Centralia

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.

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 Lewis County, the county that contains Centralia.

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 Lewis County, the county that contains Centralia.

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 Lewis County, the county that contains Centralia.

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 Lewis County.

Mapped by WA WGS (5,750), USGS Conterminous (12), West Coast Slow Moving (Yuankun and others, 2021) (11), NASA (7).

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. Dec 2, 2007Flood$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Chehalis river at Centralia reached a record flood stage of 74.78 feet. An 81-year old man disappeared along a stream near Winlock. More than 450 homes were damaged outside of the cities of Chehalis and Centralia. About 65 homes were destroyed, while just over 200 had major damage. Over 1800 farm animals died. A 20 mile stretch of Interstate-5 was closed for 3 days as parts of the interstate were under as much as 10 feet of water as well as the major north-south rail line. In Centralia about 350 homes were damaged or destroyed. About 1100 people used shelters. Many schools were closed for a week. Some communities had no fresh water. More than 20 square blocks near downtown…

2. Nov 4, 2006Flood$8.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Record flooding occurred on the Cowlitz, Nooksack, Puyallup, Nisqually, |Skykomish, Stillaguamish, Carbon, Snoqualmie, and Bogachiel. Major flooding occurred on the Tolt, Snohomish, Skokomish, Skagit, and White rivers. Other rivers flooding were the Satsop, Cedar, Wynoochee, Elwha, Deschutes, Dungeness, Skookumchuck, and Chehalis.

3. Jan 7, 2009Flood$8.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was some damage in the town of Randle, mostly businesses that need to replace carpets. Interstate 5 was closed for about 2 days, causing losses of nearly 10 million. Dozens of homes flooded and many people had to be evacuated. More than 50 miles of road surfaces, as well as a water treatment plant, were damaged.

4. Jan 13, 2021Flood$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Cowlitz River at Randle and Newaukum River near Chehalis exceeded flood stage. Urban and small stream flooding occurred also.

5. Jan 3, 2021Flood$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Chehalis River near Doty, Newaukum River near Centralia rose above flood stage Jan 3. Urban and small stream flooding occurred as well.

6. Nov 12, 2021Flood$526,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain drove a several rivers and streams above flood stage. Major flooding occurred on the Cowlitz River and moderate flooding on the Newaukum River.

7. Nov 18, 2015Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding on Mineral Creek damaged a segment of the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad.

8. Dec 8, 2015Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was some flooding of the Cispus and Cowlitz rivers. Forest Service Road 23 suffered extensive washouts at mileposts 12.5 and 24. As a result the popular road is currently closed at mileposts 11 and 25. There was additional flood-related closures on Forest Service roads in Lewis county.

9. Jan 5, 2006Heavy Rain$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Governor declared a state of emergency after rain, at times heavy, over a period of about 10 days, caused over 7 million in damage, mainly to transportation infrastructure throughout western Washington. Mudslides closed parts of I-5 near the Pierce-Thurston county line, part of Highway 20 about a half mile east of Concrete, Highway 107 near Raymond, and Highway 166 near Port Orchard - where 3 cars crashed in the mud. In Bremerton, they totaled 16.2 inches of rainfall in 3 weeks, an amount which normally falls in 2 months. Mudslides halted Amtrak passenger train service between Everett and Olympia. In King County, there were 19 road closures from water over the roadway. Many…

10. May 27, 2011Tornado$10,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Tornado with a peak wind speed estimated near 75 mph. Light to moderate damage to metal roofs on out buildings. Light damage to two houses - missing shingles and siding damage. Large branches snapped off several trees. Tornado estimated on the ground for less than 2 minutes.

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

110°FJun 28, 2021

All-time low

−8°FJan 1, 1979

Warmest night

69°FJul 22, 2006

Coldest day

18°FJan 31, 1950

Wettest day

4.82 inJan 7, 2009

Snowiest day

14.2 inJan 24, 1972

Hottest year

1958mean 53.2°F

Coldest year

1955mean 47.7°F

Wettest year

195066.71 in

Driest year

194426.50 in

Station Olympia Airport (USW00024227), 200 ft elevation, 17.7 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1941 to October 27, 2026; 99.8% 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 Lewis 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 USW00024227.
• 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.