Whatcom County, Washington: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Whatcom County, Washington has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 91.0 out of 100, higher than about 91% of US counties, with avalanches, earthquakes and landslides scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $111 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 25 federal disaster declarations that included Whatcom County since 1971, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4906-WA (Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, declared 7 April 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 1 tornado touching Whatcom County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 226,681 Buildings worth $51 billion Area 2,530 sq mi Risk rank in Washington 10 of 39 FIPS 53073
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche | Very High | 98.2 | $6.9 million | about once every 2.0 years | 15 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | 97.8 | $51 million | about once every 44 years | — |
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | 97.7 | $559,209 | about 2 a year | — |
| Ice storm | Very High | 97.1 | $2.7 million | about once every 1.9 years | 35 |
| Volcanic activity | Relatively Moderate | 93.2 | $127,658 | about once every 476 years | 3 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 88.9 | $40 million | about once every 5.6 years | 5 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 86.0 | $6.1 million | about once every 7.0 years | 2.3 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 82.5 | $275,833 | about 37 a year | 615 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Moderate | 78.9 | $1.7 million | about 2.4 a year | 28 |
| Coastal flooding | Relatively Moderate | 63.2 | $793,739 | about 3.6 a year | — |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 62.2 | $420,573 | about 8.1 a year | 49,299 strikes |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 61.7 | $109,559 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Tsunami | Very Low | 23.1 | $255,013 | about once every 18 years | 12 |
| Drought | Very Low | 14.5 | $503 | about 6 a year | 182 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 13.1 | $126,673 | about once every 53 years | 1 |
| Strong wind | Very Low | 2.2 | $12,133 | about once every 112 years | 1 |
| Hail | Very Low | 2.0 | $3,226 | about once every 81 years | 0.5 |
| Hurricane | 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 25
Most common: Flood 13, Severe Storm 6, Fire 2, Coastal Storm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 4 | Flood ×4 |
| 1980s | 2 | Flood, Volcanic Eruption |
| 1990s | 5 | Severe Storm ×2, Flood ×2, Fishing Losses |
| 2000s | 5 | Severe Storm ×2, Flood, Coastal Storm, Earthquake |
| 2010s | 5 | Severe Storm ×2, Fire ×2, Flood |
| 2020s | 4 | Flood ×4 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Whatcom 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 1
| Tornadoes touching the county | 1 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F0 ×1 |
| Peak month | April (1) |
| Deadliest | — |
| Longest path | 27 Apr 2004, F0, 2.7 mi path |
| Most recent | 27 Apr 2004, F0, 2.7 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 0 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 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 Whatcom County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whatcom County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 91.0 | Avalanche |
| Skagit County | 39 km | Relatively Moderate | 88.8 | Volcanic activity |
| Snohomish County | 87 km | Relatively High | 97.9 | Landslide |
| San Juan County | 95 km | Very Low | 35.4 | Earthquake |
| Island County | 96 km | Relatively Low | 78.0 | Landslide |
| Chelan County | 134 km | Relatively Moderate | 90.9 | Wildfire |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Washington, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Low 21.5 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively High 78.7 |
| Community risk factor | 0.90 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $111 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 Whatcom County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Washington · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Avalanche: Official warnings now
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- 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 Whatcom County
What natural disasters is Whatcom County, Washington most at risk from?
Whatcom County, Washington has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 91.0 out of 100, higher than about 91% of US counties, with avalanches, earthquakes and landslides scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $111 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Whatcom County had?
OpenFEMA lists 25 federal disaster declarations that included Whatcom County since 1971, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4906-WA (Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, declared 7 April 2026). Another 25 Washington declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Whatcom County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 1 tornado touching Whatcom 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.