Chelan County, Washington: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Chelan County, Washington has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 90.9 out of 100, higher than about 90% of US counties, with wildfires, landslides and avalanches scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $89 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 51 federal disaster declarations that included Chelan County since 1972, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3650-WA (Wildfires, declared 3 August 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has no tornado on record touching Chelan County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Washington All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 78,989 Buildings worth $22 billion Area 3,025 sq mi Risk rank in Washington 11 of 39 FIPS 53007
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wildfire | Relatively High | 99.6 | $35 million | about once every 43 years | — |
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | 95.5 | $142,082 | about 4 a year | — |
| Avalanche | Very High | 95.2 | $3.5 million | about once every 3.7 years | 8 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 91.3 | $41 million | about 1.5 a year | 41 |
| Volcanic activity | Relatively Low | 90.6 | $15,053 | about once every 80 years | 7 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 88.8 | $4.1 million | about once every 152 years | — |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 84.3 | $840,533 | about 9.9 a year | 33,701 strikes |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 77.2 | $1.2 million | about 3.7 a year | 38 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 76.1 | $163,548 | about 26 a year | 500 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 67.2 | $466,094 | about once every 14 years | 2.8 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 66.1 | $1.7 million | about once every 10 years | 1.9 |
| Ice storm | Very Low | 21.7 | $17,463 | about once every 13 years | 5 |
| Drought | Very Low | 17.5 | $1,985 | about 7.8 a year | 357 |
| Strong wind | Very Low | 10.8 | $74,384 | about once every 17 years | 3 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 9.3 | $52,478 | about once every 20 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 51
Most common: Fire 34, Severe Storm 7, Flood 6, Coastal Storm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Drought, Flood |
| 1980s | 1 | Volcanic Eruption |
| 1990s | 3 | Severe Storm ×2, Flood |
| 2000s | 17 | Fire ×10, Severe Storm ×4, Flood, Coastal Storm, Earthquake |
| 2010s | 20 | Fire ×19, Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 8 | Fire ×5, Flood ×3 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Chelan County
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (2005, EM-3227-WA): 39 Washington counties designated.
- Volcanic Eruption, Mt. St. Helens (1980, DR-623-WA): 39 Washington counties designated.
- Severe Winter Storms, Land & Muds Slides,flooding (1997, DR-1159-WA): 38 Washington 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. Washington also had 25 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 0
No tornado in NOAA's Storm Prediction Center record touched Chelan County between 1950 and 2025. That does not mean one cannot happen.
How Chelan County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelan County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 90.9 | Wildfire |
| Douglas County | 71 km | Relatively Low | 74.1 | Wildfire |
| Snohomish County | 83 km | Relatively High | 97.9 | Landslide |
| Kittitas County | 83 km | Relatively Moderate | 89.1 | Wildfire |
| King County | 98 km | Very High | 99.7 | Earthquake |
| Okanogan County | 100 km | Relatively Moderate | 89.2 | Wildfire |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Washington, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Moderate 48.6 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively High 70.4 |
| Community risk factor | 1.11 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $89 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 Chelan County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Washington · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Wildfire: US wildfires now · Wildfire smoke: what protects you
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Avalanche: Official warnings now
- 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 Chelan County
What natural disasters is Chelan County, Washington most at risk from?
Chelan County, Washington has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 90.9 out of 100, higher than about 90% of US counties, with wildfires, landslides and avalanches scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $89 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Chelan County had?
OpenFEMA lists 51 federal disaster declarations that included Chelan County since 1972, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3650-WA (Wildfires, declared 3 August 2026). Another 25 Washington declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Chelan County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has no tornado on record touching Chelan County from 1950 to 2025.
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.