How Likely Is a Tornado in Umatilla County, OR?
Umatilla County, OR: what NOAA's tornado record says
Umatilla County has recorded 9 tornado touches in NOAA's 76-year database, a rate of roughly one every 8.5 years - our Low band. Put another way: Umatilla County sees more tornado activity than 27% of US counties. Oregon has 36 counties in this dataset; Umatilla County ranks 2 of them by frequency.
Beyond the frequency band: violent history
8 weak and 0 significant tornadoes make up Umatilla County's 9-track record - none violent. NOAA has never logged an EF4 or EF5 crossing this county.
The dollar figure Umatilla County's rating leads to
Cost nationally: $2,890-$13,280, about $7,645 typical. Oregon has no state rebate program confirmed here; FEMA's underlying 75% cost-share exists nationwide, but applying through a state program is what usually makes it real, and none was found for Oregon this pass.
What a direct hit isn't required for
The storm that misses Umatilla County outright can still take its power out - outbreak-scale outages across Oregon are common well beyond the tracked path. A battery-backup unit handles that without a generator's setup or fuel.
What this number is, and is not
One caveat before relying on Umatilla County's number: it is county-wide, and it covers about 3,215 square miles, so a single touch counts the same as one in a county a fraction of that size. Weaker pre-1990s tornadoes are also documented as undercounted in NOAA's own record. Umatilla County has about 80,491 residents.