Columbia County

Every recorded tornado

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

Mapped landslides

Mapped by WA WGS (384).

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. Dec 21, 2015High Wind, Lower Columbia$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were numerous reports of large trees down on homes and cars in the Kelso, Longview, Columbia Heights, and Lake Sacajawea areas with significant damage.

2. Dec 20, 2008Winter Storm, Lower Columbia$686,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Nine to 10 inches of snow fell in the Lower Columbia region. Some reports include 9 inches in Longview and 10 inches in Kalama.

3. Jan 16, 2000Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   On January 16th a strong occluded front crossed the Columbia Basin. This front developed from a deep low pressure system off the coast of Washington. A line of convective showers along the front brought wind gusts of 46 mph to Walla Walla, which is 25 miles southwest of Dayton. At 9 am, several witnesses reported that a tornado developed just south of US Highway 12 one mile southwest of Dayton. At this location, the second story of a barn was damaged and a mobile home was flipped over. The tornado then followed an intermittent path for around one mile through the south side of Dayton. This path followed the floodplain of the Touchet River, which is just to the north of Rock Hill.…

4. Feb 11, 2021Winter Storm, Lower Columbia$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread snow fell over the region beginning the night of the 11th and continued in waves through the 14th. Snow accumulations of 8 to 14 inches were fairly consistently reported across the zone. Widespread transportation delays occurred including along I-5. Scattered power outages were also reported.

5. Feb 3, 2006Strong Wind, Lower Columbia$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong winter storm brought high winds to portions of southwest Washington. Following are some high winds reported with this storm:Bay Center reported frequent gusts to 50 knotsOcean Park reported frequent gusts to 63 knotsToke Point reported 39 knots with gusts to 54 knotsTongue Point reported 35 knots with gusts to 54 knotsDesdemona Lighthouse reported 41 knots with gusts to 56 knotsMany residents experienced power outages due to trees blown down by strong winds. An estimated 6300 residents of Cowlitz County were without power for portions of the night. Additionally, 38-year-old Ingrid Davis was killed after high winds blew down a tree which struck her car on State Route 4…

6. Dec 14, 2000High Wind, Northwest Blue Mountains$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds blew throughout the night along the eastern slopes of the Washington Cascades, the Columbia Basin, and the Blue Mountains of Washington. At 10:35 pm, a spotter 4 miles east of Benton City measured wind gusts as high as 60 mph. Overnight, high winds blew several walls down within a partially completed home in Kennewick. In Richland, several trees were lost and several minor accidents were reported due to winds and slick roads. In the Blue Mountains, downed trees blocked the access road between Dayton and Ski Bluewood. The ski resort was closed the next day as the road was cleared. High winds and slick conditions in Kittitas County closed Interstate-90 for much of the…

7. Jul 8, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds downed trees on power lines and at least one house.

8. May 30, 2000Heavy Snow, Northwest Blue Mountains$45,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A unseasonably cold storm system brought heavy wet snow to elevations above 4000 feet in the Blue Mountains of Southeastern Washington. Several power poles were brought down by the snow's weight on Lewis Peak, which is located 15 miles east of Walla Walla at an elevation of 5000 feet.

9. Jan 31, 2003Flood, Lower Columbia$34,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Lewis River near Woodland crested about 3 feet above flood stage, resulting in significant flooding. The airport and roads near the river were under water, and numerous homes and buildings suffered damages. The Cowlitz River near Kelso crested 1.5 feet above flood stage. Five homes and personal property sustained damage estimated at $34,000.

10. Mar 1, 2016Strong Wind, Lower Columbia$5,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Strong winds downed several trees and tree limbs resulting in power outages to several thousand people in Cowlitz County.

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°FAug 5, 1961

All-time low

−25°FDec 30, 1968

Warmest night

77°FAug 1, 1900

Coldest day

−3°FDec 30, 1968

Wettest day

2.18 inNov 1, 1994

Snowiest day

17.5 inDec 25, 1996

Hottest year

1934mean 54.5°F

Coldest year

1985mean 47.3°F

Wettest year

199629.66 in

Driest year

194412.07 in

Snowiest season

42.5 in1936-37

Station Dayton 1 Wsw (USC00452030), 1,557 ft elevation, 1.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 19, 2026; 89.9% 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 USC00452030.
• 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.