Columbia County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Columbia County: 0.
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.

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by USGS Conterminous (2), NASA (1).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jul 29, 2009Flash Flood$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Training thunderstorms produced excessive rainfall, and major flash flooding across northern and central portions of Columbia County during Wednesday afternoon and night. The heavy rainfall also led to Kinderhook Creek overflowing its banks.||Numerous roadways were closed due to flooding, which included, but were not limited to, Route 28, Route 13 near Albany Turnpike, Route 295 near Schillings Crossing Road, Hennett Road, McCagg Road, Gun Road, and Novak Road in Chatham, Route 9H near Fischer Road, East Shore Drive, and State Route 203 near Chapel Drive in Kinderhook, State Route 20 near the Speedway in New Lebanon, and Route 9J in Stuyvesant. Novak Road in Kinderhook and Reed…

2. Apr 15, 2007Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain led to widespread flooding of small streams and creeks across the county, including Kinderhook Creek, and Claverack Creek, beginning Sunday evening on the 15th, and persisted through Tuesday evening on the 17th. This led to numerous road closures throughout the county, including New York State Route 66 between Bridge Street in Greenport, and the Fish and Game Road in Claverack. The most widespread flooding occurred mainly south of Route 23. In addition, numerous basements were reported retaining water near Stockport along Sotckport Creek.|Furthermore, a bridge at the intersection of County Road 16 and 23 collapsed in Hollowville due to high water along Claverack Creek…

3. Jan 19, 1996Flood, Eastern Columbia$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense area of low pressure which was located over the Mid-Atlantic region on Friday morning January 19th produced unseasonably warm temperatures, high dewpoints and strong winds. This resulted in rapid melting of one to three feet of snow. In addition to the rapid snowmelt one to three inches of rain fell as the system moved northeast along the coast. This resulted in widespread flooding across Columbia County. Federal Disaster Assistance was made available by presidential declaration. Small streams flooded across the entire county which resulted in many road washouts. The most significant flooding occurred along the Hudson River and in the eastern part of the county near the…

4. Jan 19, 1996Flood, Western Columbia$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense area of low pressure which was located over the Mid-Atlantic region on Friday morning January 19th produced unseasonably warm temperatures, high dewpoints and strong winds. This resulted in rapid melting of one to three feet of snow. In addition to the rapid snowmelt one to three inches of rain fell as the system moved northeast along the coast. This resulted in widespread flooding across Columbia County. Federal Disaster Assistance was made available by presidential declaration. Small streams flooded across the entire county which resulted in many road washouts. The most significant flooding occurred along the Hudson River and in the eastern part of the county near the…

5. Jul 15, 2000Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A stalled frontal boundary across eastern New York interacted with a strong upper level disturbance on July 15. The result was a slow-moving low pressure area that formed over Virginia. This low pumped a deep layer of tropical air into the region and resulted in the second widespread heavy rainstorm of the summer. The 3.23 inch rainfall on July 15 at Albany International Airport surpassed the old rainfall record of 1.41 inches set in 1945. Even heavier rain fell across the Mohawk Valley and Catskills. 4.43 inches of rain fell at East Chatham, Columbia County and 5.72 inches at Berlin in Rensselaer County. Exceptional 24-hour rainfall totals included 9.85 inches at Boiceville and…

6. Sep 16, 1999Flash Flood$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The remnants of Hurricane Floyd moved up the eastern seaboard on September 16 and during the early hours on September 17. The storm brought both high winds and exceptionally heavy rainfall to eastern New York, which included a large swath of 3 to 6 inch amounts. A frontal zone helped concentrate the heaviest rain just to the west of the Hudson Valley in the eastern Catskills and Helderbergs . Locally higher amounts of rainfall, exceeding a foot, fell in these areas. Specific rainfall amounts included 6.12 inches at Albany International Airport, the highest ever officially recorded from any given storm! Even higher amounts of rainfall included 8.15 inches in Delmar and 9 inches at…

7. Jul 3, 1997Tornado$550,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   On July 3, a fast moving cold front crossed eastern New York during the afternoon and evening hours. The front initiated many severe thunderstorms and three tornadoes in Columbia County. In Columbia County near Copake Lake, an F1 tornado produced minor damage to two houses, scattered parts of a barn across county highway 7A and downed many trees and wires. In Columbia County near Canaan, two tornadoes produced extensive damage. The F1 tornado formed just southwest of Beebe Pond, moved northeast and terminated near the intersection of state routes 295 and 22. The tornado damaged several residences and moved a car port. The F2 tornado initiated near the intersection of state routes…

8. Mar 31, 1997Winter Storm, Eastern Columbia$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   On March 31 and April 1, a classic late season nor'easter tracked from the Chesapeake Bay area northeast to central coastal New Jersey then slowly out to sea. This system produced rain across much of eastern New York during the morning hours of March 31. The rain changed to heavy wet snow by early afternoon. Heavy snow fell over eastern New York from the Mohawk Valley southward. Snowfall amounts were highly elevation dependent. Snowfall exceeded 2 feet in many mountain locations. Some specific snowfall totals included: 15 inches at the Albany Airport, 26 inches at Berne in Albany County, 9 inches at Rotterdam in Schenectady County, 11 inches at Poestenkill in Rensselaer County, 10…

9. Mar 31, 1997Winter Storm, Western Columbia$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   On March 31 and April 1, a classic late season nor'easter tracked from the Chesapeake Bay area northeast to central coastal New Jersey then slowly out to sea. This system produced rain across much of eastern New York during the morning hours of March 31. The rain changed to heavy wet snow by early afternoon. Heavy snow fell over eastern New York from the Mohawk Valley southward. Snowfall amounts were highly elevation dependent. Snowfall exceeded 2 feet in many mountain locations. Some specific snowfall totals included: 15 inches at the Albany Airport, 26 inches at Berne in Albany County, 9 inches at Rotterdam in Schenectady County, 11 inches at Poestenkill in Rensselaer County, 10…

10. Aug 30, 2004Flash Flood$280,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Torrential rain caused flashed flooding in Canaan during the evening hours of August 30th, resulting in an estimated $280,000 in damage due to washed out roads and trees falling onto roads. Majority of damage was West of County Route 5, as well as portions of State Route 295. Flooding was also reported in the town of New Lebanon, where County Route 9 was closed north of Route 20.

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

102°FAug 6, 1955

All-time low

−29°FJan 21, 1994

Warmest night

77°FJul 5, 1999

Coldest day

−6°FFeb 16, 1943

Wettest day

6.89 inSep 17, 1999

Snowiest day

20.1 inJan 4, 2003

Hottest year

2024mean 49.9°F

Coldest year

1972mean 43.1°F

Wettest year

201163.69 in

Driest year

196419.88 in

Station Alcove Dam (USC00300063), 628 ft elevation, 18.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1942 to October 27, 2026; 94.7% 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 USC00300063.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.