Blaine County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Blaine 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 ID GS (71), NASA (5), USGS Conterminous (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. May 1, 2017Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rain on top of continued snow melt pushed the Big Wood River to flood stage and eventually reaching moderate and major flood stage at Hailey. The entire Big Wood River Valley encountered major flooding with as many as 5,000 evacuations from Bellevue to Hailey to Ketchum and Sun Valley by May 6th. Many people went without electricity in the valley today with water pumps also running continually with major flood damage in basement homes. One home in north Ketchum on Empire Creek Road suffered a death on May 10th when a man died in a basement trying to assist with pumps to remove over 6 feet of water from the basement. The evacuation order reached 24 homes in Blaine County along the…

2. Jun 1, 2017Flood$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Big Wood River at Hailey went above flood stage again on May 30th and remained until June 11th then again June 19th through 23rd. It was at least at action stage through the entire month. Extensive flooding of business and residential buildings and houses continued in both Hailey and Sun Valley. The Warm Springs Creek region had severe impacts. Several roadways and bridges were washed away and washed out. Many campgrounds experienced major damage as well.; Many agricultural fields were lost.

3. Sep 1, 2024Wildfire, Sawtooth-Stanley Basin$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Wapiti fire began July 24th from lightning strikes near Grandjean in the Boise National Forest for eventually spread into the Sawtooth and Salmon Challis National Forests in the latter part of August and continued burning through September in the Sawthooths and Salmon Challis. Idaho State Highway 21 was closed from Stanley to Lowman in late August and remain closed unto September 18th. The Idaho Transportation Board approved 2 million dollars of highway repair for Highway 21 due to several miles of guardrail replacement as well as sign replacement and damaged pavement. The fire burned over 129,000 acres. Stanley schools were closed the first 7 days of classes in the 2024…

4. Jun 1, 2023Flood$1.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding due to the rise of the Big Wood River due to snowmelt and spring rains flooded parts of Hailey including War Eagle Drive, Flat Top Road, and Camp Creek Road. Damages were estimated at 1.9 million dollars on Flat Top Road and Camp Creek Road.

5. Oct 1, 2024Wildfire, Sawtooth-Stanley Basin$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The wildfire near Stanley which burned all of September about 130,000 acres continued into October. Final damage estimates were about 1.2 million dollars in the city of Stanley and about 300,000 dollars for Redfish Lake Lodge due to loss of business for over a month.

6. Jun 1, 2018Flood$950,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding of the Big Wood River for several months occurred in the Della View neighborhood of Hailey. It finally ended in June but the total cost of the extensive flooding period resulted in $750,000 of insurance claims in the neighborhood and $200,000 for flood response and public property cleanup.

7. Apr 8, 1999Blizzard, Eastern Magic Valley$230,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A winter storm brought widespread snow to Eastern Idaho with blizzard conditions reported in the Magic Valley. Heavy snow and strong winds were reported in the Burley area with accumulation of up to 6 inches and drifts of up to 2 feet. Numerous vehicle accidents and slide offs were reported along I-84 and secondary roads. Major accidents closed I-84 for 10 hours and caused a 15 mile backup on the interstate. Dozens of injured, including two sheriff deputies, were transported to local hospitals. Other injuries included 9 university students when their bus collided with a truck. A major contributor to the accidents was the near zero visibilities reported in many locations by ISP.…

8. Feb 4, 2017Flood$220,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The combination of heavy snow with warming temperatures caused extensive sheet flooding in the extreme southern part of the county with and much road damage in northern parts of the county. The weight of the snow with the warming conditions caused many roof collapses throughout the county as well.

9. Apr 8, 2019Avalanche, Sun Valley Region$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple avalanches occurred near Ketchum on April 8th. The first one was around 2:30 PM and severely damaged two homes believed to be unoccupied on Warm Springs Road west of Ketchum. It was a large wet slab avalanche. The total assessed value of the damaged homes was approximately $200,000. A second avalanche in the same location occurred at around 6:45 PM but no houses, or vehicles were involved.

10. Mar 13, 2018Flood$155,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Warmer temperatures caused rises in the Wood River and period of rain embedded as well and flooding began in Bellevue on March 13th. Spruce Street in Bellevue flooded with Pero Road closed on the 15th. By the 27th the following roads in Blaine County were all reported closed: Democrat Gulch, Colorado Gulch, Road Canyon, Quigley, Muldoon Canyon, Rock Creek, Camp Creek, Croy Creek. Two homes in the Warm Springs area flooded along with adjacent barns and buildings. Estimated march damage in the county was seet at $155,000.

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

98°FJul 13, 2002

All-time low

−37°FDec 22, 1990

Warmest night

62°FJul 24, 2007

Coldest day

−6°FDec 23, 1990

Wettest day

2.76 inMar 11, 1995

Snowiest day

24.0 inDec 12, 2022

Hottest year

2015mean 43.5°F

Coldest year

1984mean 35.8°F

Wettest year

198327.95 in

Driest year

201310.17 in

Snowiest season

203.0 in1982-83

Station Ketchum Rs (USC00104845), 5,890 ft elevation, 9.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1973 to October 27, 2026; 92.1% 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 USC00104845.
• 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.