Wheeler County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Wheeler 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 OR DOGAMI (533), NASA (13), West Coast Slow Moving (Yuankun and others, 2021) (3).

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. Apr 9, 2019Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous sections of Oregon Highway 19 and 207 were closed due to water over road and damage to road surfaces. Numerous county roads were damaged with rock and mudslides as well as plugged culverts. Flooding was reported in the city park in Spray.

2. Nov 15, 2010High Wind, Foothills Of The Southern Blue Mountains Of Oregon$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A cold front combined with a strong jet stream aloft and tight surface pressure gradient produced high winds across central and northeast Oregon. Damage was reported in Condon, Enterprise, La Grande, Imbler, Elgin, Summerville, Camp Sherman, Lostine and three miles south southeast of Joseph. Peak wind speeds measured in miles per hour include Ajax (62), Mikkalo (61), Patjens RAWS (62), 5 miles northeast of Sisters (71), 10 miles north northeast of Pendleton (58), Helix School (58), Fossil School (62), 9 miles east southeast of Stanfield (62), Pendleton Airport ASOS (67), North Pole Ridge RAWS (83), 3 miles north of Joseph (74), 8 miles west southwest of Echo (58). Estimated wind…

3. Dec 14, 2002High Wind, John Day Basin$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds blew down several trees in Canyon City. A portion of a metal roof was blown off a road department building. Damage was also done to residential roofs. In John Day, half of one side of a metal roof folded up and back on a bowling alley due to high winds between 4 AM and 5 AM. Power outages occurred between 8:15 AM and 11:00 AM according to storm spotters and a radio station in John Day. A wind gust of 53 MPH was measured at the John Day Airport at 10:55 AM.

4. Jun 4, 2007Flash Flood$6,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall of 1.75 inches in 2 hours and 2.60 inches storm total. Public property damage occurred due to several county roads being washed out in the Twickenham area.

5. Apr 19, 2019Flash Flood$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Total rainfall of 1.67 inches was recorded just east of Mitchell. This heavy rain over a short period of time triggered a flash flood through Huddleston Heights and Nelson Street, and off of High Street and Rosenbaum with mud and debris blocking roads in and around the town of Mitchell.

6. Apr 26, 2001Flash Flood$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A slow moving thunderstorm produced an estimated 1 inch of rain over mountainous terrain in southeastern Wheeler County. Subsequently, a small stream along State Highway - 26 overflowed its banks and washed debris across the road near mile marker 94. A local rancher mentioned that water covered the road to a depth of 1 1/2 feet, leaving debris that accumulated to a depth of 6 inches. The Oregon Dept. of Transportation closed the road for several hours while a road grader cleared the surface.

7. Feb 7, 2002High Wind, John Day Basin$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A gust of 60 mph was reported in Winlock. Strong winds blew a roof of a home and downed trees caused many power outages.

8. Apr 10, 2001Heavy Snow, Ochoco-John Day Highlands$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A late season snow storm brought heavy snow overnight to elevations above 3500 feet in the mountains of Grant County. Austin, at an elevation of 4500 feet, received 8 inches of wet snow that downed several nearby power lines. Prairie City, with an elevation of 3600 feet, received 7 inches.

9. Nov 7, 2002High Wind, John Day Basin$4,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds blew down several trees and power lines, blocking highway 395 south of John Day. Spotter reports indicated sustained wind speeds near 40 MPH with gusts to 53 MPH. A cottonwood tree fell on the roof of a Ford Taurus.

10. Aug 4, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$1,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A power pole was blown down due to strong winds. In addition, 0.50 inches of rain fell in 15-20 minutes.

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

109°FAug 4, 1961

All-time low

−27°FJan 8, 1937

Warmest night

83°FJul 26, 1928

Coldest day

−2°F2 times, most recently Feb 4, 1989

Wettest day

2.71 inAug 7, 1976

Snowiest day

16.0 inJan 19, 1930

Hottest year

1958mean 52.1°F

Coldest year

1985mean 45.1°F

Wettest year

201022.57 in

Driest year

19397.01 in

Snowiest season

90.0 in1968-69

Station Antelope 6 Ssw (USC00350197), 3,030 ft elevation, 32.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1924 to October 27, 2026; 87.6% 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 USC00350197.
• 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.