Suffolk

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 Suffolk city, the county that contains Suffolk.

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 Suffolk city, the county that contains Suffolk.

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 Suffolk city, the county that contains Suffolk.

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. Sep 18, 2003Hurricane (Typhoon), Suffolk$31.0 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. Apr 28, 2008Tornado$30.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down with damage first noted about 2 miles northeast of Lummis. The tornado crossed Route 58, downing trees as it moved northeast. The tornado strengthened just south of the intersection of Route 10 AND Route 58, where it damaged several homes and an elementary school as well as downing numerous trees. The intense tornado crossed Route 58 again and then Route 10 before hitting the Freedom Plaza shopping center where it destroyed a strip mall and tossed around numerous cars. One car was impaled into a building adjacent to the strip mall. ||Thereafter, the tornado moved into 2 subdivisions east and northeast of Obici Hospital. Many homes were damaged with at least…

3. Aug 4, 2020Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the NWS Wakefield office found a path of storm damage consistent with an EF1 tornado. The damage began near the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge near the Virginia/North Carolina border, and ended just south of Everets Road in the northern City of Suffolk. The tornado caused significant damage to at least 8 buildings in downtown Suffolk. The tornado then moved north and crossed Lake Mead where it uprooted or snapped numerous trees before lifting, as it approached the Isle of Wight County line.

4. Sep 15, 1999Hurricane (Typhoon), Suffolk$2.5 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…

5. Oct 8, 2016Flood$1.0 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.

6. Aug 27, 2011Tropical Storm, Suffolk$1.0 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. Storm total rainfall generally ranged from six to twelve inches.

7. Aug 26, 1998Hurricane (Typhoon), Suffolk$800,000
   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…

8. Nov 12, 2009Coastal Flood, Suffolk$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several streets, homes and businesses were flooded in low lying areas of the county close or directly exposed to the James River. Tidal flooding took out the clubhouse north of the Godwin Bridge, and destroyed a number of piers.

9. Sep 21, 2016Flood$360,000
   National Weather Service narrative

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

10. May 11, 2019Tornado$350,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The tornado touched down just east of Main Street in downtown Suffolk and quickly moved off to the east intersecting Route 58 twice before heading into the Great Dismal Swamp after moving through the Wilson Pines area. Along the path of the storm, numerous trees were snapped off or uprooted. At least 14 homes and 6 business were damaged with shingles torn off roofs, windows blown in, an air conditioner ripped from a roof, and at least one home had the roof impaled by a tree.

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 Jun 18, 2004

All-time low

−5°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

84°FJul 29, 2002

Coldest day

15°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

10.98 inAug 27, 2011

Snowiest day

17.0 inFeb 6, 1980

Hottest year

1998mean 62.1°F

Coldest year

1958mean 56.9°F

Wettest year

199970.68 in

Driest year

198629.09 in

Snowiest season

43.0 in1979-80

Station Suffolk Lake Kilby (USC00448192), 22 ft elevation, 2.9 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1945 to October 27, 2026; 99.1% 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 Suffolk 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 USC00448192.
• 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.