Modoc County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 NV NBMG (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. Jan 1, 1997Flood, Surprise Valley$330 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Please see flood summary under Nevada zones from 1/01/97 to 1/17/97.

2. May 8, 2005Flood, Modoc County$2.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   County officials reported widespread main stem flooding on the Pit River due to heavy rain and snowmelt that occurred in the Warner Mountains several days before. The river was reported to be 1/4 to 1/2 mile in spots with several county roads inundated and closed. A lot of farmland was also submerged, but no structural damage was reported.

3. Feb 3, 2025Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Nearly two days of heavy rain, with amounts of around 1.50 to 2.50 inches, combined with snow melt caused the Pit River near Canby to rise to a peak above major flood stage. This was the fourth highest peak since records began in 1904, and the highest peak in the past 28 years. The river rose above minor flood stage of 8.5 ft. at 03/1445 PST, peaked in major flood stage at 04/2330 PST at 11.13 ft. It then fell slowly, dropping below minor flood stage at 08/0130 PST.

4. Aug 1, 2014Wildfire, Modoc County$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Day Wildfire was started by lightning on 07/30/2014. As of 08/13/2014, the fire covered 13153 acres and was 96% contained. 15.9 million dollars had been spent on firefighting efforts. Ten structures were lost.

5. Jul 6, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Modoc County Record reported that strong winds came down from Cedar Pass and snapped a 30-inch and a 16-inch diameter tree near Cedarville. A building on one ranch had a 20 foot by 34 foot piece of roof blown off. Large farm equipment (swather) was pushed and numerous 110 pound bales of hay were rolled or knocked over in the winds.|The highest measured gust was 55 mph at the Surprise Valley RAWS.

6. Jul 13, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$16,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Klamath Falls Herald and News reported that strong winds struck Alturas around 2100 LDT on 07/13/99. The winds, probably caused by a microburst associated with a thunderstorm, damaged the roofs of the Alturas Middle School and the Alturas Municipal swimming pool. Numerous downed trees and power lines were also reported. Additionally, the HNX WCM reported damage that he observed when visiting Alturas. He reported that roof damage to a shed at the airport. The debris from the roof damaged a cyclone fence, and he estimated that the damaging winds were from the northwest at greater than 60 mph. This same gust broke three 4"x4" posts that were supporting a balcony at a residence 5…

7. Feb 14, 2011High Wind, Surprise Valley$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Winds gusted between 60 and 66 mph at the Surprise Valley RAWS the morning of the 14th and then between 65 to 71 mph on the 15th. A few barns and outbuildings were damaged due to winds and power was out from the evening of the 15th to the morning of the 16th. Finally, UPS deliveries were interrupted on the 15th due to the danger of delivery trucks being blown over.

8. Feb 7, 2008High Wind, Surprise Valley$3,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A person living one mile southeast of Eagleville reported very strong winds the morning of February 7th. This person's home weather station recorded wind gusts of 65 to over 90 mph. The strongest gust was reported to be 105 mph. Localized damage occurred in the area. A barbeque grill was picked up by the wind and thrown through a glass sunroom. A 500-gallon diesel fuel tank was blown off of its pedestal. Shingles were peeled from roofs and branches were broken off trees.

9. Feb 26, 2009Strong Wind, Surprise Valley$100
   National Weather Service narrative

   A trained weather spotter located 4 miles north of Cedarville reported a wind gust of 55 kts (63 mph).

10. Mar 10, 2011Strong Wind, Surprise Valley$100
    National Weather Service narrative

    Widespread wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph were measured on the 10th. An isolated high wind gust to 61 mph was recorded at the Surprise Valley RAWS at 0830PST.

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

111°FAug 13, 1933

All-time low

−28°FDec 22, 1990

Warmest night

83°FJul 20, 1928

Coldest day

−5°FDec 23, 1990

Wettest day

2.85 inDec 10, 1937

Snowiest day

18.0 inJan 14, 1952

Hottest year

2014mean 52.1°F

Coldest year

1984mean 45.4°F

Wettest year

199620.83 in

Driest year

19596.26 in

Snowiest season

103.2 in1951-52

Station Cedarville (USC00041614), 4,688 ft elevation, 23.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1894 to October 16, 2026; 90.6% 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 USC00041614.
• 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 November 1, 2026.