Wallowa County

Every recorded tornado

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

Mapped landslides

Mapped by OR DOGAMI (74), NASA (8).

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. Jul 18, 2002Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Wallowa County Sheriff's Office confirmed a mudslide near the Blue Mountain Council Boy Scout Camp at the south end of Wallowa Lake. The mudslide destroyed a dining hall near the boy scout camp. The debri flow in the lake was several feet thick. The mudslide swept away several trees and damaged three vehicles in its path.

2. Nov 12, 2007High Wind, Wallowa County$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A deep low pressure area moving across British Columbia combined with very strong upper level winds produced damaging surface winds across northeast Oregon. The winds were most devastating near Wallowa Lake where dozens of trees were downed and crashed into buildings and vehicles. Wallowa Lake State Park was closed as a result of the damage. Wind gusts in miles per hour across the area include Pendleton (62), Pilot Rock (60), Joseph (78), 10 miles south of Imnaha (61), Long Creek (64), 3 miles north of Helix (59). Sustained winds over 40 mph were measured at Hot Lake and North Powder. A wind gust to 111 mph was measured at Sheep Ridge, near Enterprise at an elevation of 7000 feet.

3. Feb 7, 2020Flood$129,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flood stage is 10.0 feet. The river rose above flood stage on February 7, at 125 am, crested at 11.73 feet on February 7, 1015 am, then fell below flood stage on February 8, at 430am. There was moderate flooding along the Grande Ronde River from Troy downstream to the Washington border. Redmond Grade road as well as Troy road and several other county roads were damaged. Damage is estimated at 129, 591 dollars.

4. May 6, 2009Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Eyewitnesses saw the cover being ripped off the sewer ponds and rotating debris being blown into the air across the Wallowa Rover.

5. Feb 27, 2012Freezing Fog, Northern Blue Mountains$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dense freezing fog and icy roads with a dusting of snow caused a 12 vehicle crash with minor injuries on I-84 near Deadman's Pass. Visibility was reduced to 100 feet or less in spots.

6. Nov 28, 2001Blizzard, Wallowa County$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A blizzard struck Wallowa County during the morning. A wind gust of 64 mph was recorded at 10:30 am 3 miles north of Joseph. 20 large trees were downed a Wallowa Lake State Park, which is 7 mile north of Joseph. One tree fell across a summer cabin, causing extensive damage. Power was lost to the state park for 10 hours as power lines were cut by falling trees in several places. Law enforcement reported blizzard conditions along highway 82 between Minam and Joseph. During the late morning and early afternoon, visibilities were reduced to 500 feet as 3 to 8 inches of snow fell along this route. Over higher terrain in the northern part of the county, snow amounts were higher. One…

7. Nov 12, 2006High Wind, Wallowa County$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong low pressure system moving across northern Washington brought high winds and damage.

8. Apr 9, 2019Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Field and roadway flooding was seen along the Grande Ronde River and numerous other small streams with significant snowmelt and heavy rain.

9. May 24, 2001Lightning$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a 75 foot radio antenna and short-circuited many electronic devices such as faxes, computers and phones, which were located next to the tower. One business owner estimated total losses of over 25 thousand dollars. Other lightning strikes cut power to 800 customers in the nearby towns of Wallowa Lake and Joseph.

10. Mar 1, 2012Winter Weather, Northern Blue Mountains$20,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Icy roads caused numerous accidents and the closure of I-84 between LaGrande and Pendleton.

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

110°FAug 23, 1939

All-time low

−38°FDec 13, 1919

Warmest night

74°FJul 12, 1908

Coldest day

−12°FDec 13, 1919

Wettest day

1.98 inJul 1, 1982

Snowiest day

16.0 inFeb 12, 1933

Hottest year

2015mean 50.3°F

Coldest year

1964mean 41.8°F

Wettest year

195824.94 in

Driest year

19298.46 in

Snowiest season

116.7 in1936-37

Station Wallowa (USC00358997), 2,928 ft elevation, 14.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1903 to September 30, 2026; 91.1% 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 USC00358997.
• 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.
• 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.