Crook County
Population 27,564 (2025) 2,979 sq mi
Large wildfires have burned 182,249 acres of Crook County since 1984, 22nd most of 36 counties in Oregon; the largest was the 0501 Crazy Creek Fire in 2024.
Hazard fingerprint Each spoke is this county’s percentile among U.S. counties where that hazard occurs. How it is computed
- Tornado damage paths since 19501
- Wildfire burn scars since 198425
- Major flood years since 19781
At a glance
The record for Crook County in eight numbers. Each links to its section below.
Tornadoes
About one every 76 years since 1950, none rated F3/EF3 or stronger.
Strongest
September 25, 2001
F0, 2.0 mile path
50 yards wide.
Most recent
Tuesday, September 25, 2001
F0, 2.0 mile path
25 years ago.
Every recorded tornado
| Sep 25, 2001 | F0 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 |
- Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Crook County: 0.
- 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.
Hurricanes and tropical storms
No tropical storm or hurricane has tracked within 100 miles since records began in 1851.
Wildfire and smoke
182,249 acres burned in 25 large fires since 1984, equal to 9.6% of the land.
Largest
July 22, 2024
0501 Crazy Creek Fire, 90,134 acres
62,014 acres inside Crook County.
Most recent
September 2, 2024
Rail Ridge Fire
181,109 acres in total.
Every large fire
| Rail Ridge | 2024 | 17,617 | 181,109 |
| Wiley Flat | 2024 | 30,253 | 30,268 |
| 0523 Camp Creek | 2024 | 1,604 | 1,605 |
| 0501 Crazy Creek | 2024 | 62,014 | 90,134 |
| 0502 Pr Durgan | 2024 | 3,390 | 3,391 |
| Ryegrass 0444 Rs | 2021 | 1,227 | 1,227 |
| Frog 0657 Rs | 2020 | 3,949 | 3,956 |
| Cemetery 0701 Rs | 2018 | 1,516 | 1,520 |
| Desolation 1135 Pr | 2017 | 4,082 | 4,088 |
| 0624 Rs East Maury | 2016 | 1,596 | 1,599 |
| Corner Creek 0297 Pr | 2015 | 1,492 | 30,308 |
| Fox | 2014 | 9,340 | 9,351 |
| Bailey Butte | 2014 | 976 | 10,524 |
| Center | 2014 | 2,407 | 2,412 |
| Buck Creek | 2012 | 5,809 | 5,814 |
| Millican East | 2007 | 869 | 2,981 |
| Maxwell | 2006 | 1,546 | 7,283 |
| 747 Complex (747) | 2002 | 292 | 16,002 |
| Hash Rock | 2000 | 17,162 | 17,166 |
| Bear Creek | 1998 | 3,343 | 3,345 |
| Mill Cr. Pnf 848 | 1995 | 1,433 | 1,434 |
| Cinder Butte | 1995 | 460 | 12,346 |
| Horseheavn | 1994 | 2,587 | 2,590 |
| Vergas Ranch | 1986 | 1,445 | 1,444 |
| Ibex Bu | 1985 | 5,832 | 5,836 |
- 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
Smokiest year
2021: 57 days
Heavy smoke on 26 days in 2021, the most of any year.
Last 10 years
26.7 days a year
Medium or heavy smoke, 2016 to 2025.
2025
13 days
Medium or heavy smoke. 35 so far in 2026.
- 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.
Floods and flood insurance
67 federal flood insurance claims since 1998, with $466,000 paid.
Most claims in one year
1998: 61 claims
$464,000 paid.
Claims by ZIP code
| 97754 | 67 | $466,000 |
Flood events since 1996
- Flash Flood7
- Heavy Rain7
- Flood4
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.
Drought
In severe drought or worse for 298 of 1,581 months since 1895 (19%); the longest spell lasted 39 months.
298
Months in severe drought or worse since 1895
167
Months in extreme drought
19%
Share of all months, severe or worse
Lowest reading
July 1934
−8.05, extreme drought
Longest severe spell
39 months
January 1929 to March 1932.
Latest month
September 2026
−6.38, extreme drought
- 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.
Earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides
5 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles since 1900; the largest was magnitude 4.7 in 1959.
3
Magnitude 2.5+ inside the county since 1973
39
Magnitude 3+ within 50 miles since 1973
5
Magnitude 4+ within 50 miles since 1900
0
Magnitude 5+ within 50 miles since 1900
Largest within 50 miles
June 2, 1959
Magnitude 4.7
52 km WNW of Hines, Oregon; 3.9 miles away.
