Lane County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 9, 1996Hail$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail and wind cut a path 2 miles wide along hiway 96 across the entire county. Hail was piled 6 inches deep and was visible for several days after. Siding was extensively damaged on many homes...roofs were damaged...trees had bark stripped off. Eight power poles were broken along highway K96. Property damage across the entire county was more than 2.5 million dollars.

2. Jul 7, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   1 large tree uprooted...roof partially blown off of Senior Center...13 power poles down between Healy and Amy.

3. Jun 26, 2012Wildfire, Lane$90,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sparks from old power lines started a grass fire late in the afternoon that continued into the late night hours. Three structures burned along with a large amount of grass and brush.

4. Oct 21, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$85,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extensive damage was done to major transmission lines and power poles. As many as 30,000 meters were without power and some were out for over 2 days. Numerous trees were uprooted and the Lane county road and bridge building lost it's roof. Other buildings sustained some structural damage.

5. May 23, 2008Tornado$65,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This was a satellite tornado that moved northwest along the eastern edge of the larger parent tornado. It produced EF1 damage to a pivot irrigation sprinkler.

6. May 16, 2004Tornado$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado completely destroyed a mobile home at the Cat House Recreation area northeast of Shields. Trees in the area were also heavily damaged.

7. Jun 15, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$6,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The wind blew down 18 inch diameter tree limbs and took the roof of a shed. Metal corral gates along with fencing were also blown down

8. Jun 15, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The wind caused some roof damage and took down numerous two inch diameter tree limbs.

9. Mar 4, 2025High Wind, Lane$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An emergency manager reported large trees down and the post office roof was blown off. The public also posted pictures of the damage.

10. Jun 30, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$3,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Five to 10 inch tree limbs down. Several power poles destroyed.

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

116°FJul 13, 1913

All-time low

−31°FJan 11, 1918

Warmest night

86°FJul 15, 1932

Coldest day

−2°F8 times, most recently Feb 19, 2025

Wettest day

5.25 inSep 17, 1919

Snowiest day

14.0 inMar 5, 1958

Hottest year

1934mean 57.3°F

Coldest year

1993mean 49.7°F

Wettest year

192336.71 in

Driest year

20228.18 in

Snowiest season

73.5 in1957-58

Station Healy (USC00143554), 2,850 ft elevation, 9.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1901 to October 26, 2026; 99.2% 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 USC00143554.
• 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.
• 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.