SkyGround

County-level natural hazard risk data for researchers

All counties

Yakima County, WA

Population: 256,420 · FIPS code: 53077

Relatively Moderate Overall risk index: 94 / 100 (percentile among US counties)

Hazard breakdown

Hazard NRI rating NRI score NOAA events
(2016–2025)
Wildfire Relatively High 98.9 0
Inland Flooding Relatively Moderate 92.9 11
Coastal Flooding Not Applicable — 0
Earthquake Relatively Moderate 97.4 —
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate 93.5 0
Tornado Very Low 19.5 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

Yakima County has been included in 36 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

Yakima County sits at approximately 52.2°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 Yakima 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.