Herkimer County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 NASA (3), 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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jan 19, 1996Flood, Southern Herkimer$3.0 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 Herkimer County including the Mohawk River and Fulmer Creek. Federal Disaster Assistance was made available by presidential declaration. Some of the most severe flooding occurred in the German Flats were 100 people had to be evacuated as the Mohawk River and Fulmer Creek flooded. Many…

2. Jul 1, 2017Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several flooding reports were received in the Mohawk Valley. A person was trapped in their house in the Town of Schuyler due to flooding off Route 5S. That route was closed in the Village of Frankfort, along with Route 171 and West Main Street. Route 5 was closed from the Town of Schuyler to Little Falls with portions of the roadway under water. The Wal-Mart in Herkimer had to be evacuated due to flooding concerns.

3. Jan 19, 1996Flood, Northern Herkimer$1.0 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 Herkimer County including the Mohawk River and Fulmer Creek. Federal Disaster Assistance was made available by presidential declaration. Some of the most severe flooding occurred in the German Flats were 100 people had to be evacuated as the Mohawk River and Fulmer Creek flooded. Many…

4. Aug 8, 1996Flash Flood$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   During the morning and early afternoon hours of August 8, training showers and thunderstorms with torrential downpours produced up to seven inches of rain across southern Herkimer County. This resulted in extensive flash flooding in the Town of Frankfort and to a lesser degree in the Village of Ilion. A state of emergency was declared in Herkimer County. In the Village of Frankfort, 75 homes were evacuated. One house was destroyed, five homes were damaged and three vehicles were flooded. Many creeks overflowed their banks including Moyer Creek which caused widespread flooding along Main Street in the Village of Frankfort. Moyer Creek Bridge and a bridge on Center Road were washed…

5. Apr 28, 2011Flood$572,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The West Canada Creek and its tributaries were out of their banks and causing widespread flooding of roadways and basements. Middleville residents sandbagged their properties Thursday morning, April 28th, trying to keep the water from the West Canada Creek at bay.||The following roads were reported closed due to flooding: |In Poland: Route 8 from village line to Route 10, washed away in several locations. |In Russia: Military Road from Route 8 to Buck Hill, Grant Road from Russia Road to Military Road, Mill Road to Russia Road, Patridge Hill Road, and Gravestone Road from Russia Road to Route 28 northern section. |In Newport: Brayton Road, Strumlock Road and Route 28 near the high…

6. Jul 1, 2017Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High water due to flash flooding from earlier in the day continued to cause impassable roadways into the evening hours on Saturday, July 1st throughout the village of Herkimer. Runoff from flash flooding caused the West Canada Creek at Kast Bridge to exceed moderate flood stage at 3:40 PM EST, crest at 4:30 PM EST and fall below flood stage by 7:12 PM EST.

7. Nov 1, 2019Flood$380,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roads and a bridge were washed out in the Town of Fairfield, prompting swiftwater rescues. The bridge on Farrington Road was washed out, stranding the residents of four homes.

8. Apr 1, 2026Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The combination of heavy rain and snow melt led to the West Canada Creek to overflow its banks from Hinckley Reservoir down to Kast Bridge and slightly farther downstream. Local news stations shared pictures and videos of flooding occurring in spots along the entire path of the creek from Poland to Newport and Middleville with water encroaching on river-adjacent homes, roadways, and local businesses.

9. Mar 31, 2026Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The combination of heavy rain and snow melt led to the West Canada Creek to overflow its banks from Hinckley Reservoir down to Kast Bridge and slightly farther downstream. Local news stations shared pictures and videos of flooding occurring in spots along the entire path of the creek from Poland to Newport and Middleville with water encroaching on river-adjacent homes, roadways, and local businesses.

10. Jul 4, 1999Flash Flood$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Two more clusters of thunderstorms developed over the Great Lakes during the predawn hours on July 4. These storms took a very similar track to the previous storms that affected portions of the Mohawk Valley and northern Catskill region the evening of July 3. The cluster worked down the Mohawk Valley with torrential rain. There was also wind damage as trees and power lines were blown down in the village of St. Johnsville in Montgomery county. The third and final set of thunderstorms later that morning, also produced copious rainfall and some wind damage. This last batch brought destructive wind to the vicinity of Summit, Schoharie county. Trees were brought down there. Since all…

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

99°F2 times, most recently Jul 22, 2011

All-time low

−29°F2 times, most recently Jan 7, 1996

Warmest night

76°FJul 5, 1999

Coldest day

−2°FJan 10, 2004

Wettest day

4.44 inSep 8, 2011

Snowiest day

24.0 inMar 15, 2017

Hottest year

1998mean 51.4°F

Coldest year

1989mean 42.4°F

Wettest year

201155.28 in

Driest year

196425.48 in

Snowiest season

143.5 in2010-11

Station Sherburne (USC00307705), 1,095 ft elevation, 37.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1986 to October 27, 2026; 98.4% 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 USC00307705.
• 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.