Natural disaster risk in Washoe County, Nevada

Overall: relatively high risk

Washoe County has a composite risk score of 96.7 out of 100 — higher than 96% of US counties. It ranks 2 of 17 in Nevada (1 = highest risk). Its highest-rated hazards are winter weather, earthquake, wildfire.

Drought now: Yes: D1 Moderate Drought, 28 weeks

Yes. On the U.S. Drought Monitor map valid 13 October 2026, 100% of Washoe County is in D1 Moderate Drought. Some of it has been at D1 or worse for 28 weeks in a row.

Drought in Washoe County: the last 52 weeks · droughtmonitor.unl.edu

The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Map courtesy of NDMC.

Yes. Washoe County has been named in 13 FEMA declarations since 1 Jan 2024. The latest is FM-5678-NV (Bull Fire), declared 2 Oct 2026.

How to read these ratings

• Ratings run in five steps: very low, relatively low, relatively moderate, relatively high and very high. They compare a county with every other US county; they are not a measure of danger on their own.
• Scores run from 0 to 100 and are national percentiles. The bar shows the score: a score of 80 means a higher value than 80% of US counties.
• Overall risk combines the expected annual loss with social vulnerability and community resilience.
• Expected annual loss is the average yearly loss to buildings, people and agriculture the model expects from all 18 hazards.
• Social vulnerability describes how hard it may be for people to prepare for and recover from a disaster. Higher is worse.
• Community resilience describes a community's ability to prepare, adapt and recover. Higher is better.
• "Not applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard there (for example, hurricanes far inland).

About this data

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, version 1.20, released December 2025, published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (US public domain). About the National Risk Index. The index is a model of relative risk built from historical hazard records, what is exposed and community factors. It is not a forecast, it does not describe any single property, and it is not insurance or financial advice. For decisions about a specific address, check FEMA's flood maps and your local emergency management office.