Lincoln County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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 WY WSGS (5,630), NASA (6), UT GRC (4).

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. Sep 12, 2013Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain from thunderstorms brought flooding and mudslides in, and to the south of, LaBarge. The flooding damaged 20 homes located mainly in the southwest portion of the town. Much of the flooding was confined to basements of homes and at least one church. High water scoured the channel of Birch Creek at the north end of town and exposed water and sewer pipes.||To the south of town, approximately four separate large channels along with many smaller rivulets flooded US Highway 189 between mileposts 77 and 81. The Wyoming Highway Patrol reported a mudslide near milepost 78 around Muddy Creek at 1651MST. Farther north near Names Hill another small canyon deposited mud and rock…

2. May 14, 2011Debris Flow, Jackson Hole$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Mud and debris began flowing onto US Highway 26/89 near milepost 127 in the Snake River Canyon on Saturday morning, May 14, as a result of rapid snowmelt in the area of Double Draw. The Wyoming Department of Transportation closed the highway late that evening as the massive flow became too much to keep up with. The highway through the canyon is the main artery connecting Star Valley and Jackson Hole with over 5,700 vehicles traveling the corridor each day.||The slide covered the roadway at a rate of a couple of feet each hour. By Monday, May 16, debris covered the road to a depth of more than 40 feet and was well over 100 feet wide. The debris flow, eventually estimated at over…

3. Jun 6, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several hundred trees were downed on hillsides bordering a forest service road in Willow Creek Canyon east of Turnerville. The trees completely blocked passage of vehicles and individuals to the area.

4. Jun 25, 2011Flood$167,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Active snowmelt in the Salt River Range caused a flood along a normally dry ditch in Star Valley Ranch. The narrow drainage near Prater Canyon brought enough water to wash out part of a road and three culverts. The high water also exposed and damaged a water line in the community.

5. Aug 12, 2024Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Lincoln County emergency management reported flooding in the town of Opal, WY caused by heavy rain from a slow-moving thunderstorm. Rainfall amount is unknown due to not having any know weather stations in the area. Five homes experienced flash flooding, with about 6 inches of water in basements.

6. Feb 6, 2017Winter Storm, Jackson Hole$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy snow fell throughout the Jackson Valley. The highest amounts were near Wilson, where 16 inches of new snow fell. Near the Jackson Dam, there was 9.5 inches of new snow. In Jackson, a very heavy snow load led to the collapse of the roof on the Sears Department Store. Near Teton Village, strong winds estimated over 70 mph, combined with heavy snow to down 17 power poles which led to a power outage lasting through the 11th. Jackson Hole Ski resort was closed through Monday the 13th.

7. Aug 13, 2024Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The day after flash flooding occurred, more heavy rain impacted Opal, WY, leading to additional flash flooding. Large amounts of small hail and ponding water flooded roads and caused sewer backups.

8. Jul 2, 2011Flood$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High water on the Green River near LaBarge above Fontenelle Reservoir caused the inundation of County Road 318 and lowland areas in the broad river plain.

9. May 15, 2011Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rising temperatures quickly melted low elevation snow in the mountains of extreme eastern Idaho. This caused flooding of Spring, Tin Cup, Crow, Jack Knife, and Stump creeks along the western edge of Star Valley. A few homeowners were forced to sandbag around their homes, build temporary levees, or dig trenches to provide relief from the rising flood waters. These tributaries fed the broad and relatively flat valley of the Salt River. Lowlands near the Salt River were inundated with water, especially north of Thayne to around the Double L Ranch near Etna.

10. Aug 15, 2011Hail$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    One inch diameter hail dented vehicles, broke a few windows, and punched holes in the siding of some homes around Grover.

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

98°FAug 7, 2001

All-time low

−38°FJan 1, 1979

Warmest night

63°FJun 14, 1975

Coldest day

−15°FDec 22, 1990

Wettest day

1.78 in2 times, most recently Mar 31, 1983

Snowiest day

18.0 inMar 1, 1976

Hottest year

2021mean 41.4°F

Coldest year

1993mean 35.6°F

Wettest year

202329.52 in

Driest year

197915.31 in

Snowiest season

257.5 in2022-23

Station Bedford 3 Se (USC00480603), 6,355 ft elevation, 15.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1975 to October 6, 2025; 88.7% 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 USC00480603.
• 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.