Tree service in Clallam County, Washington

Storm records for Clallam County

Eighty-one percent of Clallam County’s storm reports land in four months. NOAA logged 72 wind, snow and winter-weather events here between 2016 and 2026, and 58 of them came in November, December, January or February. February is the single busiest month at 19 reports, December matches it, and the record is empty from May through August.

Heavy snow leads the table at 34 reports, high wind follows at 20 and winter weather at 14. That mix fits the ground: the county runs from the Strait of Juan de Fuca up into the Olympics, and the NWS zones that cover it take in the coast, Lake Crescent and US 101, and the Olympic foothills.

At rank 29 of 39 Washington counties the pace is modest and flat, 16 reports in 2023 through 2025 against 17 in the three years before, with no deaths or injuries attached. For a homeowner that means the busy window is short and predictable, so a leaning fir or a cracked limb found in October should be dealt with before the first December storm.

NWS forecast zones covering the county: Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca; Foothills of the Western and Southern Olympic Peninsula; Lake Crescent Area Including US 101; Northern Washington Coast; Olympics; Western Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 2016 to June 2026 · NWS zone-county correlation files (2019 to 2026 versions). Checked 2026-10-02. NOAA Storm Events 2016-2026; zone-based events assigned to every county the NWS zone covers using the zone-county correlation file in force on the event date (2019-04-02 file used for 2016-2018).

Hazard ratings

Strong wind: Very LowIce storm: Relatively LowWinter weather: Relatively HighWildfire: Very Low

FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025 release) rates winter weather in Clallam County as Relatively High, the only elevated rating on the card. Ice storm comes in at Relatively Low, and both strong wind and wildfire rate Very Low; the Forest Service puts wildfire risk to homes here above only 21 percent of Washington counties.

Read that as a snow-load county, not a fire county. Wet Pacific snow on the long limbs of Douglas fir, western redcedar and bigleaf maple is what brings branches down here, and the biggest wind event in the record, on January 12, 2021, did its damage through the grid: NOAA logged about $700,000 in property damage and more than 550,000 outages across the region by daybreak on the 13th. Trees over the service drop are the ones to have assessed before winter.

Wildfire risk to homes: higher than 21% of Washington counties (USDA Forest Service, Wildfire Risk to Communities).

What to do about wildfire exposure: defensible space in Washington and Oregon.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release · USDA Forest Service, Wildfire Risk to Communities (April 2026 download). Checked 2026-10-02.

Burning the debris

The Olympic Region Clean Air Agency, not the state, writes the burn rules for Clallam County. A residential yard-waste fire here needs a free notification to ORCAA rather than a paid permit (the permit requirement applies only in Thurston County), and only dry natural vegetation can go on the pile. Land-clearing burns are a different matter and need a paid permit from ORCAA or the local fire district.

Full rules, seasons and alternatives: yard debris burning rules in Washington.

Source: Olympic Region Clean Air Agency. Checked 2026-10-02.

Power lines and utilities

The utility serving Clallam County is not mapped on this site yet, so there is no outage line or trimming-request link to show here. Until it is, the utilities guide covers the utilities mapped so far and the rules for trees near lines, and the note below explains who may work within 10 feet of a wire.

Source: utility vegetation-management pages linked above; WAC 296-24-960 (WA L&I). Checked 2026-10-02.

Cities and towns in Clallam County

Port Angeles, with 20,146 of the county’s 78,202 people, requires a permit for tree removal in some situations; the Port Angeles page sets out when. Sequim (8,215) has not been researched yet, so ask the city before removing anything near a street.

Together the two cities hold a bit over a third of the population; the rest is spread across 1,739 square miles, and growth has been slow at 1.35 percent since 2020.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Vintage 2025 and 2020 Census. Checked 2026-10-02. Permit rules from each city’s code; see the city pages.

Labor index

BLS puts the mean wage for tree trimmers and pruners in Washington at $32.20 an hour (May 2025); no separate estimate exists for Clallam County, so the statewide figure is shown. Treat it as a labor index. What you pay per crew-hour also carries the bucket truck, the chipper, insurance and dump fees, which is how the modeled ranges on this site are built.

The Census counted 53 landscaping-services establishments in the county in 2023, so bids are worth comparing rather than taking the first one.

Washington statewide: $32.20 per hour mean wage for tree trimmers and pruners (BLS, May 2025); no metro estimate is published, so the statewide figure is shown. This is a labor index, not a price; the modeled crew-hour cost used on this site is $210 (method).

53 landscaping-services establishments were counted in Clallam County in 2023 (Census County Business Patterns, NAICS 561730).

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, SOC 37-3013 · U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, NAICS 561730. Checked 2026-10-02.

Climate and growing conditions

Most of Clallam County sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b on the 2023 map, with some ZIP codes in 9a. Winters are mild enough that almost any Pacific Northwest native or common ornamental will establish, so the replanting question is less about cold than about wind exposure and wet ground.

Western redcedar is the native most people reach for, and it is also the species showing dieback across the region; site it where summer soil stays moist. Douglas fir, Sitka spruce and red alder are the other big natives on this side of the Olympics.

USDA hardiness zones 8b, 9a (2023 map, by ZIP code).

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (OSU PRISM ZIP data). Checked 2026-10-02.

Nearby counties

• Jefferson County106 storm reports since 2016
• San Juan County48 storm reports since 2016
• Island County45 storm reports since 2016
• Mason County49 storm reports since 2016
• Kitsap County79 storm reports since 2016

What to do next

Walk the property before the November storms, not after. Any tree that leans toward the house, drops dead limbs, or stands over the service line is worth a risk assessment, and in Port Angeles check the permit rule before scheduling a removal. Compare bids with the modeled range on the cost page, then confirm the company’s registration through the Washington license lookup before any deposit changes hands.

Services: tree removal · trimming · stump grinding · emergency. Check any company: Washington license lookup.

Major storms that reached Clallam County

These regional storms produced NOAA Storm Events reports in Clallam County since 2016. Each storm page lists the dates, report counts and the other counties hit.

• October 2021 windstorm
• January 2021 windstorm
• November 13, 2017 windstorm
• October 2016 storm series