Chenango County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Chenango County: 2.
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.

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 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. Jun 27, 2006Flash Flood$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A steady stream of tropical moisture flowing north into upstate New York ahead of a frontal system across the eastern Great Lakes brought periods of heavy rain and thunderstorms to Chenango County from early Monday the 26th through Tuesday morning the 27th. From 1.5 to 4 inches of rain fell by Tuesday morning. This rain saturated soils before another batch of heavy rain fell Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday morning as the front moved back east and combined with a low pressure system moving up the eastern seaboard. This additional rainfall caused most small streams and creeks to burst their banks beginning Tuesday the 27th in the evening. The rain finally tapered off early…

2. Jun 27, 2006Flood$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The communities of Bainbridge and Sidney were inundated with major flooding during this period The major source of jobs in the valley is the Amphenol Corporation. This plant closed due to 4 to 5 feet of water that damaged the plant. The Susquehanna River at Bainbridge rose to the 13 foot flood stage Tuesday June 27th at 3:45 pm EDT. The river continued to rise above the moderate inundation stage of 20 feet on Wednesday, June 28th at 4:45 am EDT. The river rose above the major inundation stage of 22 feet on Wednesday, June 28th at 8:45 am EDT. The river crested at a new record of 27.03 feet Thursday June 29th at 11:00 am EDT. The old record flood was March 29, 1914 at 23.10 feet.…

3. Jan 19, 1996Flash Flood$7.9 million
4. Jun 27, 2006Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Record flooding occurred at Sherburne on the Chenango River. At the peak of the flooding, there was three feet of water on Main Street in Sherburne. The river reached the flood stage of 8 feet June 27th at 7:35 PM EDT. The river rose to the moderate flood level of 9 feet June 28th at 9:45 PM EDT. The river rose to the major flood level of 10.6 feet June 28th at 1:00 AM EDT. The record crest was 11.35 feet June 28th at 12:45 PM EDT. The old record was 11.2 feet set March 28, 1914. The third highest crest is10.78 feet April 3, 2005. The basin average rainfall for June 26 to 29 was 5.84 inches. The river at Sherburne remained above the flood stage through the end of June.

5. Apr 4, 2003Ice Storm, Chenango$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…

6. Jun 28, 2006Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Record flooding occurred on the Unadilla River at Rockdale. The flooding beat the old record by one foot. The news stories about the record flooding were centered on a Mount Upton firefighter, who nearly lost his own life in a swift water rescue that sent a 5-year old boy to the hospital. The firefighter was swept into the Unadilla River, but was wearing a flotation device and was rescued himself. The other flood news was the enormous amout of dairy farmland and crops that were destroyed by flooding. The river reached the flood stage of 11 feet June 28th at 2:31 AM EDT. The river rose to the moderate flood level of 12 feet June 28th, at 5:45 AM EDT. The river rose to the major…

7. Jun 27, 2006Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Near record flooding occurred at Greene on the Chenango River. The current record at Greene is 22.0 feet set July 8, 1935. The river rose to the flood stage of 13 feet June 28th, 12:00 AM EDT. The river rose to the moderate flood level of 17 feet June 28th at 5:00 AM EDT. The river crested at 21.16 feet June 28th at 4:20 PM EDT.

8. Sep 18, 2004Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain with amounts of 3 to 5 inches in the southern half of the county caused flash flooding. The rain which fell from the 16th to the 18th was due to the remnants of hurricane Ivan. Some of the creeks and streams came out of their banks. The hardest hit towns were Afton, Bainbridge, Smithville, and Coventry.

9. Sep 18, 2004Flood, Chenango$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Susquehanna River at Bainbridge went above its flood stage of 13 feet on the 18th, crested at 15.1 feet on the 18th at 2 PM EST, then fell below the flood stage midday on the 19th. The flooding was due to 2 to 5 inches of rain which fell on the 17th and 18th. The rain was associated with the remnants of hurricane Ivan. The crest was the 8th highest on record for the river gage at Bainbridge.

10. Apr 1, 2005Flood, Chenango$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    The Chenango River at Sherburne rose above flood stage late on March 31st. The rise was due to rain that fell on March 28th and increasing snowmelt leading up to the 31st. The water equivalent of the snow amounted to several inches. A slow moving storm from the Ohio Valley brought 2 to 3 inches of rain on April 2nd and 3rd. By the time the river fell below flood stage most of the snow had melted. This additional rain and snowmelt caused the river to rise to a crest of 10.78 feet at 2:30 AM on April 3th. This was the 2nd highest flood crest at Sherburne. The river fell below flood stage the morning of April 5th. Many streets and basements flooded in Sherburne and Norwich.

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°FJul 9, 1936

All-time low

−32°F3 times, most recently Jan 13, 1968

Warmest night

77°FJul 5, 1921

Coldest day

−8°F2 times, most recently Dec 21, 1942

Wettest day

6.10 inJul 8, 1935

Snowiest day

26.0 inDec 17, 2020

Hottest year

1998mean 51.8°F

Coldest year

1958mean 41.9°F

Wettest year

201162.50 in

Driest year

193928.72 in

Snowiest season

123.1 in1955-56

Station Norwich (USC00306085), 989 ft elevation, 3.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1906 to October 27, 2026; 97.2% 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 USC00306085.
• 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.