Jefferson County
Population 33,970 (2025) 1,804 sq mi
Large wildfires have burned 11,075 acres of Jefferson County since 1984, 25th most of 39 counties in Washington; the largest was the Delabarre Fire in 2023.
Hazard fingerprint Each spoke is this county’s percentile among U.S. counties where that hazard occurs. How it is computed
- Wildfire burn scars since 19844
At a glance
The record for Jefferson County in eight numbers. Each links to its section below.
Tornadoes
No tornado is recorded here in the Storm Prediction Center database, which begins in 1950.
Hurricanes and tropical storms
No tropical storm or hurricane has tracked within 100 miles since records began in 1851.
Wildfire and smoke
11,075 acres burned in 4 large fires since 1984, equal to 1.0% of the land.
Largest
September 1, 2023
Delabarre Fire, 4,174 acres
4,177 acres inside Jefferson County.
Most recent
September 1, 2023
Delabarre Fire
4,174 acres in total.
Every large fire
| Delabarre | 2023 | 4,177 | 4,174 |
| Hayes Two | 2016 | 2,679 | 2,675 |
| Paradise | 2015 | 2,817 | 2,818 |
| Big Hump | 2011 | 1,400 | 1,400 |
- 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
Smokiest year
2022: 29 days
Heavy smoke on 10 days in 2023, the most of any year.
Last 10 years
15.5 days a year
Medium or heavy smoke, 2016 to 2025.
2025
14 days
Medium or heavy smoke. 26 so far in 2026.
- 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.
Floods and flood insurance
53 federal flood insurance claims since 1979, with $623,000 paid.
Most claims in one year
1982: 5 claims
$17,000 paid.
2nd most
2007: 5 claims
$65,000 paid.
3rd most
2014: 5 claims
$48,000 paid.
Claims by ZIP code
| 98320 | 19 | $172,000 |
| 98368 | 13 | $30,000 |
| 98376 | 8 | $112,000 |
| 98339 | 6 | $56,000 |
| 98365 | 5 | $92,000 |
Flood events since 1996
- Heavy Rain8
- Flood6
1 death recorded in flood events since 1996.
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.
High tide flooding
Most in one year, Port Townsend
13 days
May 2022 to April 2023.
Last ten years
3.4 days a year
At Port Townsend, 2016–26.
Moderate or major
4 days
Since 1972, 0 of them major.
- High tide flooding days are days on which a NOAA tide gauge recorded water at or above NOAA's minor flood threshold, set from the gauge's tide range, counted by meteorological year (May to April). These are the counts in NOAA's annual high tide flooding reports; they are not National Weather Service flood stages. Years with less than 80 percent of data are left out.
NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, through April 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.
Drought
In severe drought or worse for 56 of 1,581 months since 1895 (4%); the longest spell lasted 13 months.
56
Months in severe drought or worse since 1895
8
Months in extreme drought
4%
Share of all months, severe or worse
2
Drought reports to the Weather Service since 1996
Lowest reading
June 1924
−4.60, extreme drought
Longest severe spell
13 months
February 1944 to February 1945.
Latest month
September 2026
−2.41, moderate drought
Last severe month: August 2023.
- 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.
Earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and landslides
56 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles since 1900; the largest was magnitude 6.8 in 2001.
69
Magnitude 2.5+ inside the county since 1973
328
Magnitude 3+ within 50 miles since 1973
56
Magnitude 4+ within 50 miles since 1900
16
Magnitude 5+ within 50 miles since 1900
Largest within 50 miles
February 28, 2001
The 2001 Nisqually, Washington Earthquake; 33.8 miles away, 32.2 miles deep.
Most recent, magnitude 3 or more
October 16, 2026
Magnitude 3.1
18 km ESE of Forks, Washington; 17.7 miles away.
Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles
- 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).
- 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
Highest water recorded
Mar 28, 1964
1.6 ft, Hoh River, WA
From Prince William Sound, AK (magnitude 9.2 earthquake).
On record
6 tsunamis
Since 1964.
| Jul 29, 2025 | Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, M8.8 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Jan 15, 2022 | Tonga Islands | 0.5 | 0 |
| Mar 11, 2011 | Honshu Island, M9.1 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Feb 27, 2010 | Central Chile, M8.8 | 0.3 | 0 |
| Dec 9, 2005 | British Columbia | 0.2 | 0 |
| Mar 28, 1964 | Prince William Sound, AK, M9.2 | 1.6 | 0 |
- 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.
