Trinity County

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.

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 West Coast Slow Moving (Yuankun and others, 2021) (39), NASA (16), USGS Conterminous (3).

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. Sep 1, 2020Wildfire, Southern Trinity$27.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   At least 302 structures were destroyed in southern Trinity County during September due to episodic active fire behavior associated with the August Complex.

2. Oct 1, 2021Wildfire, Northern Trinity$21.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Total damage costs from the Monument Fire were $21.5 million. That total includes $12.7 million from building damage and destruction, and $8.8 million from response, protective, and repair measures.

3. Oct 1, 2021Wildfire, Northern Trinity$17.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The River Complex Wildfire occurred from July 30th, 2021 to approximately October 25th, 2021, and resulted in $21.15 million in damage. Property loss totaled $10.2 million, and included 31 homes, 17 businesses, and 46 outbuildings. Debris removal, response, protective measures, and road and bridge repairs cost $7.75 million.

4. Feb 9, 2017Heavy Rain$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Culvert failures and slipouts along Highway 36 in Trinity County from mile post 2 to 14.

5. Aug 28, 2001Wildfire$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A car on Highway 299 sparked the blaze near Oregon Mountain summit that was fanned by strong winds. Final fire size was about 1680 acres. Two-thirds of Weaverville's 3,000 residents were evacuated for a time. Thirteen homes, thirteen outbuildings, and 29 vehicles were destroyed.

6. Oct 21, 2021Flash Flood$3.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An atmospheric river aided in heavy rain development across the River Complex burn scar. One or possibly more debris flows occurred as a result. Removal, protective measures, and repair costs from this debris flow are estimated to be $3.2 million.

7. Oct 1, 1999Wildfire$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Megram Fire started by lightning in August, fanned by high winds in September was knocked down by rain in October so that firefighters could bring it under control. Dense smoke forced the evacuation of thousands of residents of the Hoopa and Willow Creek areas. Visibility was often less than 150 feet. Smoke and ashes spread over much of Northwest California. $75 million was spent on firefighting, $1.3 million in damage to commercial timber, $16 million potential damage to fisheries and $6.2 million needed for rehabilitation for a total cost of $98.5 million. This was the fifth largest fire (acreage) in California history with 141,200 acres burned. No fatalities or injuries was…

8. Jan 17, 2017Heavy Rain$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Undermined hill and slip-out near mile post 15 on Highway 3.

9. Jul 30, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm wind damage 3 miles south of Weaverville. Roads were blocked due to tree damage. Power was out as well. Measured gust from RAWS station was 43 mph. City property was also damaged due to wind driven hail.

10. Nov 20, 2024Winter Weather, Southern Trinity$12,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A semi tractor trailer jack-knifed near Buckhorn summit. 6 miles Southeast of Lewiston, CA. Lat. 40.63N, Long. -122.74W.

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

116°FJul 29, 2022

All-time low

4°FDec 22, 1990

Warmest night

70°F2 times, most recently Jul 16, 2025

Coldest day

22°FJan 13, 1993

Wettest day

3.59 inFeb 14, 2019

Snowiest day

20.0 inDec 29, 2003

Hottest year

2025mean 59.0°F

Coldest year

1982mean 52.5°F

Wettest year

198360.11 in

Driest year

20138.39 in

Snowiest season

29.9 in2007-08

Station Trinity Rvr Hatchery (USC00049026), 1,861 ft elevation, 17.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1974 to September 29, 2026; 97.1% 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 USC00049026.
• 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.