Falls Church

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 Falls Church city, the county that contains Falls Church.

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 Falls Church city, the county that contains Falls Church.

The National Weather Service sets flood stages for 1 gauge here but lists no crests for it.

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 Falls Church city, the county that contains Falls Church.

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.

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. Oct 29, 2012High Wind, Arlington$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts of 58-61 mph were measured at Reagan Airport. There were many dwellings with damage due to debris.

2. Sep 7, 1996Flood, Arlington$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The rapid runoff produced by the heavy rains from Fran caused substantial, damaging, and in some cases record river flooding across much of the northern Virginia watershed from late on the 6th until early on the 10th. Flash flooding on the 6th rapidly became river flooding late on the 6th along the headwaters of the Potomac, Shenandoah, and Rappahannock River basins, and continued throughout the basins over the weekend and into early the following week. Crests at gaging points in these basins were similar to those in January 1996 across the Lower Main Stem of the Potomac. Levels were 1 to 5 feet higher across the Upper Main Stem Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. The Shenandoah…

3. Feb 14, 2003Winter Storm, Arlington$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A complex storm system produced copious amounts of wintery precipitation across the northern third of Virginia between the evening of the 14th and midday on the 18th. The first batch of precipitation fell between the evening of the 14th and the evening of the 15th in the form of light to moderate snow or rain. The second batch of precipitation fell between midnight on the 16th through midday on the 17th in the form of heavy snow or sleet. The third batch of precipitation on the back side of the storm fell between the evening of the 17th and midday on the 18th in the form of scattered snow showers. After the precipitation came to an end, record breaking snow and sleet accumulations…

4. Aug 7, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Over a dozen trees were downed onto cars, a home, power lines, and roads.

5. Mar 31, 1997Strong Wind, Arlington$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A nor'easter, languishing off the middle Atlantic coast, produced sustained winds between 25 and 40 mph with gusts to 50 mph or higher over much of northern Virginia. The winds caused scattered damage to buildings under construction, roofs, and trees and power lines. In Fairfax Co (VAZ053), damage included a partial unroofing of the Pickwick shopping facility in Centreville. Several businesses were closed during the cleanup, with one of the businesses, a video store, condemned. In Vienna, two partially constructed town homes sustained damage. One of the homes was nearly destroyed, and the other had its top level collapse.There were several damage reports from Arlington Co…

6. Feb 22, 2003Flood, Arlington$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A combination of 1.5 to 3 inches of rain that fell between the evening of the 21st and the morning of the 23rd and snow melt from the massive snowstorm of 14-18 February led to widespread flooding. In Highland County, small streams and creeks overflowed onto Route 220 and washed out shoulders near Monterey. Routes 640 and 637 near New Hampden, Route 604 near Valley Center, and Route 84 in the southwest corner of the county were also flooded. In Augusta County, 37 roads were flooded and some small bridges were washed out. Officials reported some water rescues. About 25 residents of the Deerfield Valley Camps community west of Churchville were trapped after the Stony Brook Road…

7. Aug 27, 2011Tropical Storm, Arlington$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were seventy-five reports of downed trees across the county. Thirty-five streets were blocked completely or partially by fallen trees and there were approximately 14,000 homes without power. The intersection of North 18th Street and North Quantico was closed due to fallen trees. The intersection of North Wakefield and Rockspring was closed and the 100 Block of North Liberty was also closed due to fallen trees.

8. Jul 2, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$45,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A frontal boundary sagged south into the Mid Atlantic on July 2, and combined with very strong daytime heating and instability, contributed to scattered severe thunderstorm activity. Much of North-Central Virginia including the Washington Metro Region experienced damages from the severe thunderstorms. The worst damages occurred in the Annandale area of Fairfax County. A NWS survey team concluded that damages were caused from a wet microburst. Winds associated with the microburst were around 70 mph. Extensive property damage occurred during these storms, including numerous downed trees and powerlines. Local power companies reported in excess of 100,000 power outages in the…

9. Sep 16, 1999Tropical Storm, Arlington$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Floyd made landfall just east of Cape Fear, North Carolina in the early morning hours of the 16th and moved north-northeast across extreme southeast Virginia to near Ocean City, Maryland by evening on the 16th. Rainbands on the outer edge of the hurricane began to affect northern Virginia shortly after 8:00 AM EDT on the 15th and continued to cross the area through afternoon on the 16th. The eye of Hurricane Floyd passed east of the Chesapeake Bay between 9:00 AM and midnight on the 16th. Gusty winds of 30 to 50 MPH blew north and east of a line from Spotsylvania County to Frederick County between 11:00 AM and midnight on the 16th. Hundreds of trees were downed from the…

10. Jul 29, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous trees and large branches blew down around the City of Falls Church.

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 7, 2012

All-time low

−5°FJan 17, 1982

Warmest night

84°F4 times, most recently Jul 3, 2026

Coldest day

8°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

6.11 inJun 21, 1972

Snowiest day

16.4 inFeb 11, 1983

Hottest year

2024mean 61.8°F

Coldest year

1958mean 55.6°F

Wettest year

201866.28 in

Driest year

196526.94 in

Snowiest season

56.1 in2009-10

Station Washington Reagan Natl Airport (USW00013743), 13 ft elevation, 8.0 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1941 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 Falls Church 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 USW00013743.
• 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.