Photo: Tiado · CC BY-SA 3.0A flood study covers Cardston County: 3 on the national inventory, the newest from Government of Alberta
Some 2.6% of the land within 25 km of Cardston County has burned since 1986; at 0.08% a year that is moderate, not high. For earthquakes Cardston County is middling, $0.039 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Cardston County’s survey area, 8.9% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Cardston County a grade of C+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Cardston County’s hazards
For Cardston County, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Cardston County faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Cardston County grades C+ for hazard risk
The grade weighs Cardston County’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #460 of 474 in Alberta and #1,802 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
A moderate wildfire record for Cardston County: 2.6% within 25 km burned, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Cardston County’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.08% of the land a year, Cardston County’s burn rate is moderate; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Fire has stayed at least 12 km from Cardston County’s homes since 1986.
Little near Cardston County’s homes can carry a forest fire; only 0% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, and 2.2% within 25 km.
Shares of land within 5 and 25 km of populated blocks: burned at least once in 1986–2025 (CWFIS burned-area composite), forest fuel and grass (fire behaviour fuel types, 2026, 250 m grid).
Burn rate a year, towns in Alberta · highest of 478
In the top quarter in Alberta: Cardston County ranks 30th of 478 at 0.08% a year, with Wainwright first at 1.43%.
Each bar: the yearly average share of land within 25 km of a town’s homes that burned, 1986–2025 (CWFIS); the seven highest towns of 2,500 people or more.
Moderate puts Cardston County above most of Canada’s 2,610 towns, yet 2.1% rank high or very high and 5.4% share its band.
Bands of the yearly burn rate: low under 0.05%, moderate under 0.25%, high under 1%, very high 1% or more; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Canadian Wildland Fire Information System: National Burned Area Composite 1986–2025 and fire behaviour fuel types (2026), Natural Resources Canada. Measured within 25 km and 5 km of each populated dissemination area; past fire, not a forecast.
3 flood studies cover Cardston County, the newest from Government of Alberta
Flood studies whose area touches Cardston County, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
For Cardston County the inventory points to 3 studies, most recently Government of Alberta’s in 2024.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardston Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
| Stand Off Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
| Lethbridge Flood Hazard Study | Government of Alberta | 2007 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study sets Cardston County apart in Alberta, where 46% of towns have one (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Mapping around Cardston County goes back to the 2000s and peaks in the 2020s, with 2 of its 3 studies.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Cardston County.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Cardston County’s homes are at risk.
The inventory’s own caution (NRCan): “The Canada Flood Map (CFM) does not include every flood hazard map in Canada and may be incomplete or contain inaccuracies. It should not be relied upon as the official source of flood mapping information. Furthermore, if a map appears to be missing, this does not necessarily mean that the area has never been mapped. For the official version of a map, updated information, or confirmation of applicable regulations, please contact the local authority responsible for flood mapping.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Expected shaking damage in Cardston County: $0.039 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Earthquake losses in Cardston County, $0.039 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (1.3 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Alberta peaks in Black Diamond ($0.048); Cardston County, at $0.039, sits above the median of $0.013.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Middle of the pack: 45% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Cardston County.
Each column: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more in that range of yearly loss per $1,000 (NRCan, 2022).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Cardston County.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
8.9% of homes tested around Cardston County are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Chinook Regional Health Authority
The survey area of Cardston County reads 8.9%, a shade from the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
0.9% of tests around Cardston County passed 600 Bq/m³; over 200, its 8.9% matches the median in Alberta, 7.5%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Cardston County is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
Each bar: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more whose survey area had that share of tests over 200 Bq/m³.
Neighbouring homes in Cardston County can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Cardston County
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Cardston County; Alert Ready carries the urgent ones to phones, radio and TV.
| Alert | What it means |
|---|---|
| Warning | Severe weather is happening or about to: act now. |
| Watch | Conditions favour severe weather: be ready. |
| Advisory | Weather that is less severe but could disrupt the day. |
| Special weather statement | Unusual weather worth knowing about. |
| Special air quality statement | Poor air, often wildfire smoke. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Cardston County, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Cardston County
The same four hazards for the places next door.
Among its neighbours Cardston County has the most fire on record (moderate); Blood 148 follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Cardston County faces
What to do about the hazards Cardston County faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Test for three months in winter.
- Over 200 Bq/m³: fix it.
- Kits are cheap; pros test too.
- Never drive through floodwater.
- Move papers and medicines upstairs.
- Ask whether your street is mapped.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Cardston County’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Cardston County takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Cardston County.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Cardston County, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Cardston County
How is Cardston County’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Cardston County grades C+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Cardston County?
Expected earthquake damage in Cardston County comes to $0.039 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is radon a problem in Cardston County?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8.9% of 112 homes tested in Cardston County’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Cardston County at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 2.6% of the land within 25 km of Cardston County has burned since 1986, the last in 2023, a moderate band that leaves Risk alone.
Does Cardston County flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Cardston County; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
Seismic risk: Natural Resources Canada. Radon: Health Canada. Wildfire: Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. Flood studies: Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
Sources: NRCan, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model 2022 · Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes · CWFIS, National Burned Area Composite and FBP fuel types · NRCan, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).