Blacksburg

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 Montgomery County, the county that contains Blacksburg.

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 Montgomery County, the county that contains Blacksburg.

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 Montgomery County, the county that contains Blacksburg.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 29, 2015Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were numerous reports of roads flooded and some badly damaged across Montgomery County. The biggest impacts were in the western half of the county where 3 to 5 inches of rain fell in a 6-hour period between 0700 LST and 1300 LST. The asphalt on Laurel Mill Ridge road was reportedly washed away. Meadow Creek Road had at least one foot of water rushing over it. Duck Pond Road was closed from Oak Lane to Smithfield. Radford Road was closed, Route 8 in Riner was partially flooded and an earth retaining wall gave way. Toms Creek was flooding a portion of Mt. Zion Road near Brooksfield Road. Plantation was closed due to 6 to 12 inches of water over the road.

2. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds blew thousands of trees and branches down across the county. There were numerous reports of power lines being taken down by the wind or by falling trees or branches. Structural damage occurred to numerous homes that had trees fall on them. Parked vehicles also suffered damage when trees fell on them. One indirect fatality occurred when the driver of a motorcycle crashed into a tree being removed from a road hours after the event. Damage values are estimated.

3. Oct 11, 2018Flash Flood$632,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Montgomery County was included in a Presidential Major Disaster declaration due mainly to the severe flooding associated with Tropical Storm Michael. At least four roads were reported closed across the county including in the Ellett Valley area. At least six inches of moving water was reported over Toms Creek Road near Redbud Road and Toms Creek was out of its banks and flooding Meadowbrook Road in Blacksburg. Elsewhere in Montgomery County 13-year-old became trapped in an all-terrain vehicle in a flooded creek and the New River Valley swift-water rescue team helped to rescue the teenager.

4. Jan 6, 1996Heavy Snow, Montgomery$600,000
5. Sep 6, 1996Flash Flood$600,000
6. Aug 6, 2011Lightning$275,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A lightning strike caused an apartment house to catch fire, resulting in $275,000 worth of damage.

7. May 15, 2009Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   As much as 4 inches of rain in a two hour period caused flash flooding of Crab Creek. The flooding was observed from its headwaters east of Highway 460, west toward Vickers Switch and Walton. Several roads were closed, and several basements and a business were flooded, mainly in the Cambria section of Christiansburg. A mobile home in Walton sustained minor flood damage, and a vehicle also sustained water damage. Flood waters also caused one townhouse to slide off its foundation on Gold Leaf Drive.||Monetary damages are estimated.

8. Sep 27, 2024High Wind, Montgomery$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Around 90 trees and powerlines were downed by high winds associated with the remnants of Hurricane Helene, and resulted in numerous power outages. Over 4,800 customers were reported without power at the peak of high winds Friday afternoon. Agricultural losses totaled over $140,000, which includes damages to crops, facilities, land, and structures.

9. Jul 19, 2006Lightning$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms began developing during the afternoon hours of the 19th due primarily to daytime heating in an already unstable atmosphere. Some of these increased to severe levels, producing both damaging wind gusts, and large hail. As evening arrived, severe storms continued to be a treat thanks to the approach and then arrival of a dying meso-scale convective complex that moved out of the Ohio Valley and into our region. Again, damaging wind gusts, and large hail resulted from these severe storms. Perhaps the most notable damage occurred in the City of Roanoke. Damaging winds estimated to be near 80 mph blew the roof off a museum, carrying it into the parking lot of a neighboring…

10. Oct 23, 2017Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A tornado touched down as an EF1 at 5:33PM (LST) just west of Belspring Road in Pulaski County and traveled 1.3 miles before crossing the New River along Depot Road into Montgomery County at approximately 5:35PM. The tornado would continue almost two more miles before lifting near McCoy at 5:39PM. Most of the damage was to trees being snapped or knocked down on Kentland Farm, with likely totals in the hundreds. Some homes in the McCoy area received some minor damage, however the majority of the path through Montgomery county managed to stay in uninhabited areas. The tornado reached its maximum width of 300 yards near the river and consistently displayed EF1 (86-110 MPH) damage…

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°F2 times, most recently Aug 23, 1983

All-time low

−18°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

72°F2 times, most recently Jul 13, 2011

Coldest day

2°FJan 28, 1986

Wettest day

4.44 inSep 22, 2021

Snowiest day

20.4 inJan 28, 1998

Hottest year

1953mean 55.2°F

Coldest year

1968mean 49.7°F

Wettest year

202059.48 in

Driest year

196326.95 in

Snowiest season

67.4 in1995-96

Station Blacksburg Nwso (USC00440766), 2,103 ft elevation, 2.0 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1952 to October 28, 2026; 99.4% 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 Montgomery 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 USC00440766.
• 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.
• 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.