Kitsap County

Every recorded tornado

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

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

The National Weather Service sets flood stages for 1 gauge here but lists no crests for it.

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 (701), NASA (12).

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 2, 2007Heavy Rain$30.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains caused officials to close or restrict nearly 200 roads, including major commuter paths such as Highway 3. A large sinkhole developed near the High Point Shopping Center in Port Orchard. About 300 structures throughout the county were damaged. Several stores in Silverdale suffered water damage.

2. Dec 18, 2018Tornado$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 1350PST, a tornado touched down near Port Orchard, WA. This tornado continued on the ground in a northeast direction for approximately 5 minutes. Significant structure damage was evident in the damage path, including one home where the roof was completely removed. Ultimately, 300 homes and businesses were impacted by the tornado. It resulted in 25 red-tagged (uninhabitable), and 20 yellow-tagged (habitable at own risk) homes.

3. Dec 12, 2010Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   About 200 people were trapped near Port Orchard when Hunter road was washed out by a raging creek - it is the only road in and out of a neighborhood. Lake Flora Rd was also closed near highway 3 where it was washed out.

4. Mar 15, 1997Heavy Rain$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall amounts, in inches, in the 24 hour period ending at 4 am on the 18th were, in the southern Olympics, Wynoochee Dam 6.77, at Wishkah Headworks 6.02. In the 24 hour period ending at 4 am on the 19th: In the southern Olympics, Wynoochee Dam 10.96 and Wishkah Headworks 7.30. At Francis, in the southwest interior, 5.10 inches. Seatac, 2.18 and Bremerton 5.38 inches. Many places in the Cascades recieved over 3 inches. The 5 day totals from the 15th to the 19th ranged from 14 to 22 inches in the southern Olympics, 4 to 9 inches in the southwest interior and 3 to 6 inches over Puget Sound.The heavy rain resulted in about 40 mudslides in Western Washington. At least 21 homes were…

5. 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…

6. Oct 20, 2003Heavy Rain$200,000
   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…

7. Aug 3, 1999Lightning$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning started a fire which damaged a home.

8. Feb 24, 1999Heavy Rain$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Kitsap County, up to 5 inches of rain fell during the 24 hr period ending at 10 am. The heavy rain closed roads, caused mudslides, and subsequent flooding damaged a bowling alley in Silverdale.

9. May 13, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Silverdale, a tree crashed onto a home injuring the occupant. There were power outages on other parts of the Kitsap peninsula.

10. Dec 14, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A woman living in the Harper area was killed when a tree fell onto her home around 1230 am.

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

102°FJun 28, 2021

All-time low

7°FDec 21, 1990

Warmest night

75°F2 times, most recently Jul 31, 1918

Coldest day

17°F2 times, most recently Dec 29, 1968

Wettest day

7.50 inDec 3, 2007

Snowiest day

13.3 inFeb 13, 1923

Hottest year

1958mean 54.4°F

Coldest year

1985mean 47.9°F

Wettest year

199975.81 in

Driest year

194322.73 in

Station Bremerton (USC00450872), 120 ft elevation, 3.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1899 to October 21, 2026; 92.5% 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 USC00450872.
• 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.