Power County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Dec 17, 2025High Wind, Lower Snake River Plain$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An extremely powerful Pacific cold front caused severe damage throughout the lower Snake River Plain. Wind gusts recorded were 76 mph 2 miles northeast of Pingree, 75 mph 2 miles north of Neely, 74 mph in Aberdeen, 72 mph in Fort Hall, 61 mph in Chubbuck, 64 mph at the Pocatello Regional Airport ASOS, 59 mph at Blackfoot and Taber, and 64 mph near Sterling. ||Some of the damage reports received were: Several large trees downed in Aberdeen. Aberdeen was the focal point of much damage including over 150 power poles snapped off or downed with irrigation wheel damage. In the American Falls area 21 mature trees downed along Fairview Road and North Pleasant Valley Road. 20 power poles…

2. Feb 14, 2000Tornado$375,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large metal farm building was damaged 6W of Pocatello airport: siding pushed in and roof partially removed. Nearby, a cinder block and a steel framed potato storage buildings collapsed. A large grain silo sustained severe damage. A recreation fee building destroyed and several large trees downed at Willow Bay county park. Throughout the tornado's path, irrigations center pivots flipped and wheel line systems twisted.

3. Feb 5, 2017Flood$329,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A warmup in February caused extensive sheet flooding throughout Power County damaging roads and closing many of them in the 8th through 12th time period. Teh Interstate 86 exit 44 for Seagull Bay was closed due to water on the roadway along with several county roads as well.

4. Jun 14, 2021Wildfire, Lower Snake River Plain$310,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A human caused wildfire was started about 5 miles south of American Falls and spread rapidly on June 14th. It was noticed at about 3:30 PM. Two homes were destroyed by the fire. Evacuations were ordered for the areas of Cold Creek Road, Ferry Hollow Road, Sunbeam Road, Indian Springs Road, Moonlight Lane, Hornbacher Road, Mayer Road, Garden Road, and all offshoots of those roads. Residents were relocated to American Falls High School. The fire downed several power lines. Strong winds initially occurred and the fire grew rapidly to 3,843 acres. It was a grass, brush and juniper fire.

5. Jul 15, 2023Wildfire, Lower Snake River Plain$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A fire at a private residence got out of control in Chubbuck destroying a house, camper trailer, and 5 cars as 20 to 30 mph southwest winds drove a brush fire. The fire was near the 11000 block of Philbin Road.

6. Dec 21, 2023Dense Fog, Lower Snake River Plain$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dense fog contributed to several crashes on interstate 86 near mile marker 55 west of Pocatello. Nine crashes occurred in both the east and west bound lanes at around 930 AM and the interstate didn't re open until 345 PM. Some vehicles caught on fire and up to 10 injuries occurred.

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. Apr 10, 2022Winter Storm, Raft River Region$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snow and strong winds caused whiteout conditions on interstate 84 with a multiple vehicle accident influenced by the weather occurring just south of the Yale Road Exit at around 5:30 MDT. RWIS station ITD 12 near the incident reported 0.24 mile visibility at 415 PM and wind gusts as high as 66 mph at 445 PM. Wind gusts over 50 mph through 645 PM. Nine people were transported to hospitals. AS many as 12 semi tractor trailers were involved. Interstate 86 then closed from 630 PM MDT until 115 AM MDT on the 12th.

9. Apr 21, 2021Wildfire, Lower Snake River Plain$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wildfire began on April 21st near Firth and strong southwest winds grew the fire from 100 acres on the 21st to 1,200 acres on the 22nd. Winds shifted to the northwest during the evening of the 22nd and the fire ran a different direction. Residents near and around Firth were evacuated. One home was destroyed along with several outbuildings. Most of the burned land was private land. The home that was destroyed was along 700 North which is where most of the evacuations occurred were homes along 700 North. The wildfire was a controlled burn that became out of control due to the strong winds. The fire was controlled by April 25th.

10. Dec 17, 2025High Wind, Marsh And Arbon Highlands$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Extreme winds caused extensive damage in the Marsh and Arbon Highlands. The highest wind gust was 77 mph at Marsh Valley on interstate 15. Other measured gusts were: 62 mph 2 miles southwest of McCammon, 69 mph 2 miles south of McCammon, 68 mph at Topaz on US Highway 30, 56 mph at Swan Canyon, and 58 mph 7 miles south southeast of Pocatello. ||A large camper trailer was blown over on it's roof in Lava Hot Springs. A semi was blown over on interstate 15 near exit 31, 4 semi trucks blown over near Marsh Valley High School on interstate 15. All told 19 vehicles were blown or rolled over with most of them semis on interstate 15 in the Arimo to McCammon corridor blocking several lanes…

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

104°F4 times, most recently Jul 31, 2020

All-time low

−33°FFeb 1, 1985

Warmest night

76°FJul 16, 1951

Coldest day

−9°F2 times, most recently Dec 22, 1990

Wettest day

1.68 inOct 2, 1976

Snowiest day

13.0 inDec 26, 2003

Hottest year

1940mean 49.8°F

Coldest year

1985mean 42.3°F

Wettest year

198320.33 in

Driest year

19665.34 in

Snowiest season

93.3 in1992-93

Station Pocatello Regional Airport (USW00024156), 4,451 ft elevation, 16.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1939 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00024156.
• 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.
• 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.