Idaho County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Idaho 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 (960), USGS Conterminous (21), NASA (15).

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. Aug 10, 2015Wildfire, Orofino / Grangeville Region$8.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   KREM news reported The Lawyer Complex has burned 42 homes and 75 other buildings, according to Northern Rockies Incident Management Team. The National situation reported 118 structures lost (as of the last report 9/10/2015) with the cost of fighting the fire at 25 million dollars. The Idaho County Sheriff's Office says a woman died preparing for evacuations due to the Lawyer Complex Fire. She died Friday evening after falling and hitting her head.

2. Apr 14, 2024Flash Flood$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Slow moving thunderstorms produced 1 to 2 inches of rain over 3 hours on Highway 162 just southwest of Kamiah. Flash flooding occurred along Fort Misery Road just south of Highway 162 with 1.5 to 2 miles of roadway destroyed. Debris from Fort Misery Road washed on to Highway 162 with the highway closed around 12 hours. One car was caught in the debris flow but no injuries were reported. Also, one power pole was lost in the debris slide causing 8 customers to lose power. Seven Mile Creek came out of its banks, and began forming a new channel just upstream from its confluence with Lawyer Creek. Water and some debris also washed over Highway 12 in several places between mile markers…

3. Feb 8, 2008Heavy Snow, Orofino / Grangeville Region$7.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Idaho County Free Press reported that the gymnasium roof collapsed under heavy snow loading at the North Idaho Correctional Institution at Cottonwood Butte. 48 inches of snow had accumulated from the recent storm.

4. Apr 9, 2019Flood$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The South Fork of the Clearwater River at Stites, crested at a record level of 10.79 feet on the morning of April 9. This led to flooding of 3 to 5 homes along the west side of the river along North River Road. A torrent of fast-moving water developed in an unnamed gulch located east of Stites along Stites Grade Road and this led to the closure of Idaho Highway 13 and the flooding of Stites. Approximately 30 to 50 homes were affected by the flooding in the town of Stites with many wells contaminated and the National Guard rescued two people who were trapped in their home. Very large mud-slides caused US-12 to close between Orofino and Kamiah from April 9 to April 13. A home in…

5. Sep 7, 2020Wildfire, Orofino / Grangeville Region$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Winds gusting to 45 mph caused trees to fall on power lines, and this in turn sparked several wildfires near Orofino. These fires spread quickly in the low humidity and windy environment. Later named the Sunnyside Complex, an initial damage assessment included 13 homes, 31 outbuildings, and 27 vehicles destroyed. Highway 12 was also closed for a time.

6. Jun 7, 2010Flash Flood$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain fall rates of 0.60 inches in an hour fell near Kooskia, Idaho. This caused a culvert to be washed out along Battle Ridge Road. Flash flooding also caused the closure of State Highway 13 between Harpster and Kooskia.

7. Jul 24, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$450,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane force winds caused hundreds of trees, of all types, and diameters up to 2 feet wide, to be either uprooted or snapped in half along the track of the derecho from between Grangeville and Pollock, east and north towards Lolo Pass. Much of the Lochsa Corridor east of Kooskia sustained massive wind damage, and blocked access to many main and side roads. Multiple people were trapped for hours until people came to cut up the trees with chainsaws. Around 58 trees had to be cut along Forest Service road 221 southeast of Grangeville. A large willow tree fell on a house in Pollock and totaled it. A woman was injured from falling trees near Moose Creek where trees snapped off 20…

8. Jul 3, 2020Debris Flow$180,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Between 28-30 June 1.67 of rain was measured at the Riggins COOP (45.42/ -116.31). Around 10 AM on the 3rd a rockslide was reported near mile marker 188 on US Route 95 in Idaho. This slide closed both lanes of the highway. A bypass was built and opened on the 9th, however instability in the slope continued to hinder repair (which continued through much of the summer).

9. Aug 9, 2019Hail$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Mostly egg-sized hail with up to baseballs fell between Slate Creek and Riggins, Idaho and damaged greenhouse roofs, fences, pump house tanks, PVC pipelines, windshields, vehicles and orchards.

10. Dec 17, 2025High Wind, Orofino / Grangeville Region$140,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An Idaho Transportation Department weather station at Concrete Section recorded a peak gust of 75 mph at 0700PST and multiple instances of sustained winds between 40 and 44 mph between 0600 and 0815PST. The top of Greer Grade measured a 73 mph gust between 0600PST and 0615PST. The Idaho County Sheriff's Office reported that most county roads were blocked or partially blocked by downed trees. Travel was highly discouraged, and official travel not recommended advisories were issued by 1100PST. Emergency responders dealt with multiple highway blockages, including State Highway 13 which was completely shut down between mileposts 6 and 11 due to power lines lying across the roadway, as…

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

103°FAug 10, 2018

All-time low

−20°FFeb 3, 1989

Warmest night

76°FJul 23, 2005

Coldest day

−6°FDec 21, 1990

Wettest day

2.10 inJan 23, 1982

Snowiest day

12.0 inNov 18, 1996

Hottest year

2015mean 51.7°F

Coldest year

1985mean 43.9°F

Wettest year

199529.48 in

Driest year

198715.44 in

Snowiest season

115.5 in2007-08

Station Cottonwood 2 Wsw (USC00102159), 3,945 ft elevation, 14.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1976 to July 31, 2026; 86.5% 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 USC00102159.
• 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 October 30, 2026.