Winter Weather Risk by State & County

Ranked by FEMA National Risk Index winter weather hazard score · code WNTW

Winter Weather risk reflects heavy snow, blizzards, and hazardous winter conditions. FEMA's National Risk Index scores each county's winter weather hazard from its expected annual loss, annualized event frequency, and exposed population. Cook County, Illinois currently leads the nation with a winter weather score of 100.0 and $4M in expected annual loss. Pennsylvania, New York, Texas account for much of the highest-rated winter weather risk in this dataset.

Read the full winter weather risk guide — how FEMA scores it and how to prepare →

Winter Weather Risk by State

#StateExpected Ann. LossAvg. ScoreRatingCounties Rated
1Texas$34M
45.0
Medium 254 of 254
2Pennsylvania$33M
69.5
High 67 of 67
3North Dakota$27M
76.8
High 53 of 53
4North Carolina$25M
64.6
High 100 of 100
5Kansas$25M
55.4
Medium 105 of 105
6New York$23M
62.5
High 62 of 62
7New Jersey$23M
94.0
Very High 21 of 21
8Colorado$21M
52.4
Medium 64 of 64
9Minnesota$20M
64.5
High 87 of 87
10Michigan$19M
62.0
High 83 of 83
11Montana$18M
65.8
High 56 of 56
12Illinois$16M
51.3
Medium 102 of 102
13Ohio$16M
60.0
Medium 88 of 88
14Maine$16M
92.2
Very High 16 of 16
15Missouri$15M
52.4
Medium 115 of 115
16South Dakota$15M
67.6
High 66 of 66
17Maryland$14M
75.4
High 24 of 24
18Nebraska$13M
47.8
Medium 93 of 93
19Iowa$12M
51.3
Medium 99 of 99
20Indiana$12M
51.2
Medium 92 of 92
21Utah$12M
73.0
High 29 of 29
22Idaho$12M
59.7
Medium 44 of 44
23Kentucky$12M
53.6
Medium 120 of 120
24Virginia$11M
37.8
Low 133 of 133
25Tennessee$10M
50.4
Medium 95 of 95
26Oklahoma$9M
57.5
Medium 77 of 77
27Arkansas$9M
51.5
Medium 75 of 75
28New Mexico$8M
71.7
High 33 of 33
29Wisconsin$8M
50.5
Medium 72 of 72
30Alaska$7M
54.5
Medium 30 of 30
31Wyoming$7M
68.6
High 23 of 23
32Washington$6M
54.4
Medium 39 of 39
33Oregon$5M
54.9
Medium 36 of 36
34Nevada$5M
60.4
High 17 of 17
35Delaware$4M
96.3
Very High 3 of 3
36South Carolina$3M
41.8
Medium 46 of 46
37California$3M
31.4
Low 58 of 58
38Arizona$3M
55.8
Medium 15 of 15
39Georgia$3M
15.6
Very Low 159 of 159
40Alabama$3M
26.6
Low 67 of 67
41New Hampshire$3M
72.8
High 10 of 10
42Connecticut$3M
76.0
High 9 of 9
43West Virginia$3M
36.6
Low 55 of 55
44Mississippi$2M
26.7
Low 82 of 82
45Louisiana$2M
30.5
Low 64 of 64
46Vermont$2M
59.8
Medium 14 of 14
47Massachusetts$1M
44.6
Medium 14 of 14
48District of Columbia$946K
96.8
Very High 1 of 1
49Florida$469K
6.9
Very Low 67 of 67
50Rhode Island$253K
37.3
Low 5 of 5
51Hawaii$672
0.6
Very Low 5 of 5

States ranked by total expected annual winter weather losses; the average score is the mean over all counties, counting unrated counties as zero.

Riskiest Counties for Winter Weather

#CountyStateWinter Weather ScoreRatingAnn. Freq.Ann. Loss
1Cook CountyIL
100.0
Very High 14.60 / yr$4M
2Johnson CountyKS
100.0
Very High 11.26 / yr$6M
3Kings CountyNY
99.9
Very High 8.71 / yr$2M
4El Paso CountyTX
99.9
Very High 2.42 / yr$2M
5El Paso CountyCO
99.9
Very High 14.54 / yr$5M
6Philadelphia CountyPA
99.8
Very High 10.54 / yr$2M
7Montgomery CountyPA
99.8
Very High 12.40 / yr$3M
8Potter CountyTX
99.8
Very High 10.74 / yr$2M
9Queens CountyNY
99.7
Very High 9.47 / yr$2M
10Baltimore CountyMD
99.7
Very High 12.50 / yr$3M
11Penobscot CountyME
99.7
Very High 25.79 / yr$3M
12Middlesex CountyNJ
99.6
Very High 10.59 / yr$2M
13Burleigh CountyND
99.6
Very High 19.42 / yr$3M
14Cass CountyND
99.6
Very High 24.26 / yr$4M
15Gallatin CountyMT
99.6
Very High 49.27 / yr$4M
16Erie CountyNY
99.5
Very High 44.91 / yr$2M
17New Castle CountyDE
99.5
Very High 10.37 / yr$2M
18Lancaster CountyPA
99.5
Very High 12.27 / yr$2M
19Ocean CountyNJ
99.4
Very High 9.38 / yr$2M
20Camden CountyNJ
99.4
Very High 10.70 / yr$2M
21Berks CountyPA
99.4
Very High 12.63 / yr$2M
22Bronx CountyNY
99.3
Very High 10.49 / yr$1M
23Randall CountyTX
99.3
Very High 10.56 / yr$2M
24Cascade CountyMT
99.3
Very High 45.67 / yr$2M
25Delaware CountyPA
99.2
Very High 10.49 / yr$2M

Showing the top 25 seeded counties for winter weather risk.