Penobscot County, Maine: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Penobscot County, Maine has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 78.0 out of 100, higher than about 78% of US counties, with winter storms, ice storms and lightning scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $41 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 20 federal disaster declarations that included Penobscot County since 1970, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4754-ME (Severe Storm and Flooding, declared 30 January 2024). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 13 tornadoes touching Penobscot County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Maine All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 152,080 Buildings worth $35 billion Area 3,593 sq mi Risk rank in Maine 3 of 16 FIPS 23019
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter weather | Very High | 99.7 | $2.8 million | about 26 a year | 490 |
| Ice storm | Very High | 96.8 | $2.4 million | about once every 1.8 years | 37 |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 91.0 | $1.4 million | about 16 a year | 87,209 strikes |
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | 86.7 | $5.0 million | about once every 13 years | 42 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 83.0 | $24 million | about 2 a year | 55 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 79.1 | $1.6 million | about once every 613 years | — |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 69.4 | $5,993 | about once a year | — |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 62.6 | $1.7 million | about 4.5 a year | 85 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 60.3 | $304,388 | about 4.6 a year | 140 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 57.0 | $710,743 | about once every 1.1 years | 35 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 50.2 | $279,849 | about once every 2.2 years | 17 |
| Avalanche | Very Low | 42.5 | $324 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Coastal flooding | Very Low | 41.0 | $22,404 | about 11 a year | — |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 36.1 | $201,586 | about 1.1 a year | 20 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 32.3 | $626,608 | about once every 8.9 years | 9 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 29.3 | $14,352 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 20
Most common: Flood 6, Snowstorm 6, Severe Storm 5, Hurricane 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3 | Flood ×3 |
| 1980s | 1 | Flood |
| 1990s | 4 | Severe Storm ×2, Flood, Snowstorm |
| 2000s | 9 | Snowstorm ×5, Flood, Hurricane, Freezing, Severe Storm |
| 2010s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 2 | Severe Storm, Hurricane |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Penobscot County
- Hurricane Lee (2023, EM-3598-ME): 16 Maine counties designated.
- Severe Ice Storms, Rains and High Winds (1998, DR-1198-ME): 16 Maine counties designated.
- Blizzards, Severe Winds & Snowfall, Coastal Storm (1993, EM-3099-ME): 16 Maine counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Lee (2023), Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Maine also had 3 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 13
| Tornadoes touching the county | 13 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×4 |
| Peak month | August (5) |
| Deadliest | 6 Jun 1953, F1, 0.2 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Longest path | 24 Jul 2001, F1, 16 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Most recent | 5 Aug 2017, EF1, 2.5 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 3 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 2 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Penobscot County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penobscot County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 78.0 | Winter weather |
| Piscataquis County | 69 km | Relatively Low | 52.4 | Cold wave |
| Hancock County | 84 km | Relatively Low | 55.0 | Winter weather |
| Washington County | 89 km | Relatively Low | 47.6 | Winter weather |
| Somerset County | 103 km | Relatively Low | 67.9 | Winter weather |
| Waldo County | 108 km | Very Low | 40.6 | Winter weather |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Maine, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Low 31.5 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 93.5 |
| Community risk factor | 0.98 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $41 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Penobscot County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Maine · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Winter weather: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Lightning: Weather alerts for Maine
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets 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).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. 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).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Penobscot County
What natural disasters is Penobscot County, Maine most at risk from?
Penobscot County, Maine has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 78.0 out of 100, higher than about 78% of US counties, with winter storms, ice storms and lightning scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $41 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Penobscot County had?
OpenFEMA lists 20 federal disaster declarations that included Penobscot County since 1970, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4754-ME (Severe Storm and Flooding, declared 30 January 2024). Another 3 Maine declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Penobscot County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 13 tornadoes touching Penobscot County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 6 Jun 1953, F1, 0.2 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.