Saratoga Springs

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 Saratoga County, the county that contains Saratoga Springs.

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 Saratoga County, the county that contains Saratoga Springs.

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 Saratoga County, the county that contains Saratoga Springs.

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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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 Saratoga County.

Mapped by USGS Conterminous (3), NASA (1).

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. May 31, 1998Tornado$60.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   During the morning hours of May 31, a strong low pressure system over the upper Great Lakes pushed a warm front across eastern New York and western New England. This set the stage for a major severe weather outbreak in eastern New York. In this highly sheared environment several lines of severe thunderstorms formed ahead of an approaching cold front. This resulted in three tornadoes and severe thunderstorm damage in every county. The most significant tornado occurred in Saratoga County and northern Rensselaer County. This tornado touched down at Ushers Road in the Town of Halfmoon and moved due east into the City of Mechanicville. Here, the tornado intensified to an F3 and…

2. Jan 19, 1996Flood, Northern Saratoga$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense area of low pressure which was located over the Mid-Atlantic region on Friday morning January 19th produced unseasonably warm temperatures, high dewpoints and strong winds. This resulted in rapid melting of one to three feet of snow. In addition to the rapid snowmelt one to three inches of rain fell as the system moved northeast along the coast. This resulted in widespread flooding across Saratoga County including the flooding of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. Federal Disaster Assistance was made available by presidential declaration. Small streams flooded across the entire county with many roads being washed out. Flooding was most severe in Waterford, Stillwater and…

3. Jan 19, 1996Flood, Southern Saratoga$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense area of low pressure which was located over the Mid-Atlantic region on Friday morning January 19th produced unseasonably warm temperatures, high dewpoints and strong winds. This resulted in rapid melting of one to three feet of snow. In addition to the rapid snowmelt one to three inches of rain fell as the system moved northeast along the coast. This resulted in widespread flooding across Saratoga County including the flooding of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. Federal Disaster Assistance was made available by presidential declaration. Small streams flooded across the entire county with many roads being washed out. Flooding was most severe in Waterford, Stillwater and…

4. Jun 2, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful cold front moved across eastern New York late on June 2. The air mass was very unstable ahead of the cold front. A very strong jet stream aloft moved ahead of the surface cold front. The combination of the extremely unstable air and the strong winds aloft, generated widespread severe weather damage across the area. In all, over 40 separate events of severe weather were reported, the result of straight line thunderstorm winds and hail. Severe weather was reported in all but Warren and Hamilton counties. Saratoga county was especially hard hit with many communities reporting widespread damage. A lone thunderstorm, ahead of most of the action, produced dime sized hail in…

5. Jan 8, 1998Flood, Southern Saratoga$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   From January 8 to January 12, the Hudson River flooded from its headwaters to where it crosses into Greene and Columbia Counties, due to a combination of significant rain and snowmelt. In Hamilton and Warren Counties, the river rose to heights that came close to the flood of record. Flood damage in this area was kept to a minimum due to its flow through undeveloped areas and vacation property which was secured for the winter. At North Creek in northern Warren County, the crest fell 0.6 feet below the flood of record. At Lake Luzerne, six homes were evacuated along the Hudson River. In Washington County, River Road was closed in the Town of Greenwich and roads and backyards were…

6. Jul 6, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A cold front moved from the Great Lakes eastward across New York State on July 6. With sultry air in place, and favourable strong winds aloft, this front triggered the largest outbreak of severe weather in eastern New York since May 31st, 1998. A squall line developed around midday ahead of the front and produced the most damage. However, more thunderstorm cells continued developing and some of these became severe into the evening hours. Nearly every county in eastern New York experienced some wind damage. Rensselaer, Warren, Washington,Herkimer, Saratoga and Schenectady Counties were especially hard -hit. Powerful thunderstorms brought down trees and power lines in many…

7. Sep 21, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of thunderstorms, that formed ahead of a fast moving and powerful cold front , became locally severe as it moved into eastern New York during the early morning hours of September 21. Thunderstorm winds blew down trees and power lines in Frankfort, Herkimer county. More trees were blown down at Fort Plain, Canajoharie and St. Johnsville, all in Montgomery county. Trees and wires were knocked down at Caroga Lake in Fulton county. Trees fell in Charlottesville, Schoharie county. In Schenectady county, trees were reported blown over in both Duanesburg and the city of Schenectady. Numerous trees fell in Rensselaerville and areas just to the north, in Albany county. By far, the…

8. Apr 9, 2008Flood$225,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The melting of a deep snowpack led to moderate or higher river flooding across portions of the upper Hudson River basin, including the Great Sacandaga Lake, and the Hudson River between Schuylerville and Mechanicville.||Snow water equivalents of nearly one foot began to melt during a warm period beginning around April 10th, and led to river flooding which persisted through the end of April.||On the Hudson River near Schuylerville, a sod farm suffered estimated losses of $225,000 due to prolonged submersion of sod in Hudson River flood waters. In addition, the New York State Canal Corporation was unable to open the Hudson-Champlain Canal in April due to high water levels.…

9. Feb 27, 2000Flood, Southern Saratoga$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A warmup at the end of Feburary, began melting the winter snowpack fairly quickly and helped break up an extensive ice pack on the upper Hudson and Mohawk Rivers. As a result, ice jams developed on the Mohawk and Hudson rivers. During the night of Feburary 27 and 28, rainfall accumulated between one half and one inch and a half across eastern New York. The rains exacerbated the runoff, which resulted in the flooding of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers, as well as some smaller streams. Most of the flooding was minor. The Mohawk River exceeded bankful between Utica and Cohoes. The gage at Utica exceeded its flood stage of 403 feet on Feburary 27, crested at 406.4 feet on the 28th, and…

10. Jun 2, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A powerful cold front moved across eastern New York late on June 2. The air mass was very unstable ahead of the cold front. A very strong jet stream aloft moved ahead of the surface cold front. The combination of the extremely unstable air and the strong winds aloft, generated widespread severe weather damage across the area. In all, over 40 separate events of severe weather were reported, the result of straight line thunderstorm winds and hail. Severe weather was reported in all but Warren and Hamilton counties. Saratoga county was especially hard hit with many communities reporting widespread damage. A lone thunderstorm, ahead of most of the action, produced dime sized hail in…

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

99°F3 times, most recently Jul 22, 2011

All-time low

−33°FJan 27, 1994

Warmest night

79°FJul 24, 2001

Coldest day

−2°FDec 25, 1980

Wettest day

5.11 inJul 29, 2026

Snowiest day

32.0 inDec 17, 2020

Hottest year

2012mean 52.2°F

Coldest year

1974mean 44.2°F

Wettest year

200857.37 in

Driest year

196424.19 in

Snowiest season

112.3 in1971-72

Station Saratoga Springs 4 Sw (USC00307484), 326 ft elevation, 2.8 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1955 to October 13, 2026; 95.2% 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 Saratoga 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 USC00307484.
• 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.