SkyGround

County-level natural hazard risk data for researchers

All counties

Pierce County, WA

Population: 920,483 · FIPS code: 53053

Relatively High Overall risk index: 98.5 / 100 (percentile among US counties)

Hazard breakdown

Hazard NRI rating NRI score NOAA events
(2016–2025)
Wildfire Relatively Low 76.8 0
Inland Flooding Relatively High 96.2 0
Coastal Flooding Relatively Moderate 71.4 0
Earthquake Relatively High 99.6 —
Heat Wave Relatively High 97.3 0
Tornado Relatively Low 41.2 0

NOAA event counts are recorded county-level storm events from the NOAA Storm Events Database for 2016–2025. NOAA does not track earthquakes, and some hazard reports are filed by NWS forecast zone rather than county, so these counts are a partial, not exhaustive, record of recent activity. See the methodology page for details.

Federal disaster declaration history

Pierce County has been included in 26 federal disaster declarations between 1965 and 2026, most recently for Flood in 2026 (SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries. Counts reflect county-level declaration records (a single disaster can produce more than one record per county), not modeled risk.

Geomagnetic latitude

Pierce County sits at approximately 52.6°N geomagnetic latitude. Aurora can become visible on the horizon here during geomagnetic storms reaching roughly Kp 7 or higher (G3 – Strong on NOAA's scale). See current space weather conditions for live geomagnetic activity and aurora forecasts.

Geomagnetic latitude is an approximate dipole-model calculation based on this county's geographic centroid (US Census Bureau). See the methodology page for details and limitations.

What these ratings mean

Each score reflects how Pierce County's expected losses from that hazard compare to every other county in the country, based on FEMA's National Risk Index. A "Very High" rating means this county is among the most exposed in the US for that hazard relative to other counties — it does not mean a disaster is likely this year. See the methodology page for how these scores are calculated.