Lewis County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (43), NASA (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. Jul 3, 2024Wildfire, Lewis And Southern Nez Perce$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Billy Creek Fire started on July 3rd by undetermined cause. It was contained on July 13. It burned 3169 acres of grassland. Two structures were lost. Cost is estimated.

2. Sep 2, 2011Wildfire, Lewis And Southern Nez Perce$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A relatively small wildfire of around 75 acres completely destroyed a historic railroad trestle. The estimated cost to rebuild the trestles and railroad track to its original state was between three and four million dollars.

3. Aug 2, 2014Wildfire, Lewis And Southern Nez Perce$2.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Three firefighters were injured fighting the blaze. One firefighter received a three inch gash on his right leg from a chain saw and required stitches. Another firefighter suffered heat related problems and a third sustained a scratched cornea. Two hundred homes were threatened from the fire with only nine structures lost, four which were cabins along the Snake River.

4. Apr 14, 2024Debris Flow$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency manager reported debris flow over Highway 64. It closed the section of road between milepost 23 to 31. Cost of repair is estimated.

5. Aug 11, 2022Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong thunderstorm moved Northeast from the Craig Mountain area through Kamiah ID. It brought large hail around 1 inch and wind damage. The wind damage included trees and power lines in the town of Kamiah and along highways 64, 12, and 162. A roof also fell onto a car.

6. Apr 9, 2019Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High water in the Clearwater River augmented by a levee break along Lawyer Creek produced extensive flooding near the confluence of these two streams on the eastern edge of the city of Kamiah. The flood waters were reported to be waist deep in the Kamiah Riverfront Park. Flood waters also partially inundated a lumber yard, undermined a railroad grade and trestle crossing Lawyer Creek and high water prohibited access to the city's water plant. The levee was temporarily repaired by the public works department as the creek receded.

7. Aug 29, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A series of photographs from the Lewis County Emergency Manager indicated numerous trees down in Kamiah, with damage to outbuildings, a barn and at least one car in and around the town.

8. Jun 2, 2010Heavy Rain$32,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Road damage from heavy rain was observed on Drake, Gibler, Hull, Ida, Lawyer, McLead, Miller, and Z West roads.

9. Aug 30, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Lewis County Emergency Manager reported 13 power poles knocked down and multiple transformers damaged along Highway 64 between Lyons Rd. and Marker Rd. Power was cut off to the area for 18 hours while repairs were made. Radar indicated a thunderstorm nearby which likely produced a strong microburst into the damage area.

10. Jun 2, 2010Heavy Rain$17,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Road damage from heavy rain was observed on Dunlap, Airport, Powerline, Fisher, and Laufer roads.

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

105°FAug 11, 2018

All-time low

−33°FDec 30, 1968

Warmest night

64°F2 times, most recently Jun 29, 2015

Coldest day

4°FFeb 4, 1989

Wettest day

3.81 inJan 8, 1996

Snowiest day

15.0 in2 times, most recently Mar 1, 2011

Hottest year

2003mean 45.3°F

Coldest year

1985mean 39.8°F

Wettest year

196454.84 in

Driest year

196928.35 in

Snowiest season

260.5 in1971-72

Station Pierce (USC00107046), 3,080 ft elevation, 28.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1963 to October 27, 2026; 93.6% 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 USC00107046.
• 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.