Most recent, magnitude 3 or more
December 30, 2010
Magnitude 3.6
12 km ESE of Maupin, Oregon; 39.6 miles away.
Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles
| Jul 14, 2008 | 4.2 | 39.6 |
| Jan 30, 2000 | 4.1 | 45.6 |
| Apr 16, 1976 | 4.0 | 41.2 |
| Apr 12, 1976 | 4.6 | 35.5 |
| Jun 2, 1959 | 4.7 | 3.9 |
- 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).
- 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
| Newberry | 20.5 | Very high |
| Devils Garden lava field | 25.5 | Very low |
| Mount Bachelor | 31.1 | Moderate |
| Blue Lake Crater | 32.9 | Low |
| Three Sisters | 33.1 | Very high |
| Belknap Crater | 37.0 | Low |
| Mount Jefferson | 39.3 | Low |
| Sand Mountain volcanic field | 40.6 | Very low |
| Davis Lake volcanic field | 47.0 | Very low |
| Diamond Craters volcanic field | 64.9 | Very low |
| Mount Hood | 70.3 | Very high |
| Cinnamon Butte | 75.0 | Very low |
| Crater Lake | 91.1 | Very high |
- 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
3,496
Landslides mapped, probable or better
19
With a recorded date
2
Source inventories
Mapped by OR DOGAMI (3,495), NASA (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.
Severe weather and other events
367 events in the National Weather Service record, 366 of them since 1996.
29
Hail reports, 1 inch or larger
0
Hail, 2 inches or larger
6
Damaging gusts, 58 mph+
155
Winter weather events since 1996
13
Heat events since 1996
17
Cold events since 1996
Largest hail
June 12, 2006
1.75 inches
Strongest measured or estimated gust
July 16, 2024
70 mph
More event types since 1996
| Lightning | 4 | 0 |
| Avalanches | 3 | 1 |
Costliest events since 1996
- Jun 12, 2006Hail$20.0 million
National Weather Service narrative
Insurance estimated 20 million dollars of property damage in Crook County to home, auto and business.
- Feb 23, 2019Heavy Snow, Central Oregon$1.5 million
National Weather Service narrative
Persistent troughing off the coast of the Pacific Northwest focused a stream of mid-level moisture over the Inland Northwest resulting in a long duration snow event as the plume drifted north and south several times between the 22nd and 27th of February. Snowfall rates were greatly enhanced over central Oregon with the proximity of a nearly stationary surface boundary where snowfall rates were in excess of 1 inch per hour. Storm total snowfall amounts were measured at: 40 inches in Sisters, 33 inches in Bend, 30 inches in Redmond, 26 inches in Meacham, 22 inches in Prineville, 21 inches in Elgin, 16 inches in Mitchell, 14 inches in Lostine and La Grande, 12 inches in Pendleton and…
- Dec 30, 2005Flood, Central Oregon$1.0 million
National Weather Service narrative
2.5 to 3.5 inches of rainfall produced widespread flooding in Deschutes and western Crook Counties. Many roads and bridges sustained damage and flooding in basements and first floors was common.
- May 14, 2016Lightning$100,000
National Weather Service narrative
Lightning started a house fire. Approx damage to house when fire was put out was around 100,000 dollars.
- May 3, 2010High Wind, Central Oregon$100,000
National Weather Service narrative
A tight pressure gradient combined with a cold frontal passage to produce widespread high winds and damage. Blowing dust in the Columbia Basin reduced visibility to near zero around Stanfield, Pendleton, and between Lexington and Hermiston. The blowing dust caused traffic accidents with an injury near Stanfield on Interstate 84. Peak wind gusts in mph included 13 miles west southwest of Mikkalo (58), 5 miles south southeast of Mikkalo (59), North Pole Ridge RAWS (65), Pendleton Airport (61), 10 miles north northeast of Pendleton (58), and Helix (60). Sustained winds of at least 40 mph were reported at 5 miles south southeast of Mikkalo. Downed trees were observed 1 mile south of…
- Oct 31, 2005Strong Wind, Central Oregon$50,000
National Weather Service narrative
A strong wind gust blew a Ponderosa Pine tree over onto a home in southeast Bend. The property damage from this event is estimated at $50,000.
- Dec 13, 2001High Wind, Central Oregon$50,000
National Weather Service narrative
A cold front brought damaging winds to central Oregon for several hours. Several large trees were toppled in Bend, leading to blocked streets and one isolated power outage. A construction fence also blew across a city road. In Prineville, part of a tin roof blew off an older house. A peak wind gust of 46 mph was measured at the airport in Redmond.
