Deschutes County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 OR DOGAMI (94).

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. Jun 12, 2006Hail$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail and heavy rainfall caused extensive damage across central Deschutes County. Vehicles were dented, windows broken, and branches, leaves, and needles were stripped from trees. Damage was greatest over the east side of Bend.

2. Jul 9, 1998Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A spotter reported hail up to 1 3/4 inch in Redmond along with heavy rain. 1/2 inch hail was reported in Bend. A local newspaper reported 2 inch hail in Terrebonne with damage to roofs, patio furniture, trees, windows, cars, satellite dishes, solar panels, corn and hay fields. The hail piled up more than four inches deep in places. Damage claims are estimated to be near two million dollars.

3. Jun 29, 1997Lightning$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning blew up a large transformer and a small natural gas pipeline east of Bend. About 14,000 customers were without power for an hour. Twentyfive customers were without gas untill a section of the pipe was replaced.

4. 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…

5. 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.

6. May 8, 2019Wildfire, East Slopes Of The Oregon Cascades$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An early season wildfire in La Pine sparked by a backyard debris burn that got out of control burned 12 acres destroying one house and damaging another.

7. Jul 29, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful storm moved through the Deschutes County Fair injuring at least four people, flipping a large tent, and lifting an inflated laser tag game into a tree. A 40-by-40-foot tent flipped over and struck two people with 2 to 3 inch pipes, one went to the hospital. Two young men were playing in a 900 pound laser tag "bag" when a gust of wind picked up the balloon-like structure, with the men inside, and threw them into a tree. One of the young men received a bloody nose. The owner of the laser tag game estimated equipment losses as high as 100,000 dollars. Vendors' displays also were blown over and merchandise was damaged.

8. Nov 19, 2012High Wind, East Slopes Of The Oregon Cascades$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong upper level jet and tight surface pressure gradients aided in high winds across much of the Pendleton County Warning Area.||Measured gusts in MPH include: Ruggs (67), Long Creek (62), 5 NNE of Fox (70), 2 W Benton City (68), 5 S of Deschutes River Woods (60), 5 Wsw Shaniko (62), 2 SSW Grass Valley (58), 7 ESE Maupin (64), 1 W Joseph (68), East Enterprise (68), 3 N Joseph (67), 8 NW West Richland (58), 13 NNW Dayville (70), 6 SE Pendleton (60), 6 NE Mitchell (73), 5 WNW Ruggs (65), Lexington had a high sustained wind for a couple of hours (43), and Pine Mountain Observatory south of Bend (72).||Other reports of wind damage include: County wide power outage in Wallowa, a…

9. Jul 19, 2001Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning from a thunderstorm during the afternoon of the 19th sparked a fire that later destroyed a house and its contents.

10. 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…

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

107°FJun 30, 2021

All-time low

−26°F2 times, most recently Jan 31, 1950

Warmest night

78°FJul 16, 1911

Coldest day

−6°FFeb 4, 1989

Wettest day

4.00 inDec 26, 2024

Snowiest day

24.1 inNov 6, 1973

Hottest year

1934mean 51.1°F

Coldest year

1955mean 43.6°F

Wettest year

190725.75 in

Driest year

20081.95 in

Snowiest season

90.6 in1973-74

Station Bend (USC00350694), 3,660 ft elevation, 2.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1901 to October 4, 2026; 90.3% 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.

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 USC00350694.
• 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.