Boundary County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by ID GS (32), NASA (7), 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, 2025Wildfire, Northern Panhandle$17.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sunset Wildfire started on August 13 by unknown human cause. It was located 26 miles North of Coeur d'Alene. It burned 3183 acres of timber. Three structures were lost. It contained on September 2. Cost is estimated.

2. Aug 13, 2025Wildfire, Northern Panhandle$17.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sunset Wildfire started on August 13 by unknown human cause. It was located 26 miles North of Coeur d'Alene. It burned 3183 acres of timber. Three structures were lost. It continued into September. Cost is estimated.

3. Jul 8, 2026Wildfire, Northern Panhandle$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Upper Smith Wildfire was discovered around 0729 PST on July 8. It was started by lightning. It is located 7 miles west of Copeland. It burned 4800 acres of timber. It continued through the end of July. Cost is estimated.

4. Oct 1, 2022Wildfire, Northern Panhandle$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Kootenai River Complex consists of the Eneas Peak, Katka, Russell Mountain, Scotch Creek, and Trout Fires. They have combined to burn 25401 acres.

5. Jun 30, 2023Wildfire, Northern Panhandle$9.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Consalus fire started on June 30 by lightning. It continued through the end of the June. It has burned 475 acres of timber.

6. Jul 1, 2023Wildfire, Northern Panhandle$9.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Consalus fire started on June 30 by lightning. It continued through the month of July. It has burned 475 acres of timber.

7. Aug 1, 2023Wildfire, Northern Panhandle$9.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Consalus fire started on June 30 by lightning. It continued until August 30. It has burned 475 acres of timber.

8. Aug 1, 2018Wildfire, Northern Panhandle$5.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Cougar Wildfire near Hope Idaho is believed to have been started by lightning on July 28th. The fire grew and eventually burned 7,866 acres of timber. No structures of homes were lost or threatened. The cost of the firefighting resources required to contain the fire was calculated at 5.1 million dollars.

9. Aug 5, 2023Wildfire, Northern Panhandle$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Buckskin 2 Wildfire was started by unknown causes near the upper end of Twin Creek and Buckskin Saddle. It burned 242 acres of Timber.

10. Jun 1, 1997Flood, Northern Panhandle$4.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Rivers and streams in Idaho's panhandle region began flooding in May from heavy spring snow melt. Flooding along several of these rivers continued well into the month of June, with the Pend Oreille, St. Joe and Kootenai Rivers flooding roads and a few homes. Total damage from the entire May through June flood event was estimated at 4 million dollars, with most of the serious property damage occurring in the month of May when the floods reached their peak.

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

108°FJun 30, 2021

All-time low

−33°FDec 30, 1968

Warmest night

71°FJul 24, 2007

Coldest day

−10°FDec 30, 1968

Wettest day

2.80 inJan 27, 1999

Snowiest day

20.0 inDec 2, 2007

Hottest year

2025mean 51.2°F

Coldest year

1913mean 42.5°F

Wettest year

201234.44 in

Driest year

200810.58 in

Snowiest season

159.0 in1996-97

Station Bonners Ferry (USC00101079), 2,001 ft elevation, 1.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1907 to September 16, 2026; 89.8% 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 USC00101079.
• 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.
• 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.