Elmira

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Chemung County, the county that contains Elmira.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Chemung County, the county that contains Elmira.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Chemung County, the county that contains Elmira.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Landslides mapped in Chemung County.

Mapped by USGS Conterminous (2).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jan 19, 1996Flash Flood$17.8 million
2. Jul 26, 2012Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down west of Elmira near Miracle Lane off of Route 352. It traveled through west Elmira and into downtown Elmira along Church Street. It fell hundreds of trees. Some trees smashed cars, homes, and porches. It was amazing no one was injured or killed. The damage path widened while in downtown Elmira between Route 14 and Route 17. Then the tornado turned towards the southeast and traveled in a path near Jerusalem Hill Road. It lifted near the intersection of Jerusalem Hill Road and Monkey Run Road.

3. Nov 8, 1996Flash Flood$1.5 million
4. Sep 7, 2011Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flash flooding took place across most of the small streams, creeks and poor drainage areas in eastern Chemung County. Many roads and bridges were washed out.

5. Sep 17, 2004Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain with amounts from 2.5 to 4 inches caused flash flooding. The rain which fell from the 16th to the 18th was due to the remnants of hurricane Ivan. Many streams and creeks went out of their banks. The rain also caused the Chemung River to flood. A few homes were damaged by the flash flooding.

6. Aug 9, 2003Flash Flood$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   3 to 3.5 inches of rain caused massive flash flooding of the Southport area in Chemung County. Seely and Dry Run Creeks were most impacted. Numerous roads were closed and flooded. Several residents and buildings were evacuated due to the flooding.

7. Apr 28, 2011Tornado$575,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado started just west of the Erin Town Hall, south of Route 223. It began just southwest of the local cemetery and tracked toward the northeast. Numerous pine trees were snapped off and uprooted in the cemetery. ||Immediately to the west of the cemetery, a well-constructed barn was destroyed, with all four walls completely collapsed. The tornado tracked northeast and across Route 223. The tornado lofted debris into the yard across the street with debris from the destroyed barn impaled into the front lawn. Debris also blew all the windows out of the front of the home, with some debris penetrating the siding and thrown into the home. At this site, all three vehicles were…

8. Jul 22, 2003Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two day rainfall between 2 and 4 inches fell on the 21st into the 22nd. Very slow-moving thunderstorms on the 22nd caused flash flooding. The excessive rainfall caused flooding along Catherine Creek. Several roads were closed as a result of this flooding.

9. Sep 9, 2004Flood, Chemung$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall from the remnants of hurricane Frances caused the Chemung River at Elmira to rise above its flood stage of 12 feet. The Chemung River at Elmira crested around 13 feet late on the 9th. Rainfall amounts were 1.5 to 4 inches with locally higher amounts across the Chemung River basin. Many roads were flooded and closed due to the river flooding in the Big Flats area.

10. Apr 27, 2011Flash Flood$400,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several towns and villages experienced damage to roads and culverts due to heavy rain and flash flooding. The town of Erin and Village of Millport both reported severe damage to roads and the highway system. Damage was also reported in The towns of Ashland, Baldwin and City of Elmira.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

104°FJul 21, 2011

All-time low

−25°FFeb 1, 1948

Warmest night

74°F2 times, most recently Jul 22, 2011

Coldest day

2°FFeb 17, 1958

Wettest day

4.02 inOct 14, 1955

Snowiest day

13.0 inMar 16, 1956

Hottest year

2024mean 51.9°F

Coldest year

1958mean 45.3°F

Wettest year

201843.78 in

Driest year

200923.03 in

Station Elmira Corning Regional Airport (USW00014748), 936 ft elevation, 6.5 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1938 to October 27, 2026; 95.6% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Chemung County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00014748.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.