night

74°FJul 22, 2006

Coldest day

16°F3 times, most recently Feb 3, 1989

Wettest day

4.30 inDec 6, 1933

Snowiest day

25.0 inFeb 1, 1937

Hottest year

2015mean 56.7°F

Coldest year

1893mean 49.8°F

Wettest year

199666.96 in

Driest year

201323.59 in

Snowiest season

34.9 in1968-69

Station Salem Airport (mcnary Field) (USW00024232), 208 ft elevation, 1.7 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 100.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Marion County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00024232.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Volcanoes USGS Volcano Hazards Program, U.S. volcanoes and 2018 threat assessment.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.