Lincoln County, Washington severe weather history spans 81 recorded events between 1955 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 33.3% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,953 nationally and #13 in Washington.
81
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$3.3M
Property damage
The record
What the Lincoln County, Washington severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Lincoln County, Washington severe weather history averages 1.2 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 28 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 7 events fall before 1990 and 74 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is flood, with $1.6M in reported property damage. In total, 10 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Lincoln County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 27 | 0 | $258K | 60 | 1956–2023 |
| Tornado | 12 | 0 | $583K | F3 | 1957–2024 |
| Hail | 11 | 0 | $0 | 2 | 1955–2024 |
| Flood | 8 | 0 | $1.6M | 0 | 2001–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 7 | 0 | $65K | 0 | 1998–2014 |
| Funnel Cloud | 7 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2022 |
| Lightning | 3 | 0 | $3K | 0 | 1996–2006 |
| Heavy Rain | 3 | 0 | $5K | 0 | 2010–2015 |
| Wildfire | 2 | 0 | $9K | 0 | 1998–1998 |
| Debris Flow | 1 | 0 | $800K | 0 | 2017–2017 |
Decade by decade
Lincoln County, Washington severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
12 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972-04-05 | EF3 | 0 | 1 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-05-06 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 1997-05-31 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1978-08-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-03-26 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2023-07-10 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-06-06 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 1.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-06-06 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 1.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-06-06 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 2.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-06-06 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 2.4 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Lincoln County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 6, 1972 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $250K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
On April 2nd a hillside along the Porcupine Bay Road near the Porcupine Bay recreation area gave way and cut the road, cutting off access to the campground. Three days later the hillside was still moving. Extensive debris was washed into Lake Roosevelt during this slide. The road remained closed into the month of May and may be closed indefinitely with repair work not able to commence until soil conditions stabilize and careful analysis of further landslide hazard is complete.
Lincoln County experienced flooding issues from periodic heavy rain and low elevation snow melt through much of March. The county was included in a State of Emergency declaration due to this flooding. The town of Sprague experienced widespread flooding when Negro Creek overflowed it's banks with most homes and structures in the town experiencing basement, yard and minor first floor flooding. The road into town was cut off by flooding. The National Guard was mobilized to help sandbag. ||The town of Creston also experienced extensive field, basement, road and parking lot flooding. In Edwall a grain elevator collapsed due to saturated soil conditions.
Numerous areas across Lincoln County dealt with flooding between the 12th and 14th. Some sections of highways that were flooded include SR 23 between mileposts 57 and 60 south of Harrington, SR 231 between mileposts 36 and 42 near Reardon, SR 231 between mileposts 18 and 19 near Edwall, SR 25 between Davenport and Lake Roosevelt, and SR 21 between mileposts 57 and 60 near Harrington. A creek that runs through the middle of the Edwall flooded the Post Office and adjacent businesses with one to two feet of water. Edwall-Reardon school district was forced to delay school openings because buses were struggling to navigate muddy dirt roads. A tech company located on SR 231 reported 30 inches of water flooded its manufacturing facility. Fortunately, the staff was able to get all valuable equipment off the floor before the flood waters entered.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
11,489
Population (ACS)
$293K
Median home value
17
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 4, 2021 | Fire | WILDFIRES AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR |
| Mar 22, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Aug 4, 2018 | Fire | ANGEL SPRINGS FIRE | FM |
| Apr 21, 2017 | Flood | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, MUDSLIDES | DR |
| Jan 15, 2016 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Lincoln County, Washington?
81 events are on record between 1955 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $3.3M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Lincoln County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 27 recorded events — 33.3% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Lincoln County?
12 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 12 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Lincoln County?
17 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Lincoln County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Lincoln County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Lincoln County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 55 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Lincoln County, Washington 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
- Lewis County 19
- Mason County 17
- Klickitat County 28
- Okanogan County 231
- Kittitas County 41
- Pacific County 27
Cite this page
“Lincoln County, Washington.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/washington/lincoln-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.