Lander County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NV NBMG (13).

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 10, 2023Flood$5.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Yomba Tribe experienced flooding from warm temperatures causing rapid snowmelt. The tribe experienced sitting water around a lot of homes, as well as a few homes with flooded crawlspaces. Local dirt roads were also washed out cutting off access in and out of the area. Some fiber optic lines were also exposed due to erosion. The flooding occurred near the Reese River and Stewart Creek area. SR 21 had plenty of washouts and 4-5 feet of water in 1 particular area. SR 844 to the west also had plenty of washouts. The Reese River itself has only ran seasonally there in the last 10 years but suddenly rose to approximately 10 feet, nearly hitting the undertone of their bridge.

2. Mar 10, 2023Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Across Diamond Valley, warm temperatures, rainfall and snowmelt caused flooding and road closures at 11th Street, between Frontier Street and Gold Street. Frontier Street, from 9th to 11th Street was also closed due to flooding.

3. Jul 16, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roughly ten power poles were snapped along Lee Renfro Road due to strong thunderstorm winds. Time is estimated based off radar and received reports.

4. Sep 4, 2013Flash Flood$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Newspaper reports multiple roads covered with water or washed out in and around Battle Mountain. Time estimated based off radar and conversation with paper. Property damage is estimated.

5. May 26, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$6,500
   National Weather Service narrative

   Downburst winds occurred at station (BMRNV) 0.6 SW Battle Mountain, Elevation 4513 feet. A downed tree onto a house, in Battle Mountain was also reported on social media with a photo.

6. Sep 14, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds partially blew off a roof on a mobile home in Battle Mountain. Damages are estimated.

7. Jun 10, 2015Flood$3,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Lander county Sheriff Department reported flooding on State Route 305 between mile post 82 and mile post 108. Damages are estimated.

8. Sep 2, 2013Flash Flood$3,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Law enforcement reported that flash flooding washed out sections of Greystone mine road. Property damage is estimated.

9. Jul 21, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$1,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds at Battle Mountain High School blew several porta-potties about 175 feet, torn the roof off the baseball dugout, blew over large metal trailer, and partially uprooted a large tree.

10. Aug 7, 2015Flash Flood$1,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Reports and pictures from social media showed flash flooding in and around Austin. Time estimated based off radar. Damages are estimated.

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.

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.
• 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.
• 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.