Ferry County

Every recorded tornado

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

Tsunamis

1. Places where NOAA's Global Historical Tsunami Database records a tsunami's water arriving, with the greatest height it reached above sea level at the time. Only tsunamis NOAA rates probable or definite are counted. Heights from eyewitness accounts and tide gauges are mixed, and older events are less completely recorded.

NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by WA WGS (96), NASA (5), USGS Conterminous (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. Jul 17, 2026Wildfire, Okanogan Highlands$35.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Modrite Wildfire was discovered around 0651 PST on July 17. It was started by lightning. It is located 17 miles southwest of Inchelium. It burned 58000 acres of timber and grassland. Seventy one residences were destroyed. It continued through the end of July. Cost is estimated.

2. Sep 2, 2025Wildfire, Okanogan Highlands$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lynx Mountain Fire started on September 2 by suspected human cause. It was located 7 miles Northwest of Inchelium. It burned 9226 acres of brush and timber. It continued through September. Cost is estimated.

3. Oct 1, 2025Wildfire, Okanogan Highlands$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lynx Mountain Fire started on September 2 by suspected human cause. It was located 7 miles Northwest of Inchelium. It burned 9226 acres of brush and timber. Cost is estimated. Containment date is estimated.

4. Aug 1, 2024Wildfire, Okanogan Highlands$19.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The fire started on July 17 by lightning. It was contained on Aug 16. It is located 11 miles east of Grand Coulee. The fire burned 53462 acres of mixed grass and timber. The cost is estimated.

5. Jul 17, 2024Wildfire, Okanogan Highlands$19.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Swawilla Fire has burned 53462 acres of mixed grass and timber. It lasted through the rest of the July. The cost is estimated.

6. Sep 1, 2025Wildfire, Okanogan Highlands$18.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rattlesnake Fire started on September 1 by unknown cause. It was located 2 miles West of Seven Bays. It burned 21845 acres of brush and grass. It was contained on September 28. Cost is estimated.

7. Aug 30, 2025Wildfire, Okanogan Highlands$18.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Katy Creek Wildfire started on August 30 by lightning. It was located 6 miles Northwest of Kettle Falls, Washington. It burned 4680 acres of timber. Cost is estimated.

8. Sep 1, 2025Wildfire, Okanogan Highlands$18.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Katy Creek Wildfire started on August 30 by lightning. It was located 6 miles Northwest of Kettle Falls, Washington. It burned 4680 acres of timber. It was contained on September 28. Cost is estimated.

9. Aug 11, 2018Wildfire, Okanogan Highlands$13.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Washington Dept. of Natural Resources reported two homes and several additional structures destroyed in the Boyds Wildfire. The cost of fire fighting resources involved in containing this fire was calculated at 12.6 million dollars.

10. Sep 25, 2024Wildfire, Okanogan Highlands$3.6 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    The Goosmus Fire was started on September 25 by a downed powerline. It continued through October 4. It burned 1738 acres of mixed timber, brush, and short grass. 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

112°FJun 30, 2021

All-time low

−29°F4 times, most recently Jan 30, 1950

Warmest night

76°FJun 29, 2015

Coldest day

−5°FJan 20, 1935

Wettest day

2.02 in2 times, most recently Dec 28, 2022

Snowiest day

14.0 inNov 27, 1996

Hottest year

2015mean 52.6°F

Coldest year

1916mean 43.9°F

Wettest year

201229.16 in

Driest year

19298.22 in

Snowiest season

83.5 in1996-97

Station Colville (USC00451630), 1,554 ft elevation, 27.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1899 to October 8, 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 USC00451630.
• 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.
• Tsunamis NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database.
• 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.