Butte County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Butte County: 0.
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.

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

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.

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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

Mapped by NASA (11), CA GS (1).

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. Feb 12, 2017Flood$549 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A mass evacuation of over 180000 people located downstream of Oroville Dam was ordered for a possible flash flood, due to the projected near failure of the emergency spillway. The emergency spillway was used when the main spillway was discovered to have suffered severe erosion during releases back on and around February 7th. Releases from Lake Oroville had been increased due to rising lake levels due to inflow from heavy rains.||A presidential disaster declaration provided $274 million for emergency response costs from Feb. 7 though the end of May. The money targeted stabilizing the emergency and main spillways, as well as debris removal and work on the downed Hyatt Powerplant. A…

2. Jan 9, 2017Debris Flow$4.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rocks, mud, on Highway 70, making the roadway unpassable, as well as a slip out.

3. Sep 18, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The media shared a wind damage report from the public which included images and videos. A hay barn and horse stable had pole and roof damage that can clearly be seen in the footage. The RAWS weather station at OpenShaw, which is close to the damage site, reported a 50 mph wind gust.

4. Feb 8, 2017Flood$2.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   HWY 70 was closed from Jarbo Gap in Butte County to Greenville Wye in Plumas County due to flooding.

5. Sep 18, 2000Wildfire$1.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wildfire ignited east of Chico and was pushed by strong winds. High temperatures and low humidities assisted the rapid spread which led to some evacuations and fourteen structure losses. By containment, 1835 acres had burned.

6. Nov 2, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A collapsing thunderstorm resulted in a downburst which brought strong straight line winds which snapped 6 power poles along east Eaton Rd. and Godman Ave in Chico. There were 10000 PG&E customers without power.

7. Feb 9, 2014Flash Flood$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A heavy band of rain moved through Chico approximately 10pm on Sunday, Feb. 9th, through past midnight. The city of Chico received approximately 0.80 inches in 30-40 minutes, and approximately 1.00 inch in an hour, with additional heavy rainfall on the foothills to the east. A new subdivision that was under construction had pour drainage causing occupied homes to flood, particularly on Bancroft Drive. The houses that reported significant damage were addresses 2855, 2857, 2859, 2861, and 2863 on Bancroft Drive located near East 20th St, just east of Bruce Road. A wall of water came from the foothills to the east that overwhelmed the drains filling up the surrounding area, and rose…

8. Oct 15, 1999Wildfire$480,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Oregon Incident was a civilian caused fire, but was aided by strong and gusty winds, low humidities, and inaccessibility. Five injuries and zero deaths were reported. The fire was responsible for burning over 200 acres as well as destroying several homes and outbuildings. Fire suppression costs totaled $20,000.

9. Dec 11, 2014Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were 25 homes with minor flooding in Palermo.

10. May 25, 2011Tornado$120,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The third tornado in the outbreak developed approximately northwest of Oroville in Butte County at approximately 645 pm and moved northeast. It caused significant damage to a ranch property near the intersection of Table Mountain Road and Hwy 70 including the destruction of a large, well built garage and significant damage to an open barn. The rating of an EF2 was based upon the destruction of the garage, though evidence was found of the footing boards being bolted to the slab in the front portion of the structure. The estimated highest wind speed (3 second gust) based upon damage with this tornado is 120 mph. There were no injuries nor fatalities.

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

120°F3 times, most recently Aug 7, 1908

All-time low

15°FDec 23, 1990

Warmest night

86°F2 times, most recently Jun 22, 2017

Coldest day

30°F2 times, most recently Dec 21, 1990

Wettest day

4.36 inFeb 3, 1998

Snowiest day

9.0 inJan 10, 1937

Hottest year

2020mean 65.8°F

Coldest year

1965mean 59.6°F

Wettest year

198348.35 in

Driest year

20205.72 in

Station Orland (USC00046506), 254 ft elevation, 25.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1903 to August 31, 2026; 95.3% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00046506.
• 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.