Benton County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Benton 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 WA WGS (41), NASA (2), West Coast Slow Moving (Yuankun and others, 2021) (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. Apr 27, 2018Strong Wind, Lower Columbia Basin$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Power outages along Canal Drive in Kennewick and in the Garfield Hill subdivision of SE Kennewick. Strong winds in the Finley area (south of Kennewick) blew down tree branches 4 inches in diameter and produced blowing dust reducing visibility to 1/10th of a mile.

2. Dec 17, 2012High Wind, Lower Columbia Basin$560,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong Pacific storm system brought a mixture of weather and high winds to the lower elevations. ||Several reports of high wind gusts and damage came in from the Tri-Cities area, as this was the area hit hardest. ||Reports of damage and wind gusts in MPH include: Shingles blown off of a roof 4 NE of Kennewick, 14 NNW of West Richland (72 ), Barricade Mesonet (58), 12 NW of West Richland (69), Benton City (83), Hanford (66), Richland Airport (76), 3 WNW Kennewick (63), Pasco Airport (70), 5 ENE Prosser (62), 6 S Touchet (58), 6 NNW Walla Walla a trained spotter measured gust (60) and reported tree branches 2-4 in diameter down, along with power out at the Walla Walla watershed…

3. May 3, 2010High Wind, Lower Columbia Basin$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tight pressure gradient combined with a cold frontal passage to produce widespread high winds and damage. Blowing dust reduced visibility to near zero in portions of the Yakima Valley and Lower Columbia Basin and forced road closures. Peak wind gusts in mph included 15 miles west of Basin City (77), 8 miles northwest of Richland (59), 1 mile northwest of Richland (58), Benton City (58), 5 miles south of Eltopia (58), 1 miles north northeast of College Place (58), 8 miles northwest of West Richland (74), and High Bridge RAWS (59). Sustained winds at least 40 mph were reported 8 miles north of Dayton and 2 miles west northwest of College Place. Downed trees, branches, power lines…

4. Jan 8, 2009Flood$453,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Kiona river gage rose to 2.55 feet above flood stage.

5. Feb 7, 2002High Wind, Lower Columbia Basin$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High wind caused over 800 people to lose power when trees fell on the power lines in Pasco and Finley. Two tractor trailers were overturned, one on Interstate 82 and the other on Interstate 182, but no injuries were reported. Fences were blown down the street into neighboring houses, causing damages to roofs. The Pasco ASOS reported a gust to 60 mph.

6. Jan 23, 2001Dense Fog, Lower Columbia Basin$140,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dense fog and icy roads led to a 12 vehicle chain-reaction collision on Interstate-82 south of the Tri-Cities. This accident lead to several injuries and closed the southbound lanes for 7 hours.

7. Dec 1, 2001High Wind, Lower Columbia Basin$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds brought scattered damage to the Lower Columbia Basin during the afternoon and evening. Widespread wind gusts of over 60 mph were felt over an area including Hanford, Mesa, Kennewick, and Richland. One of the automated wind sensors at Hanford measured a peak wind gust of 72 mph at 4 pm. Near Richland, several road signs were damaged along Interstate 82. Winds also blew part of a roof off of a house in Kennewick. Power was lost to parts of the Tri-Cities metropoliton area during the early evening, while several streets were temporarily closed due to downed trees and power lines.

8. Jan 24, 2002High Wind, Lower Columbia Basin$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds caused a tractor trailer to overturn on Highway 240 west of Richland. The driver only reported minor injuries.

9. Apr 30, 2001High Wind, Lower Columbia Basin$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds associated with the passage of a cold front overturned a tractor trailer rig, slightly injuring the driver. The accident occurred at 3 pm PST south of Kennewick at the intersection of U.S. Highway 395 and Interstate - 82. Earlier that afternoon, blowing dust reduced visibilities to less than 100 feet near Hanford, prompting the early release of some workers. In Kennewick, power was lost briefly to about 50 residences along Gum Street.

10. Nov 4, 2000High Wind, Lower Columbia Basin$62,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Strong winds during the late morning and early afternoon raised dust around the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, reducing visibilities to less than 50 feet at times. This dust developed over land that had lost most of its vegetation the previous summer due to a wildfire. This led to an accident involving 6 vehicles on Highway 240 that occurred around 10 am. Near the time of the accident, wind gusts of 58 and 61 mph were reported at two locations near Hanford. Later that morning, this same road was closed for several hours. Just to the east, in Richland Wa, winds broke several large branches and overturned a storage shed.

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

115°FJun 27, 2021

All-time low

−19°FJan 4, 2004

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Aug 3, 2024

Coldest day

8°FJan 13, 2017

Wettest day

1.10 inJun 1, 2011

Hottest year

1998mean 56.5°F

Coldest year

2008mean 52.0°F

Wettest year

201010.22 in

Driest year

19994.00 in

Station Pasco Tri Cities Airport (USW00024163), 400 ft elevation, 8.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1945 to October 25, 2026; 95.5% 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 USW00024163.
• 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.