Cayuga County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Cayuga County: 1.
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.

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

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.

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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 7, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The derecho which inflicted wind damage upstream to the northwest, including Seneca county, ripped across northern and central parts of Cayuga county between 100 and 130 am EDT. Much wind damage resulted. Most of the damage was in the form of downed trees and power lines, but there was a concentrated area of structural damage from Port Byron southwestward to Montezuma. The line of severe thunderstorms first entered the county around 100 am EDT and affected an area from Montezuma to Throop to Port Byron between 100 and 110 am. It was in this region that the greatest damage occurred in the county. In the town of Port Byron, a 150 year old Presbyterian Church was nearly leveled by…

2. Sep 7, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms moved onshore over northeast Niagara county shortly before midnight near Olcott and Golden Hill State Park in Barker. The line of storms quickly moved across Orleans, Monroe, Wayne, Ontario, and northern Cayuga counties. Across the area the damage path was nearly one hundred miles long and five to ten miles wide. Winds were estimated between 80 and 100 mph throughout the two hour event. Along the entire path, damage and debris all laid in an easterly direction consistent with the damage from straight-line winds. Most of the damage consisted of downed trees and limbs. The falling trees and limbs in turn downed power and telephone lines and resulted in damage to…

3. Apr 4, 2003Ice Storm, Northern Cayuga$2.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Low pressure over Illinois brought a mix of wintry weather to parts of the Genesee Valley, the Finger Lakes and the North Country. Across the North Country the precipitation mainly fell as snow mixed with sleet at times. Nine to twelve inches accumulated over the higher elevations. Across the Genesee Valley and the Finger Lakes, the precipitation fell mainly as freezing rain. Up to an inch of ice accumulation was measured. Hardest hit areas were eastern Monroe, Wayne and northern Cayuga counties. A Federal Disaster Declaration included Livingston, Monroe, northern Cayuga, Ontario, Orleans, Oswego, and Wayne counties. The heavy ice accumulation downed trees, limbs and power and…

4. Apr 4, 2003Ice Storm, Southern Cayuga$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A stationary front was west to east across Pennsylvania during the 3rd and 4th of April. Areas of low pressure moved along the front bringing precipitation to upstate New York. A large area of high pressure, centered over Hudson Bay Canada helped to keep cold air at the surface. The morning of the 5th low pressure moved northeast to Erie, Pennsylvania then to northeast New York that evening. A trailing cold front brought with it an end to the precipitation from west to east. Patchy freezing rain was across these counties first the night of the 3rd into the 4th. At this time the freezing rain was most widespread in Northern Oneida County. Steady widespread freezing rain started…

5. Jan 19, 1996Flash Flood$1.4 million
6. Jul 1, 2017Flash Flood$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flash flooding of most creeks and urbanized areas occurred throughout the town of Genoa. Many residents were evacuated from their homes in low lying areas. The US Post Office in the village was inundated by flood waters. Culverts and roads were washed out in several places.

7. Jul 1, 2017Flash Flood$725,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flash flooding of most creeks and urbanized areas occurred throughout the town of Sempronius. Culverts and roads were washed out in several places. Some residences and businesses experienced flooding.

8. Jul 1, 2017Flash Flood$725,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flash flooding of most creeks and urbanized areas occurred throughout the town of Venice. Culverts and roads were washed out in several locations. Some residences and businesses experienced flooding.

9. Apr 30, 2020Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Water rapidly rushed through Moravia, NY along Mill Creek and into the Owasco Lake Inlet. A dozen structures in the heart of the village experienced minor to moderate flood damage. One structure was heavily damaged by flooding. The Owasco Inlet crested at 9.44 feet which was near record flooding.

10. Apr 18, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorms caused scattered straight line wind damage across a large area of southern Cayuga County. About 20 to 30 structures sustained at least minor damage. The towns affected were Ledyard, Venice, Scipio, Genoa, and Moravia. The most significant damage was a roof that was ripped off a home in Poplar Ridge (town of Venice) and damage to several barns and silos in Venice, Venice Center, and Scipio. Numerous trees were also snapped off or uprooted in these areas. A tornado also occurred at about the same time in the southeast corner of Scipio Township.

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

101°F3 times, most recently Jul 17, 2012

All-time low

−26°F3 times, most recently Feb 18, 1979

Warmest night

80°FJul 5, 1999

Coldest day

−4°FJan 17, 1982

Wettest day

4.29 inJul 12, 2006

Snowiest day

24.2 inDec 30, 2025

Hottest year

2024mean 53.3°F

Coldest year

1940mean 45.1°F

Wettest year

197658.17 in

Driest year

196427.10 in

Snowiest season

192.1 in1992-93

Station Syracuse Hancock International Airport (USW00014771), 410 ft elevation, 26.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1938 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USW00014771.
• 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.