Hamilton County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by USGS Conterminous (2).

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jul 11, 2023Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The combination of heavy rainfall and beaver dam failures resulted in the destruction of roads, bridges and sidewalks in the areas of Long Lake and Blue Mountain Lake. This included Route 28N between Blue Mountain Lake and the Essex County line toward Newcomb and Route 30 from Long Lake to the Franklin County line heading toward Tupper Lake. Nearby homes were also flooded.

2. Nov 1, 2019Flood$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extensive flooding occurred along the Sacandaga River from Wells to Benson. Route 30 was impassable in several areas with water over the road. Widespread flooding occurred in Wells with water entering some residences, prompting rescues by airboat. The river reached a record crest of 12.26 feet at Hope, and was over major flood stage between 2330EST 31 October and 1515EST 1 November.

3. Jan 19, 1996Flood, Hamilton$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense area of low pressure which was located over the Mid-Atlantic region on Friday morning January 19th produced significant snowmelt along with one to three inches of rain. This resulted in the flooding of many small streams throughout the county along with several road washouts.

4. Jan 8, 1998Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   From January 8 to January 10, mild weather along with significant rain and snowmelt resulted in small stream flooding across Hamilton County. There were road closures throughout the county due to ponding of water and small stream flooding. Some specific road closures and washouts included: Big Brook Road at Indian Lake, North Point Road at Long Lake, Bear Creek Road, Hope Falls Road and Cherry Beach at Lake Pleasant.

5. Feb 10, 2001High Wind, Hamilton$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong cold front swept across eastern New York on the morning of Feburary 10. A steep pressure gradient, between large high pressure over the midwest and a deepening low pressure trough moving off the eastern seaboard, produced winds strong enough to cause damage across portions of eastern New York. Trees were brought down in localized portions of northern Herkimer, western Greene, and Warren Counties. In Hamilton county, many trees were brought down by the winds. One large tree fell on top of a house garage in Piseco, and a metal roof was partially peeled from the Speculator Village Hall. Winds were clocked to 58 mph at Cobleskill, Schoharie county, 62 mph at Fort Edward,…

6. Feb 24, 2022Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An ice jam blocking the Sacandaga River broke, causing an increase in water downstream and flooded multiple homes along River Road in the Town of Hope. Four individuals and one dog were rescued by New York State Forest Rangers.

7. Jan 8, 1998Flood, Hamilton$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   From January 8 to January 10, the Sacandaga River in Hamilton County flooded, due to a combination of significant rain and snowmelt. The river crested approximately two feet above flood stage at Hope during the early afternoon of January 8. Flooding occurred along State Route 30 in the Hope area and at Wells several homes were evacuated.

8. Feb 22, 1997High Wind, Hamilton$30,000
9. Nov 2, 1999High Wind, Hamilton$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An area of low pressure developed over western North Carolina, along a frontal boundary, during the morning of November 2. This low rapidly deepened as it tracked nearly due north through the eastern portions of the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes by evening. A steep pressure gradient ahead of the storm produced high wind across the higher terrain of eastern New York State during the evening hours. The winds brought down numerous trees and some power lines across Hamilton and northern Herkimer counties. There were spotty power outages and a tree crushed a car. No serious injuries were reported to the National Weather Service. A wind gust to 80 mph was reported in Platte Cove in…

10. Dec 12, 2000High Wind, Hamilton$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An area of low pressure developed across the Tennessee Valley late on December 11th. The storm then rapidly deepened as it moved northeast into the Ohio Valley, Saint Lawrence Valley and eventually across the Canadian Maritimes on December 12th. The pressure difference between this intensifying storm and large arctic high pressure building over the Southeast, produced a significant high wind event across eastern New York on December 12th. The strongest winds with the storm came after the passage of the cold front, during the morning hours. A strong westerly wind brought down large limbs, trees, and powerlines in just about every county in Eastern New York. Many signs were reported…

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°FJun 5, 1919

All-time low

−42°FFeb 5, 1908

Warmest night

74°FAug 2, 2006

Coldest day

−12°FJan 9, 1968

Wettest day

4.40 inOct 6, 1932

Snowiest day

25.0 inMar 1, 1900

Hottest year

1921mean 44.2°F

Coldest year

1917mean 37.8°F

Wettest year

201160.80 in

Driest year

196327.42 in

Snowiest season

152.8 in2002-03

Station Indian Lake 2SW (USC00304102), 1,670 ft elevation, 11.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1899 to October 27, 2026; 99.5% 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 USC00304102.
• 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.