Washoe County, Nevada: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Washoe County, Nevada has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 96.7 out of 100, higher than about 96% of US counties, with earthquakes, wildfires and winter storms scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $274 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 52 federal disaster declarations that included Washoe County since 1965, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is FM-5678-NV (Bull Fire, declared 2 October 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 13 tornadoes touching Washoe County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 486,264 Buildings worth $99 billion Area 6,607 sq mi Risk rank in Nevada 2 of 17 FIPS 32031
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earthquake | Relatively High | 99.2 | $160 million | about once every 24 years | — |
| Wildfire | Relatively High | 99.0 | $27 million | about once every 101 years | — |
| Winter weather | Very High | 99.0 | $2.1 million | about 12 a year | 220 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively High | 94.5 | $80 million | about 1.4 a year | 39 |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 90.9 | $1.4 million | about 17 a year | 145,946 strikes |
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | 90.1 | $64,569 | about 7.3 a year | — |
| Avalanche | Relatively Moderate | 84.4 | $1.0 million | about once every 7.5 years | 4 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 80.7 | $490,472 | about once every 67 years | 0 |
| Volcanic activity | Very Low | 78.5 | $344 | about once every 435 years | 4 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 71.0 | $1.1 million | about once every 11 years | 4 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 59.0 | $412,732 | about once every 17 years | 2.3 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 58.4 | $610,165 | about 3.2 a year | 46 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 50.5 | $169,449 | about 139 a year | 3,850 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 14.3 | $146,015 | about once every 9.3 years | 10 |
| Cold wave | Very Low | 2.2 | — | rarer than once in 1,000 years | 0 |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Hurricane | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | 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 52
Most common: Fire 43, Severe Storm 4, Snowstorm 2, Flood 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1 | Flood |
| 1980s | 1 | Flood |
| 1990s | 2 | Fire, Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 19 | Fire ×15, Snowstorm ×2, Severe Storm, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 10 | Fire ×8, Severe Storm ×2 |
| 2020s | 19 | Fire ×19 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Washoe County
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (2005, EM-3243-NV): 17 Nevada counties designated.
- Snow (2005, EM-3204-NV): 16 Nevada counties designated.
- Record and/Or Near Record Snow (2005, EM-3202-NV): 15 Nevada counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Nevada also had 19 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 13
| Tornadoes touching the county | 13 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F1 ×2 |
| Peak month | July (4) |
| Deadliest | 16 Jul 1973, F1, 1 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Longest path | 3 Nov 1973, F1, 25.9 mi path |
| Most recent | 13 Sep 2017, EF0, 2 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 1 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 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 Washoe County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washoe County (this page) | — | Relatively High | 96.7 | Earthquake |
| Lassen County, CA | 78 km | Relatively Low | 73.1 | Wildfire |
| Pershing County | 110 km | Very Low | 6.0 | Wildfire |
| Plumas County, CA | 126 km | Relatively Moderate | 86.4 | Wildfire |
| Modoc County, CA | 133 km | Very Low | 39.7 | Drought |
| Storey County | 140 km | Very Low | 25.2 | Wildfire |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Nevada, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Low 23.3 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 41.8 |
| Community risk factor | 0.92 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $274 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 Washoe County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Nevada · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- Wildfire: US wildfires now · Wildfire smoke: what protects you
- Winter weather: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- 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 Washoe County
What natural disasters is Washoe County, Nevada most at risk from?
Washoe County, Nevada has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 96.7 out of 100, higher than about 96% of US counties, with earthquakes, wildfires and winter storms scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $274 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Washoe County had?
OpenFEMA lists 52 federal disaster declarations that included Washoe County since 1965, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is FM-5678-NV (Bull Fire, declared 2 October 2026). Another 19 Nevada declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Washoe County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 13 tornadoes touching Washoe County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 16 Jul 1973, F1, 1 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.