Volcanoes within 100 miles
| Mount Baker | 61.4 | Very high |
| Glacier Peak | 70.9 | Very high |
| Mount Rainier | 74.9 | Very high |
- 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
6,860
Landslides mapped, probable or better
5
With a recorded date
3
Source inventories
Mapped by WA WGS (6,840), West Coast Slow Moving (Yuankun and others, 2021) (16), NASA (4).
- 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.
Severe weather and other events
78 events in the National Weather Service record, 78 of them since 1996.
0
Hail reports, 1 inch or larger
0
Hail, 2 inches or larger
0
Damaging gusts, 58 mph+
42
Winter weather events since 1996
2
Heat events since 1996
0
Cold events since 1996
More event types since 1996
| Lightning | 3 | 0 |
| Debris flows | 2 | 0 |
| Avalanches | 1 | 0 |
Costliest events since 1996
- Nov 4, 2006Heavy Rain$5.5 million
National Weather Service narrative
Olympic National Park received about 36 inches of rain from Nov 2nd through the 11th. That rainfall, plus help from some strong winds, caused damage to roads, bridges and trails. A 75 foot section of road, 25 feet deep, was washed away along with adjacent power lines.
- Dec 2, 2007Heavy Rain$3.0 million
National Weather Service narrative
A house was knocked off its foundation by flood waters.
- Dec 3, 2007High Wind, Olympics$2.0 million
National Weather Service narrative
Roads were either washed out or covered by fallen trees.
- Oct 20, 2003Heavy Rain$800,000
National Weather Service narrative
An all time daily record rainfall total was set at Seatac Airport with 5.02 inches. Other daily records were set at Shelton with 7.20", Hoquaim with 5.39" and Olympia with 4.12". Almost all reporting stations had at least 2 inches of rain in the 24 hour period from midnight to midnight. Two sinkholes, one in Clallam and one in Mason county, damaged roads and cut off access to homes. In all, nearly 50 homes suffered damage from minor flooding especially in basements and garages. Traffic snarls were common as many roads throughout the region were temporarily closed. The national parks and forests suffered fairly extensive damage to several bridges and many trails or the roads that…
- Jan 5, 2006Heavy Rain$700,000
National Weather Service narrative
The Governor declared a state of emergency after rain, at times heavy, over a period of about 10 days, caused over 7 million in damage, mainly to transportation infrastructure throughout western Washington. Mudslides closed parts of I-5 near the Pierce-Thurston county line, part of Highway 20 about a half mile east of Concrete, Highway 107 near Raymond, and Highway 166 near Port Orchard - where 3 cars crashed in the mud. In Bremerton, they totaled 16.2 inches of rainfall in 3 weeks, an amount which normally falls in 2 months. Mudslides halted Amtrak passenger train service between Everett and Olympia. In King County, there were 19 road closures from water over the roadway. Many…
- Jan 12, 2021Flood$554,000
National Weather Service narrative
Heavy rain caused surface runoff, landslides, and urban and small stream flooding. One to three inches of rain fell during the day.
- Dec 10, 2014Flood$300,000
National Weather Service narrative
Fire District 4 suffered major flood damage to Station 42, near the Duckabush River. The station is reported to be a total loss (at one point fire personnel measured more than 5 feet of water in the station ��� with fire apparatus still inside) The loss of the station and equipment is estimated at nearly $200,000. About 6 homes in the area suffered damage.
- Nov 14, 2015Flood$200,000
National Weather Service narrative
Flooding from the Hoh river damaged Oil City road.
- Jan 7, 2002Flood, Olympics$200,000
National Weather Service narrative
Heavy rain caused widespread flooding in western Washington. The Cowlitz, Chehalis, Satsop, Elwha, Dungeness, Skokomish, Puyallup, Snoqualmie, Skykomish, Snohomish, Stillaguamish, Skagit, and Nooksack Rivers flooded. The Deschutes and the Tolt crested just below flood stage. The most serious flooding occurred on the Elwha, Dungeness, and Skagit Rivers. The crest on the Dungeness was probably a new record (pending certification by USGS), and was around a 25-year recurrence interval flood. Crests on most other rivers were between 2- and 10-year floods. Several roads in the region were closed and a few homes were damaged. One road in the Bremerton area was completely washed out and…
- Dec 15, 1999Heavy Rain$170,000
National Weather Service narrative
Heavy rain along the Washington coast flooded roads and damaged bridges in west Clallam and Jefferson counties and caused a mudslide in Aberdeen. Forks reported about 6 inches of rain in 24 hours. In Clallam county several State Routes and Highway 101 were either closed or reduced to one lane due to flooding. The mudslide in Aberdeen destroyed a work shed and knocked a home off of its foundation.