- Oct 18, 2007Strong Wind, Central Oregon$50,000
National Weather Service narrative
A cold front brought strong winds with gusts 40-50 mph which knocked down trees and power lines in Sisters. One tree fell onto a house.
- Nov 1, 2005Strong Wind, Central Oregon$40,000
National Weather Service narrative
A strong wind gust blew over a Ponderosa Pine Tree which fell on two mobile homes causing extensive damage at Sisters Mobile Home Park. The property damage from this event is estimated at $40,000.
- Feb 22, 2001Heavy Snow, Central Oregon$35,000
National Weather Service narrative
Snow amounts ranging from 6 to 9 inches fell in a 6 hour period in southern Deschutes County. Spotters in Bend reported 6 1/2 inches total accumulation, which made this the heaviest snow of the season. At times, the snow fell at a rate of 1 1/2 inches an hour. The heavy wet snow also brought isolated power outages during the evening. 600 customers of the Pacific Power Company in Bend lost power for around an hour between 8 and 9 pm. A minor accident closed Highway 97 near Lava Butte briefly. In addition, a jackknifed truck just southeast of Sisters closed Highway 20 for an hour during the early evening. Nearby, 9 miles west of La Pine, 9 inches of snow fell in 5 hours.
- 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.
Weather records
From Redmond Airport, 14.8 miles from the county’s population centre, with records from 1948.
- All-time high
- 112°FJun 29, 2021
- All-time low
- −28°FDec 8, 1972
- Warmest night
- 72°FAug 17, 2023
- Coldest day
- −3°F2 times, most recently Feb 3, 1989
- Wettest day
- 1.81 inJun 9, 1969
- Snowiest day
- 14.9 inNov 5, 1973
- Hottest year
- 1998mean 51.1°F
- Coldest year
- 1993mean 44.4°F
- Wettest year
- 199813.59 in
- Driest year
- 20073.78 in
- Snowiest season
- 60.5 in1992-93
Median first snow
November 21
Earliest: October 18, 1949
Median last snow
April 7
Latest: May 20, 1962
1 of 51 winters had no measurable snow.
Station Redmond Airport (USW00024230), 3,049 ft elevation, 14.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 28, 2026; 96.3% 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.
Federal disaster declarations
12 since 1953. The most recent: Rowe Creek Fire Complex, July 31, 2026.
| Jul 31, 2026 | Fire | FM-5655-OR |
| Jul 13, 2025 | Fire | FM-5599-OR |
| Sep 7, 2024 | Fire | FM-5534-OR |
| Mar 28, 2020 | Biological | DR-4499-OR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | EM-3429-OR |
| Feb 17, 2011 | Severe Storm | DR-1956-OR |
| Mar 20, 2006 | Severe Storm | DR-1632-OR |
| Sep 7, 2005 | Coastal Storm | EM-3228-OR |
| Feb 19, 2004 | Severe Storm | DR-1510-OR |
| Jun 12, 1998 | Flood | DR-1221-OR |
| Apr 29, 1977 | Drought | EM-3039-OR |
| Dec 24, 1964 | Flood | DR-184-OR |
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.
How this compares
Where Crook County stands among 36 counties in Oregon and 3,143 in the United States.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 1 | 26 / 36 |
| Tornadoes rated F3/EF3 or stronger | 0 | — |
| Tropical cyclones within 50 mi | 0 | — |
| Hurricane-strength passes within 50 mi | 0 | — |
| Wildfire acres since 1984 | 182,249 | 22 / 36 |
| Flood insurance claims | 67 | 20 / 36 |
| Flood insurance paid | $466,000 | 21 / 36 |
| Disaster declarations | 12 | 26 / 36 |
| Flood events since 1996 | 18 | 26 / 36 |
| Hail and wind events since 1996 | 113 | 12 / 36 |
| Winter storm events since 1996 | 155 | 10 / 36 |
| Reported damage since 1996 | $23.0 million | 8 / 36 |
| River crests at major flood stage | 0 | — |
| High tide flooding days a year, last 10 years | 0.0 | — |
| Months in severe drought since 1895 | 298 | 1 / 36 |
| Medium or heavy smoke days a year, last 10 years | 26.7 | 6 / 36 |
| Earthquakes M4+ within 50 mi since 1900 | 5 | 28 / 36 |
| Earthquakes M2.5+ in the county since 1973 | 3 | 27 / 36 |
Neighbouring counties
| Deschutes County | 6 | 0 |
| Grant County | 3 | 0 |
| Harney County | 7 | 0 |
| Jefferson County | 3 | 0 |
| Wheeler County | 1 | 0 |
Sources and vintage
Every number on this page comes from these public records.
- 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 USW00024230.
- 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 November 1, 2026.