Owyhee County, Idaho severe weather history spans 115 recorded events between 1959 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 36.5% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,833 nationally and #19 in Idaho.
115
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
5
Direct injuries
$190K
Property damage
The record
What the Owyhee County, Idaho severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Owyhee County, Idaho severe weather history averages 1.7 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 1990s, with 41 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 8 events fall before 1990 and 107 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Owyhee County, Idaho record is flash flood, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is thunderstorm wind, with $150K in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Owyhee County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 42 | 0 | $150K | 75 | 1959–2025 |
| Hail | 27 | 0 | $0 | 1.75 | 1989–2022 |
| Flash Flood | 18 | 1 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2015 |
| Heavy Rain | 14 | 0 | $10K | 0 | 1996–2024 |
| Flood | 6 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2023 |
| Tornado | 5 | 0 | $30K | F0 | 1998–2023 |
| Wildfire | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–2002 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2019–2019 |
Decade by decade
Owyhee County, Idaho severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
5 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 5 touched down inside it and 0 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-05-27 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-05-27 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 3.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-06-21 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1998-07-10 | EF0 | 0 | 1 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1998-04-23 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Owyhee County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 7, 2009 | Flash Flood | MURPHY | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| May 3, 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 4 | $50K | |
| Jul 10, 1998 | Tornado | OREANA | 0 | 1 | $30K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Severe thunderstorm winds uprooted trees and tore the roofs off some buildings in Gem County. Four persons sustained minor injuries when the roof came off a mobile home along State Highway 52, 25 miles northwest of Boise. Heavy rain damaged the household contents. Thunderstorm winds in Owyhee County lifted 10-inch irrigation pipes off the ground along State Highway 78 between Murphy and Grand View, 45 miles south of Boise.
During the evening of July 10th a manufactured home was flipped over in the town of Oreana. One man inside the home was slightly injured. A NWS storm survey team determined that the damage was caused by an F0 tornado. The tornado was short lived and did no other significant damage.
The employee tracked a tornado for a few minutes and captured video evidence of circulation to the ground with debris and dust rotating around a column of air. The employee estimated tornado wind speed to be around 65-75 mph. After the event, they found fragile brush laying flat in one direction.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
12,503
Population (ACS)
$360K
Median home value
6
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 9, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Feb 27, 2006 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Sep 13, 2005 | Hurricane | HURRICANE KATRINA | EM |
| Jan 4, 1997 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUD AND LANDSLIDES | DR |
| Dec 31, 1964 | Flood | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Owyhee County, Idaho?
115 events are on record between 1959 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $190K in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Owyhee County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 42 recorded events — 36.5% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Owyhee County?
5 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 5 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Owyhee County?
6 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Owyhee County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Owyhee County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Owyhee County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 44 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Owyhee County, Idaho severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Oneida County 89
- Payette County 51
- Nez Perce County 125
- Power County 196
- Minidoka County 117
- Shoshone County 83
Cite this page
“Owyhee County, Idaho.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/idaho/owyhee-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.