Douglas County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (85), NASA (6), USGS Conterminous (5).

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. Aug 1, 2014Wildfire, Okanogan Valley$120 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The lightning-caused fire, which began July 14, blackened 269,186 acres; leveled approximately 325 homes, 146 barns, outbuildings and fences; damaged utilities, killed cattle, wildlife and other livestock, and destroyed or damaged orchards, crops, forest and range land. Total cost to fight the fire was approximately 87 million dollars. The fire spanned two different public zones and cost and acreage is highly uncertain per zone.

2. Jul 14, 2014Wildfire, Okanogan Valley$120 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The lightning-caused fire, which began July 14, blackened 269,186 acres; leveled approximately 325 homes; 146 barns, outbuildings and fences; damaged utilities; killed cattle, wildlife and other stock; and destroyed or damaged orchards, crops, forest and range land. Total cost to fight the fire was approximately 87 million dollars. The fire spanned two different public zones and cost and acreage is highly uncertain per zone.

3. Jul 16, 2026Wildfire, Okanogan Valley$38.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Kaiser Canyon Wildfire was discovered around 0430 PST on July 16. It was started by lightning. It is located near Nespelem. It burned 138285 acres of timber and grassland. Forty structures were lost including 22 homes and 18 outbuildings. It continued through the end of July. Cost is estimated.

4. Sep 7, 2020Wildfire, Okanogan Valley$11.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Cold Springs Wildfire, 3 miles south of Omak, was ignited due to unknow causes late September 6th. It was fueled by a high wind event and grew rapidly. The wildfire became known as the Pearl Hill Wildfire when it crossed the Columbia River. Two adults were severely injured and one infant passed away. After numerous road closures and a total 55 structures lost, the total acres damaged grew to 413,653 with 8.4 million dollars cost fighting the fire. The wildfires were fully contained by mid-September.

5. Jan 7, 2007High Wind, Wenatchee Area$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong lee side trough east of the Cascades led to strong damaging gravity wave winds. Where these gravity waves mixed down to the surface, extensive to catastrophic damages occurred. These winds mixed down in the Wenatchee, Manson, south Lake Chelan area, Quincy, and the Royal slope area of Royal City. Numerous trees were blown down, several of which fell on power lines, cars and homes. Extensive roof damage occurred to several homes and businesses. Chelan County was hit especially hard where commissioners declared a state of emergency. A total of 400-500 trees fell onto power lines in Chelan County. In Quincy, numerous irrigation systems with a length of a quarter mile and…

6. Aug 1, 2023Wildfire, Okanogan Valley$9.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Unknown cause started the wildfire. It continued through the month of August. It burned 16428 acres of grassland, brush, and timber. It prompted level 3 evacuations along SR-97 from Oroville to the Canadian Border. Three structures were lost.

7. Jul 29, 2023Wildfire, Okanogan Valley$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Unknown cause started the wildfire. It burned 16428 acres of grassland, brush, and timber. It prompted level 3 evacuations along SR-97 from Oroville to the Canadian Border. Three structures were lost.

8. Jul 3, 2026Wildfire, Wenatchee Area$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Chelan Hills wildfire started around 2329 PST on July 3 one mile east of Chelan Falls. It burned 9861 acres of mixed grass, brush, and timber. It destroyed 19 homes and 100 outbuildings. There was one fatality reported and 6 injured firefighters. Fatality was trying to evacuate. It continued until the afternoon of July 22. Cost is estimated.

9. Apr 4, 2022High Wind, Upper Columbia Basin$5.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Mesonet in the Washtucna area recorded a gust of 54 at 1630LST. Several other sites recorded gusts into the upper 40s to low 50s. Power outage in Wilbur affected 52 customers. Winds also broke 1 inch thick tree limbs and blew shingles off roofs in the Spring Canyon area East of Grand Coulee.

10. Jun 16, 2026Wildfire, Okanogan Valley$5.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    The fire started on JUne 16 by human causes. It burned 11605 acres of dry grass, sagebrush, and timber along the shores of Omak Lake on the Colville Indian Reservation 12 miles southeast of Omak. Damage 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, 7.5 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.