Pierce County

Every recorded tornado

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

Claims by ZIP code

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Dec 30, 2006Winter Storm, Pierce$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain accumulated between 1/2 inch and 1 inch over much of the county. The combination of the ice, and a period of light sleet and snow, downed tree limbs and power lines across the county. Power was knocked out at some locations, in some instances for up to 10 days. Around 400 to 500 poles were downed from Pierce county west and southwest into Antelope and Boone counties. The storm caused around $750 thousand worth of damage to utility companies in the county.

2. Mar 13, 2019Flash Flood$475,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A levee on the North Fork of the Elkhorn River broke due to heavy rains and snow melt. This allowed water to flood Pierce. Homes and businesses were flooded in Pierce.

3. Jul 1, 1996Tornado$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Brief tornado touchdown reported near Plainview with severe damage to a farm.

4. Aug 4, 1996Flood, Pierce$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Nearly five inches of rain fell in Pierce filling fields and washing out county roads. Several creeks and rivers flooded.

5. Jun 19, 1997Lightning$28,000
6. Jul 6, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large trees downed. One of the trees fell on a home. Barn damaged.

7. Aug 16, 2009Flash Flood$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain producing thunderstorms caused flash flooding across some county roads from around Pierce to near Plainview. Besides washing the gravel off of a few county roads, some crops in low areas also sustained damage. Pierce had 4.13 inches from the storm with 4.18 inches reported several miles south of Plainview. The rain began falling during the late afternoon hours of the 15th and persisted a bit past midnight on the 16th.

8. Jul 6, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One grain bin destroyed and another damaged.

9. May 29, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A second wave of thunderstorm wind gusts hit pierce at 1125 pm cdt. Law enforcement personel estimated the wind gusts at between 80 and 100 mph. These strong winds uprooted or split quite a few trees in town which closed several roads and damaged a few buildings.

10. Jul 7, 1997Lightning$15,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Lightning struck a tree outside a home. The electrical current caused damage to the roof and garage door of the home. Some electrical problems also resulted.

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

113°FJul 11, 1954

All-time low

−31°FFeb 16, 2021

Warmest night

82°FAug 26, 1955

Coldest day

−14°FDec 21, 1989

Wettest day

5.42 inJun 4, 1991

Snowiest day

19.0 inFeb 18, 1984

Hottest year

2012mean 53.2°F

Coldest year

1950mean 45.5°F

Wettest year

200737.81 in

Driest year

202213.27 in

Snowiest season

86.1 in1983-84

Station Norfolk Karl Stefan Mem Airport (USW00014941), 1,562 ft elevation, 20.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1945 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00014941.
• 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.