- 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.
Weather records
From Everett Snohomish County Airport, 25.6 miles from the county’s population centre, with records from 1948.
- All-time high
- 100°F3 times, most recently Jun 28, 2021
- All-time low
- 3°FJan 25, 1950
- Warmest night
- 73°FJul 29, 2009
- Coldest day
- 16°FJan 13, 1950
- Wettest day
- 3.21 inJun 13, 1948
- Hottest year
- 2015mean 53.8°F
- Coldest year
- 1948mean 48.0°F
- Wettest year
- 194845.38 in
- Driest year
- 202514.42 in
Station Everett Snohomish County Airport (USW00024222), 548 ft elevation, 25.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 93.2% 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.
Federal disaster declarations
30 since 1953. The most recent: Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, April 7, 2026.
| Apr 7, 2026 | Flood | DR-4906-WA |
| Dec 12, 2025 | Flood | EM-3629-WA |
| Apr 28, 2024 | Severe Storm | DR-4775-WA |
| Jan 12, 2023 | Severe Storm | DR-4682-WA |
| Mar 29, 2022 | Flood | DR-4650-WA |
| Jan 5, 2022 | Flood | DR-4635-WA |
| Apr 8, 2021 | Severe Storm | DR-4593-WA |
| Mar 22, 2020 | Biological | DR-4481-WA |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | EM-3427-WA |
| Mar 4, 2019 | Severe Storm | DR-4418-WA |
| Feb 2, 2016 | Flood | DR-4253-WA |
| Jan 15, 2016 | Severe Storm | DR-4249-WA |
| Oct 15, 2015 | Severe Storm | DR-4242-WA |
| Mar 2, 2009 | Severe Storm | DR-1825-WA |
| Jan 30, 2009 | Flood | DR-1817-WA |
| Dec 8, 2007 | Severe Storm | DR-1734-WA |
| Dec 12, 2006 | Severe Storm | DR-1671-WA |
| May 17, 2006 | Severe Storm | DR-1641-WA |
| Sep 7, 2005 | Coastal Storm | EM-3227-WA |
| Nov 7, 2003 | Severe Storm | DR-1499-WA |
| Mar 1, 2001 | Earthquake | DR-1361-WA |
| Apr 2, 1997 | Flood | DR-1172-WA |
| Jan 17, 1997 | Severe Storm | DR-1159-WA |
| Jan 3, 1996 | Severe Storm | DR-1079-WA |
| Aug 2, 1994 | Fishing Losses | DR-1037-WA |
| Mar 8, 1991 | Flood | DR-896-WA |
| Nov 26, 1990 | Flood | DR-883-WA |
| Feb 15, 1986 | Flood | DR-757-WA |
| May 21, 1980 | Volcanic Eruption | DR-623-WA |
| Dec 31, 1979 | Flood | DR-612-WA |
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.
How this compares
Where Jefferson County stands among 39 counties in Washington and 3,143 in the United States.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 0 | — |
| Tornadoes rated F3/EF3 or stronger | 0 | — |
| Tropical cyclones within 50 mi | 0 | — |
| Hurricane-strength passes within 50 mi | 0 | — |
| Wildfire acres since 1984 | 11,075 | 25 / 39 |
| Flood insurance claims | 53 | 27 / 39 |
| Flood insurance paid | $623,000 | 25 / 39 |
| Disaster declarations | 30 | 11 / 39 |
| Flood events since 1996 | 14 | 24 / 39 |
| Hail and wind events since 1996 | 16 | 30 / 39 |
| Winter storm events since 1996 | 42 | 27 / 39 |
| Reported damage since 1996 | $13.7 million | 30 / 39 |
| River crests at major flood stage | 0 | — |
| High tide flooding days a year, last 10 years | 3.4 | 4 / 39 |
| Months in severe drought since 1895 | 56 | 38 / 39 |
| Medium or heavy smoke days a year, last 10 years | 15.5 | 30 / 39 |
| Earthquakes M4+ within 50 mi since 1900 | 56 | 12 / 39 |
| Earthquakes M2.5+ in the county since 1973 | 69 | 13 / 39 |
Neighbouring counties
| Clallam County | 0 | 0 |
| Grays Harbor County | 3 | 0 |
| Mason County | 1 | 0 |
Sources and vintage
Every number on this page comes from these public records.
- 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 USW00024222.
- River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
- Tide gauges NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, 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.
- 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.