States › Washington › 1998
Washington, 1998
The year's recorded storm events, federal disaster declarations and flood insurance claims.
NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders.
Events by hazard
Includes events recorded by forecast zone. The state's yearly total for 1998 was 216 against 196 in 1997.
Counties with the most recorded events
Notable events
| Date | County | Event type | Magnitude | Property damage | Deaths | Injuries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 Jan 1998 | Forecast zone | Heavy Snow | — | $100,000 | 1 | 7 |
| 11 Jun 1998 | Forecast zone | Avalanche | — | — | 1 | 7 |
| 18 Jan 1998 | Forecast zone | Avalanche | — | — | 1 | — |
| 14 Jan 1998 | Forecast zone | Winter Storm | — | — | 1 | — |
| 2 Aug 1998 | Chelan | Wildfire | — | $10,000,000 | — | — |
| 6 Aug 1998 | Adams | Wildfire | — | $60,000 | — | 1 |
| 23 Nov 1998 | Forecast zone | High Wind | 76 mph | $6,500,000 | — | — |
| 26 May 1998 | Ferry | Flash Flood | — | $3,500,000 | — | — |
| 27 Jul 1998 | Whitman | Wildfire | — | $70,000 | — | — |
| 27 Dec 1998 | Forecast zone | Flood | — | $500,000 | — | — |
| 7 Jun 1998 | Whitman | Flash Flood | — | $500,000 | — | — |
| 11 Jan 1998 | Forecast zone | Ice Storm | — | $250,000 | — | — |
| 26 May 1998 | Pend Oreille | Flash Flood | — | $250,000 | — | — |
| 27 Dec 1998 | Grays Harbor | Heavy Rain | — | $200,000 | — | — |
| 21 Aug 1998 | Ferry | Wildfire | — | $50,000 | — | — |
| 26 May 1998 | Okanogan | Flash Flood | — | $100,000 | — | — |
| 3 Jul 1998 | Stevens | Wildfire | — | $50,000 | — | — |
| 28 Dec 1998 | Chelan | Flash Flood | — | $80,000 | — | — |
| 27 Jul 1998 | Okanogan | Wildfire | — | $50,000 | — | — |
| 6 Aug 1998 | Whitman | Wildfire | — | $50,000 | — | — |
| 26 May 1998 | Stevens | Flash Flood | — | $50,000 | — | — |
| 26 May 1998 | Okanogan | Flash Flood | — | $50,000 | — | — |
| 27 Dec 1998 | Whitman | Flash Flood | — | $50,000 | — | — |
Up to 40 events with deaths, injuries, damage of $50,000 or more, or a tornado rating, ranked by deaths, injuries and damage.
Federal disaster declarations in 1998
| Declared | Number | Type | Incident | Title | Counties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 Oct 1998 | DR-1255 | Major disaster | Mud/Landslide | Wa Landslide 3/6/98 | 1 |
| 5 Oct 1998 | DR-1252 | Major disaster | Severe Storm | Wa Storms & Flooding 5/26/98 | 2 |
| 25 Sep 1998 | FM-2248 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Tucannon Fire (Columbia) | 0 |
| 3 Sep 1998 | FM-2237 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Ball Park Fire (Cowlitz) | 0 |
| 28 Jul 1998 | FM-2225 | Fire management assistance | Fire | Wa - Cleveland Fire - 07/28/98 | 1 |
Flood insurance claims with a 1998 date of loss
143 NFIP claims, 83 of them paid, for $1,193,671.
Sources: NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 (1 Oct 2026); OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 (8 Sep 2026). Built 1 Oct 2026.