Alaska tornado risk

30 counties scored 0 rated Very High

Bethel Census Area has the highest tornado risk in Alaska, scoring 1.4 out of 100 — rated "Very Low" by FEMA's National Risk Index.

#	County	NRI score	Rating
1	Bethel Census Area	1.4	Very Low
2	Aleutians East Borough	1	Very Low
3	Kusilvak Census Area	0.9	Very Low
4	Matanuska-Susitna Borough	0.9	Very Low
5	Kenai Peninsula Borough	0.8	Very Low
6	Lake and Peninsula Borough	0.8	Very Low
7	Southeast Fairbanks Census Area	0.8	Very Low
8	Fairbanks North Star Borough	0.7	Very Low
9	North Slope Borough	0.7	Very Low
10	Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	0.7	Very Low
11	Aleutians West Census Area	0.6	Very Low
12	Dillingham Census Area	0.6	Very Low
13	Juneau City and Borough	0.6	Very Low
14	Kodiak Island Borough	0.5	Very Low
15	Nome Census Area	0.5	Very Low
16	Northwest Arctic Borough	0.5	Very Low
17	Anchorage Municipality	0.4	Very Low
18	Copper River Census Area	0.4	Very Low
19	Hoonah-Angoon Census Area	0.4	Very Low
20	Bristol Bay Borough	0.3	Very Low
21	Denali Borough	0.3	Very Low
22	Petersburg Borough	0.3	Very Low
23	Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area	0.3	Very Low
24	Haines Borough	0.2	Very Low
25	Ketchikan Gateway Borough	0.2	Very Low
26	Yakutat City and Borough	0.2	Very Low
27	Chugach Census Area	0.1	Very Low
28	Sitka City and Borough	0.1	Very Low
29	Wrangell City and Borough	0.1	Very Low
30	Skagway Municipality	0	Very Low

Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0, December 2025. Scores are 0–100 percentile rankings among all US counties. See the methodology page for definitions. Download the full CSV for all counties.

Tornado risk nationally:

Top 50 US counties

Other hazard risks in Alaska:

Wildfire Inland Flooding Coastal Flooding Earthquake Heat Wave Hurricane Hail Strong Wind Winter Weather Ice Storm Cold Wave Lightning Drought Landslide Avalanche Tsunami Volcanic Activity

Frequently asked questions

What is the highest tornado risk county in Alaska?

Bethel Census Area, AK has the highest tornado risk in Alaska, with a FEMA National Risk Index score of 1.4 out of 100 (rated "Very Low").

What causes tornado risk in Alaska?

Tornado risk concentrates in the central and southern plains ("Tornado Alley") and the Southeast ("Dixie Alley"), where atmospheric conditions favor supercell thunderstorm development. The highest scores often belong to counties with significant mobile home and manufactured housing stock, which carries disproportionate tornado mortality risk.