Chesapeake

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 Chesapeake city, the county that contains Chesapeake.

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 Chesapeake city, the county that contains Chesapeake.

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.

High tide flooding

Tide gauges in Chesapeake city.

1. High tide flooding days are days on which a NOAA tide gauge recorded water at or above NOAA's minor flood threshold, set from the gauge's tide range, counted by meteorological year (May to April). These are the counts in NOAA's annual high tide flooding reports; they are not National Weather Service flood stages. Years with less than 80 percent of data are left out.

NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, through April 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Chesapeake city, the county that contains Chesapeake.

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.

Tsunamis

Tsunami records for Chesapeake city.

1. Places where NOAA's Global Historical Tsunami Database records a tsunami's water arriving, with the greatest height it reached above sea level at the time. Only tsunamis NOAA rates probable or definite are counted. Heights from eyewitness accounts and tide gauges are mixed, and older events are less completely recorded.

NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 18, 2003Hurricane (Typhoon), Chesapeake$28.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Isabel was a Category 1 hurricane as it crossed the Wakefield WFO county warning area. Sustained tropical storm force winds with frequent gusts to hurricane force occurred over Eastern Virginia, along and near the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Coastal Waters. Isabel made landfall near Ocracoke Inlet in North Carolina, tracked northwest into central Virginia just west of Richmond, then continued northward into western Pennsylvania. The highest sustained wind speed recorded was 72 mph at Chesapeake Light (CHLV2). Other sustained wind speeds were 69 mph at Gloucester Point (VIMS), 61 mph at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, 58 mph at Norfolk Naval Air Station (NGU), 57 mph at…

2. Oct 8, 2016Flood$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused an extended period of significant flooding across much of the county. Numerous roads were impassable or closed for several days, and many homes and businesses were impacted.

3. Aug 27, 2011Tropical Storm, Chesapeake$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm force winds knocked down several trees and power lines, as well as caused some significant property damage. In addition, heavy rains contributed to significant crop damage. A peak wind gust of 44 knots (51 mph) was recorded at CPK (Chesapeake Airport). Coastal storm tides of 4 to 5 feet above astronomical tide levels were common. The tide level at Money Point reached 8.48 feet MLLW. Storm total rainfall generally ranged from six to twelve inches.

4. Mar 31, 2017Tornado$3.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS storm survey determined that an EF0 tornado first touched down on Green Tree Road in Chesapeake causing damage to three warehouses. The tornado then quickly lifted off the ground and continued east. The tornado touched down again just east of Kempsville Road along Kemp Bridge Lane as an EF0 rapidly intensifying to EF1. On the east side of Kemp Bridge Lane, several homes lost sections of their roofs and outer walls were removed. Winds were approximately 97 mph. The tornado intensified as it moved east destroying a single wide mobile home (which was empty at the time, used as a work building) and severely damaged a metal storage building. The tornado at this point was…

5. Aug 26, 1998Hurricane (Typhoon), Chesapeake$2.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Bonnie moved just offshore of southeast Virginia on August 27th and 28th. Very strong winds and heavy rains associated with Bonnie's spiral bands hammered the Hampton Roads area Thursday evening into Friday morning. The highest sustained wind speed recorded was 81 mph at Cape Henry (anemometer elevation is 90 ft). Other sustained wind speeds were 78 mph at the Chesapeake Light Station Buoy just offshore (anemometer elevation is 90 ft), 53 mph at Langley Air Force Base, and 46 mph at the Norfolk International Airport. The highest gusts recorded were 104 mph at Cape Henry, 93 mph at the Chesapeake Light Station Buoy, 67 mph at Langley Air Force Base, and 64 mph at the…

6. Sep 15, 1999Hurricane (Typhoon), Chesapeake$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Floyd was a Category 1 hurricane as it crossed the Wakefield WFO county warning area. Sustained tropical storm force winds with gusts to near hurricane force occurred over the northwest quadrant of the storm over interior portions of northeast North Carolina and along the coastal waters of the Wakefield marine area. The center of the storm crossed the county warning area along an Elizabeth City to Currituck county to Sandbridge Virginia Beach axis. The highest sustained wind speed recorded was 69 mph at Chesapeake Light (CHLV2). Other sustained wind speeds were 46 mph at Langley Air Force Base (LFI), 44 mph at Norfolk Naval Air Station (NGU), and 41 mph at Oceana Naval…

7. Jul 15, 2017Lightning$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning strike caused a deadly fire at the Chesapeake Senior Living Complex. The fire killed three people and injured six others. There were 68 units that were damaged beyond repair.

8. Sep 21, 2016Flood$725,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused flooding across much of the county with numerous roads washed out or closed.

9. Jul 24, 1997Tornado$400,000
10. Oct 28, 2012Coastal Flood, Chesapeake$275,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Water levels reached 3.5 feet to around 4.5 feet above normal adjacent to the Chesapeake Bay resulting in moderate to severe coastal flooding. Flooding of streets due to the combination of rain and storm surge was widespread during the height of the storm. However, water levels were lower than Irene in 2011.

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

105°F2 times, most recently Jul 25, 2010

All-time low

−3°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

83°FJul 8, 2012

Coldest day

13°F2 times, most recently Jan 19, 1994

Wettest day

8.93 inSep 1, 2006

Snowiest day

13.6 inFeb 18, 1989

Hottest year

2020mean 64.0°F

Coldest year

1966mean 57.2°F

Wettest year

201668.86 in

Driest year

198626.48 in

Snowiest season

41.9 in1979-80

Station Norfolk International Airport (USW00013737), 11 ft elevation, 16.6 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1946 to October 27, 2026; 100.0% 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 Chesapeake city.

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 USW00013737.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Tide gauges NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, 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.
• Tsunamis NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database.
• 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.