Lyon County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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 (11), USGS Conterminous (4), 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. Oct 14, 2016Wildfire, Greater Reno/Carson City/Minden Area$30.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A prescribed burn that was thought to be mopped up on October 13th flared up as high winds affected the Carson Range early on the 14th. The Little Valley Fire burned through 2,291 acres and destroyed 23 homes and 17 outbuildings. According to a Reno Gazette Journal investigation, the estimated value of 18 of the homes exceeded 26 million dollars with an independent fire consultant indicating that damages could exceed 80 million. The Little Valley RAWS measured a wind gust of 87 mph around 130 AM PDT on the 14th, close to the time of the wildfire start.

2. Nov 18, 2011Wildfire, Greater Reno/Carson City/Minden Area$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds caused a tree to fall on a power line sparking a rapidly spreading wildfire in southwest Reno around 0030PST. The 2,000 acre Caughlin Fire fire spread, sometimes up to 30 mph, and caused the destruction of around 30 homes during the early morning of the 18th. Over 9,000 people were evacuated from the fire area early Friday before being allowed to return Saturday. One man died while evacuating his home, a firefighter suffered second-degree burns, and 16 others were admitted to area hospitals for smoke inhalation.

3. Jan 5, 2008Flash Flood$6.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 40-foot-long break in the Truckee Canal released floodwater into portions of Fernley, Nevada on the morning of January 5th. Local newspapers reported that approximately 1500 people had to be evacuated from their homes. Water 2 to 4 feet deep affected as many as 500 homes. The Reno Gazette-Journal newspaper reported that more than $1.75 million in federal disaster housing assistance had been provided. In addition to this, Fernley city officials estimated that the cost to repair roads would be over $720,000.

4. Dec 10, 2022Winter Storm, Greater Reno/Carson City/Minden Area$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS Employee located 2.0 mi S of Spanish Springs relayed photos of wind damage at a CVS department store. A section of roofing material was torn off. The time of damage was estimated.

5. Jan 19, 2012Wildfire, Greater Reno/Carson City/Minden Area$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds (up to 84 mph) and the improper disposal of fireplace ashes caused the rapid spread of a fire originating at the north end of Washoe Valley early in the afternoon on the 19th. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate from the swift-moving fire. Around 3100 acres were burned with 28 homes destroyed (7 damaged) and one fatality attributed to the fire. ||For information purposes only (not direct costs from wildfire), the tally of fire-fighting related costs were at least 1.5 million dollars.

6. Dec 10, 2022Winter Storm, Greater Reno/Carson City/Minden Area$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public (retired NWS employee) relayed photos of glass bathroom tiles being blown off. Another report included photos that showed wood fence damage as well as several uprooted small trees. Exact time and location estimated from the report.

7. Jan 8, 2017Flood$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Twenty five structures, including at least 10 homes (one 8-plex and two single-family homes), were damaged by flood waters in Dayton by the morning of the 9th. Flooding of the two single family homes in East Dayton may have been largely due to breaks in ditches and culverts incapable of handling the exceptionally large volume of water. Water depth varied from 6 inches to as much as 3 feet on the south side of the Carson River. Standing flood waters lasted for at least several days after the initial flood surge on the 8th. Schools were closed county-wide on the 9th. The damage estimate from the Lyon County Emergency Manager is considered very low-end and could actually be several…

8. Dec 25, 2008Strong Wind, Western Nevada Basin And Range$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts to 82 knots (94 mph) were recorded on the summit of Virginia Peak (elev. 8299 ft), the location of the NWS Reno WSR-88D weather radar which was damaged by strong winds on December 19th. The wind gusted to 94 mph during a one-and-a-half-hour period from approximately 215 am PST to 330 am PST Christmas morning. These strong winds further damaged the radome and the now-exposed radar transmitter. Most of the fiberglass radome was torn from the radar pedestal and fell to the ground. Exposed to the force of the wind, the radar transmitter was damaged beyond repair.

9. Dec 31, 2005Flood$305,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Dayton, flooding from the Carson River flooded the Marina Street area. River Road was also closed. Water covered part of U.S. Highway 50 in Dayton and Stagecoach. Floodwaters with depths up to four feet covered some areas in Dayton, Silver City, and Stagecoach. Power outages were reported by residents in Mason Valley and Yerington.

10. Dec 11, 2014High Wind, Greater Reno/Carson City/Minden Area$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Widespread wind gusts over 65 mph were noted on the 11th, with the highest gusts (over 80 mph) west of highway 395 in the foothills and the southwestern Carson Valley. There were an exceptionally high number of damage reports including power lines and trees downed (knocking out power to more than 10,000), fences damaged, and a semi-truck blown over on Interstate 80. In addition, winds caused more than 30 flight cancellations at the Reno-Tahoe International airport. Damages from this event are a rough estimate.

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

108°F4 times, most recently Jul 16, 2023

All-time low

−16°F4 times, most recently Feb 7, 1989

Warmest night

77°F4 times, most recently Aug 8, 2026

Coldest day

6°FDec 9, 1972

Wettest day

2.29 inJan 21, 1943

Snowiest day

18.0 inFeb 16, 1990

Hottest year

2014mean 57.4°F

Coldest year

1949mean 47.7°F

Wettest year

201713.73 in

Driest year

19471.55 in

Snowiest season

59.3 in1951-52

Station Reno Airport (USW00023185), 4,405 ft elevation, 25.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1937 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 USW00023185.
• 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.