Chelan County

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 (525), NASA (25), West Coast Slow Moving (Yuankun and others, 2021) (4), USGS Conterminous (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. Sep 9, 2022Wildfire, Central Chelan County$115 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Minnow Ridge Fire started on September 9 by undetermined factor. It is located 10 miles NE of Lake Wenatchee, WA. It burned 5350 acres rugged, steep timber terrain. Due to its proximity, it was grouped with White River and Irving Peak fires.

2. Oct 1, 2022Wildfire, Central Chelan County$115 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Minnow Ridge Fire started on September 9 by undetermined factor. It burned through October. It is located 10 miles NE of Lake Wenatchee, WA. It burned 5350 acres rugged, steep timber terrain. Due to its proximity, it was grouped with White River and Irving Peak fires.

3. Oct 1, 2024Wildfire, Central Chelan County$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Pioneer Fire continued through the month of September. It started on June 8. It is located 10 miles Southeast of Stehekin, Washington. It burned 38735 acres of timber and short grass while active. The cost of the fire is estimated.

4. Jul 1, 2024Wildfire, Central Chelan County$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Pioneer Fire continued through the month of July. It started on June 8. It burned 38735 acres of timber and short grass while active. The cost of the fire is estimated.

5. Aug 1, 2024Wildfire, Central Chelan County$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Pioneer Fire continued through the month of July. It started on June 8. It is located 10 miles Southeast of Stehekin, Washington. It burned 38735 acres of timber and short grass while active. The cost of the fire is estimated.

6. Sep 1, 2024Wildfire, Central Chelan County$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Pioneer Fire continued through the month of September. It started on June 8. It is located 10 miles Southeast of Stehekin, Washington. It burned 38735 acres of timber and short grass while active. The cost of the fire is estimated.

7. Jul 15, 2026Wildfire, Western Chelan County$89.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Little Giant Wildfire was discovered around 1717 PST on July 15. It was started by lightning. It is located 8 miles north of Plain. It burned 173000 acres of timber. It continued through the end of July. Cost is estimated.

8. Oct 1, 2025Wildfire, Central Chelan County$78.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lower Sugarloaf Fire started on September 1 by lightning. It was located 12 miles Northeast of Leavenworth. It burned 42956 acres of timber. Cost is estimated. It was contained on October 19.

9. Sep 1, 2025Wildfire, Central Chelan County$78.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lower Sugarloaf Fire started on September 1 by lightning. It was located 12 miles Northeast of Leavenworth. It burned 42956 acres of timber. Cost is estimated.

10. Sep 1, 2025Wildfire, Central Chelan County$56.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Labor Mountain Fire started on September 1 by lightning. It was located 10 miles North of Cle Elum. It burned 42721 acres of timber. It continued through September. Cost is estimated.

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

114°FJun 29, 2021

All-time low

−21°FDec 30, 1968

Warmest night

79°F3 times, most recently Aug 12, 2021

Coldest day

−7°FDec 30, 1968

Wettest day

1.51 inAug 18, 1975

Snowiest day

13.0 inNov 19, 1996

Hottest year

2015mean 56.0°F

Coldest year

1985mean 47.4°F

Wettest year

198314.28 in

Driest year

19764.49 in

Station Wenatchee Pangborn Mem Airport (USW00094239), 1,238 ft elevation, 11.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1959 to October 26, 2026; 99.8% 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 USW00094239.
• 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.