Port Townsend

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 Jefferson County, the county that contains Port Townsend.

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.

High tide flooding

Tide gauges in Jefferson County.

1. High tide flooding days are days on which a NOAA tide gauge recorded water at or above NOAA's minor flood threshold, set from the gauge's tide range, counted by meteorological year (May to April). These are the counts in NOAA's annual high tide flooding reports; they are not National Weather Service flood stages. Years with less than 80 percent of data are left out.

NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, through April 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Jefferson County, the county that contains Port Townsend.

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.

Tsunamis

Tsunami records for Jefferson County.

1. Places where NOAA's Global Historical Tsunami Database records a tsunami's water arriving, with the greatest height it reached above sea level at the time. Only tsunamis NOAA rates probable or definite are counted. Heights from eyewitness accounts and tide gauges are mixed, and older events are less completely recorded.

NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database, 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 Jefferson County.

Mapped by WA WGS (6,840), West Coast Slow Moving (Yuankun and others, 2021) (16), NASA (4).

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. Nov 4, 2006Heavy Rain$5.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Olympic National Park received about 36 inches of rain from Nov 2nd through the 11th. That rainfall, plus help from some strong winds, caused damage to roads, bridges and trails. A 75 foot section of road, 25 feet deep, was washed away along with adjacent power lines.

2. Dec 2, 2007Heavy Rain$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A house was knocked off its foundation by flood waters.

3. Dec 3, 2007High Wind, Olympics$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roads were either washed out or covered by fallen trees.

4. Oct 20, 2003Heavy Rain$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An all time daily record rainfall total was set at Seatac Airport with 5.02 inches. Other daily records were set at Shelton with 7.20", Hoquaim with 5.39" and Olympia with 4.12". Almost all reporting stations had at least 2 inches of rain in the 24 hour period from midnight to midnight. Two sinkholes, one in Clallam and one in Mason county, damaged roads and cut off access to homes. In all, nearly 50 homes suffered damage from minor flooding especially in basements and garages. Traffic snarls were common as many roads throughout the region were temporarily closed. The national parks and forests suffered fairly extensive damage to several bridges and many trails or the roads that…

5. Jan 5, 2006Heavy Rain$700,000
   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…

6. Jan 12, 2021Flood$554,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused surface runoff, landslides, and urban and small stream flooding. One to three inches of rain fell during the day.

7. Dec 10, 2014Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Fire District 4 suffered major flood damage to Station 42, near the Duckabush River. The station is reported to be a total loss (at one point fire personnel measured more than 5 feet of water in the station ��� with fire apparatus still inside) The loss of the station and equipment is estimated at nearly $200,000. About 6 homes in the area suffered damage.

8. Nov 14, 2015Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding from the Hoh river damaged Oil City road.

9. Jan 7, 2002Flood, Olympics$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused widespread flooding in western Washington. The Cowlitz, Chehalis, Satsop, Elwha, Dungeness, Skokomish, Puyallup, Snoqualmie, Skykomish, Snohomish, Stillaguamish, Skagit, and Nooksack Rivers flooded. The Deschutes and the Tolt crested just below flood stage. The most serious flooding occurred on the Elwha, Dungeness, and Skagit Rivers. The crest on the Dungeness was probably a new record (pending certification by USGS), and was around a 25-year recurrence interval flood. Crests on most other rivers were between 2- and 10-year floods. Several roads in the region were closed and a few homes were damaged. One road in the Bremerton area was completely washed out and…

10. Dec 15, 1999Heavy Rain$170,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rain along the Washington coast flooded roads and damaged bridges in west Clallam and Jefferson counties and caused a mudslide in Aberdeen. Forks reported about 6 inches of rain in 24 hours. In Clallam county several State Routes and Highway 101 were either closed or reduced to one lane due to flooding. The mudslide in Aberdeen destroyed a work shed and knocked a home off of its foundation.

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

100°F3 times, most recently Jun 28, 2021

All-time low

3°FJan 25, 1950

Warmest night

73°FJul 29, 2009

Coldest day

16°FJan 13, 1950

Wettest day

3.21 inJun 13, 1948

Hottest year

2015mean 53.8°F

Coldest year

1948mean 48.0°F

Wettest year

194845.38 in

Driest year

202514.42 in

Station Everett Snohomish County Airport (USW00024222), 548 ft elevation, 27.1 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 27, 2026; 93.2% 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 Jefferson 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 USW00024222.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Tide gauges NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, 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.
• Tsunamis NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database.
• 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.