Portsmouth

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 Scioto County, the county that contains Portsmouth.

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 Scioto County, the county that contains Portsmouth.

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 Scioto County, the county that contains Portsmouth.

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 Scioto County.

Mapped by 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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Scioto$9.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds of 40 to 50 miles per hour were sustained for several hours. Wind gusts over 60 mph were common. Widespread damage occurred across the region, from trees being blown down on powerlines, to significant crop losses and structural damage.

2. Mar 1, 1997Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Estimated rainfall of 5 to 10 inches across the county in less than 36 hours caused numerous creeks and streams to rise out of their banks. Numerous roads were covered and at least 2000 people were evacuated as water rose into many area homes. Several cars were washed away. Across the county, at least 10 bridges were washed out, 200 homes damaged beyond repair, and 400 additional homes received reparable damage.

3. Mar 2, 1997Flood, Scioto$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall occurred across Southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky on the 1st and 2nd with areas along the Ohio river receiving up to 12 inches of rainfall. The river rose rapidly reaching a crest of 59.8 feet at Portsmouth at 1000 pm on the 4th. Flood stage is 50.0 feet. Further downstream at Meldahl Dam, the river crested at 61.3 feet at 700 pm on the 6th. Flood stage is 51.0 feet. In Cincinnati, the river crested at 64.7 feet at 1100 pm on the 5th. Many towns were flooded from Portsmouth to Cincinnati and thousands of people were evacuated from their homes for several days.

4. Feb 16, 2003Winter Storm, Scioto$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Warm, moist air on southerly winds were brought to the Ohio River valley during the early morning hours. Cold air in place at the surface allowed most of this precipitation to fall as freezing rain. Most areas received a quarter to a half inch of ice accumulation.

5. Jan 23, 1996Flood, Scioto$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   By the 23rd many tributaries to the Ohio river had already crested and were receding back within their banks. However, a significant rain event occurred on the 23rd bringing over 2 inches of rain to South Central areas with lesser amounts to the north. Many tributaries were pushed back into flood on the 24th, and the flood crest moved downstream on the Ohio river. While most tributaries only experienced minor to moderate flooding, backwater flooding from the Ohio resulted in major flooding along some of the tributaries. The Little Miami river was flooded particularly bad just east of Cincinnati. Evacuations took place near the confluence of the Ohio and Little Miami rivers on the…

6. Feb 18, 2000Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread 2 to 4 inch rains with locally higher amounts contributed to serious flooding across the county. Over 100 roads were closed including State Route 73, over 100 basements were flooded, 50 homes were flooded on the main floors, and over 100 people were evacuated due to high water.

7. Jan 6, 1996Winter Storm, Scioto$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Blizzard of '96 developed near the Gulf Coast and moved up the East Coast. This massive system produced the greatest total and 24 hour snowfall at Greater Cincinnati\Northern Kentucky airport. This one storm brought 14.3 inches of snowfall to the airport which normally receives 23 inches for an entire season. The heaviest snow fell near the Ohio river in the extreme south. The worst blizzard conditions occurred over West Central areas as dry and powdery snow was blown around by high winds causing whiteouts. Some areas had more than 30 continuous hours of snowfall, and many people in Southern Ohio felt this was the worst winter storm since the Blizzard of '78. In Fayette…

8. Aug 9, 2000Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado was embedded in an area of straight line winds near Wheelersburg. Trees and power lines were knocked down on vehicles, damage occurred to a few homes, and two rail cars were knocked off their tracks.

9. Jul 21, 2010Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple homes were flooded in the area due to heavy rainfall. Two homes were destroyed, two homes sustained major damage, and several homes received minor damage. In addition, there were multiple water rescues. There was one fatality during the event. The fatality was a female who was outside trying to get to higher ground when she was swept away in the flash flooding. In addition to the fatality, there were four injuries. All of the flooding reports and the fatality occurred in the Franklin Furnace area.

10. Mar 2, 2012Tornado$170,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The tornado touched down along Rocky Fork Road, about 2 miles southwest of Otway. The tornado snapped and uprooted numerous trees in groves as it moved northeast along Rocky Fork Road and Highway 348. The tornado then lifted just as it hit the town of Otway, where it damaged two homes and heavily damaged a fire station. Based on the damage surveyed, the maximum estimated wind speed of this tornado was 75 miles per hour.

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

107°FJul 28, 1930

All-time low

−29°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

83°FJul 5, 1900

Coldest day

−1°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

6.57 inSep 28, 2024

Snowiest day

18.5 inJan 17, 1994

Hottest year

1933mean 59.8°F

Coldest year

1917mean 52.5°F

Wettest year

201859.92 in

Driest year

193022.54 in

Snowiest season

40.2 in1959-60

Station Portsmouth-sciotoville (USC00336781), 540 ft elevation, 3.4 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 28, 2026; 95.8% 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 Scioto 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 USC00336781.
• 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.