Ironton

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.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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 Lawrence County, the county that contains Ironton.

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 Lawrence County, the county that contains Ironton.

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 Lawrence County, the county that contains Ironton.

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 Lawrence County.

Mapped by NASA (13).

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 10, 2011Flash Flood$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flashing flooding was common in the county. Numerous water rescues occurred both from homes and vehicles. The main concentration of damage was around Pedro, Ironton, Kitts Hill and Rock Camp. The state of Ohio reported 40 homes had major damage and 40 other homes had minor damage. Five businesses were also affected to some degree. Damage to roads, small bridges, and culverts occurred. Numerous water rescues occurred.

2. Jul 20, 2010Flash Flood$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Around 150 properties reported damage. Of that number, about 30 to 35 homes sustained major damage or were destroyed. Two county timber bridges were washed away. A historic double stone arch bridge at Lake Vesuvius was severely damaged. It was built in the 1930s. Several private bridges and culverts were also damaged or destroyed, creating access issues. One school was damaged along with some churches. Debris, including large boulders, also slid off unstable hillsides onto roads. ||A lot of the damage was concentrated in the Storms Creek. That was along and near Route 93. Yet, even along Solida Creek north of South Point, damaged occurred. Overall, Hamilton, Upper, Elizabeth, and…

3. Mar 2, 1997Flood, Lawrence$2.0 million
4. May 2, 2010Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   During the heavy rain, 13 of the 15 fire departments in the county were responding to water related incidents. At least 15 water rescues were conducted by the fire departments and law enforcement. The county declared a local emergency. ||Throughout the county, 6 dwellings were destroyed, 8 had major damage, and 14 had minor damage. The Red Cross provided temporary housing to 6 families, while many other displaced residents stayed with family or friends. A large landslide damaged County Route 5 along Elkins Creek.

5. Mar 1, 1997Flash Flood$2.0 million
6. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Scattered locations throughout the county had large trees and branches blown down. Around 13,400 customers lost electricity. The county engineer said the 911 center encountered a large volume of calls from people who were dependent on oxygen machines and were without electricity. He summarized the whole event by saying, we just had a bad evening. Two overnight shelters were opened and supported by faith-based organizations for 4 days. These were in Ironton and Chesapeake. The South Point Volunteer Fire Department also provided shelter accommodations.||The public infrastructure damage assessment was around $239,000.

7. Feb 16, 2003Ice Storm, Lawrence$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe ice storm occurred, when 1 to 2 inches of ice from freezing rain accumulated on trees and power lines. The precipitation initially started as snow then changed to rain then freezing rain. The freezing rain was mixed with sleet at times. The storm finally ended as a period of snow on Monday, the 17th. Roads remained blocked by fallen branches and trees for several days. A Meigs County deputy sheriff said on the 17th, "We've got trees coming down about every 5 minutes". The city of Pomeroy was without electricity for 5 days, No electricity lead to water shortages. Refrigerated frozen foods spoiled. Governor Taft declared a state of emergency in Lawrence, Gallia, and Meigs…

8. Mar 2, 1997Flash Flood$1.0 million
9. Jun 4, 2008Flood$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The rains on the 3rd set up Lawrence County for significant small stream flooding during the afternoon and night on the 4th. Pine Creek, Little Pine Creek, Symmes Creek, Canoons Creek, Johns Creek and Little Ice Creek were the main culprits. About 4 mobile homes were destroyed due to water damage, mostly along Pine Creek and County Route 27. About 10 dwelling had major damage. A few bridges and several culverts were damaged. Landslides also occurred.

10. Sep 17, 2004Flood, Lawrence$750,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Light rain spread north into southeast Ohio during the afternoon and evening hours of the 16th. The heavier rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan developed over Lawrence County before dawn on Friday the 17th, reaching the Athens and Marietta vicinity by 0900E on the 17th. By 1700E the heavy rain was pulling east and northeast, out of southeast Ohio. A rain event of 24 to 30 hours dumped 4 to 6.5 inches of rain. Some specific preliminary totals included Beverly 6.4 inches, McArthur 6 inches, McConnelsville 5.5 inches, Athens and Waterloo 5.1 inches, Marietta and Newport 4.8 inches, Gallipolis 4.3 inches, and Nelsonville 4 inches. Rains were not as heavy over central and northern…

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 7, 2012

All-time low

−21°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

78°F4 times, most recently Jul 27, 2023

Coldest day

3°FJan 8, 1970

Wettest day

3.89 inSep 17, 2004

Snowiest day

21.1 inMar 13, 1993

Hottest year

2024mean 60.2°F

Coldest year

1963mean 53.3°F

Wettest year

201162.44 in

Driest year

196329.99 in

Snowiest season

55.7 in1977-78

Station Huntington Tri-state Airport (USW00003860), 824 ft elevation, 13.3 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1961 to October 27, 2026; 99.9% 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 Lawrence 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 USW00003860.
• 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.