Otsego County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Otsego 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), 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. Sep 7, 2011Flood$58.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flooding occurred along the Susquehanna River near Unadilla, NY from September 7, 2011 to September 10, 2011. The river crested at 16.34 feet on September 8 at 9:15 PM. The hardest hit area was the village of Sidney, NY which incurred tens of millions of dollars in property damage.

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

   Widespread heavy rain moved through Otsego County and upstate New York during the day Monday with more heavy rain Monday night and Tuesday morning. This rainfall saturated the soils before another more widespread area of heavy rainfall occurred Tuesday afternoon and night. Tropical moisture combined with a slow-moving front and low pressure system moving up the eastern seaboard to bring extreme rainfall to Otsego County. The serious flash flooding began in Otsego County during the afternoon of Tuesday the 27th and continued until Wednesday afternoon as a total of 6 to 12 inches of rain fell by Wednesday the 28th. The highest rainfall was near Unadilla where the Susquehanna River…

3. Jan 19, 1996Flash Flood$5.4 million
4. Sep 7, 2011Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were closed due to flooding. A state of emergency was declared in Otego.

5. Apr 4, 2003Ice Storm, Otsego$1.0 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. Sep 18, 2004Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain with amounts of 3 to 4.5 inches in the southeast 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. A trailer park near Oneonta started experiencing severe flooding around 4:30 AM. County highway 5 flooded in the town of Otego. Several other roadways also had water on them. Several creeks and streams, including Schenevus Creek, went out of its banks.

7. Apr 26, 2011Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Scattered roads were washed out and floods were reported throughout the county.

8. May 31, 1998Tornado$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A supercell thunderstorm became tornadic as it crossed southern portions of the county around 6:30 pm EDT. The storm cut nearly a 5 mile path from Laurens eastward into Milford township. This twister incurred major damage to heavily forested areas. Thousands of trees were laid out with the width of damage varying up to nearly a half mile in spots. Trees were blown over in a chaotic and almost circular pattern as viewed from aerial damage surveys. Several homes within the path of the twister also sustained heavy damage. In the town of Laurens, a well built home was nearly destroyed with only the back and a portion of the side wall left in tact. Many local roads were closed for up…

9. Apr 2, 2005Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A slow moving storm from the Ohio Valley brought 1 to 3 inches of rain on April 2nd and 3rd. Before this storm, the rivers and streams had high flows due to a previous rainstorm March 28th and snowmelt. All towns were affected in the county by flash flooding. Numerous streams and creeks came out of their banks. Roads, bridges and buildings were damaged. The worst hit area was Worcester.

10. Jan 3, 2003Heavy Snow, Otsego$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A slow moving nor'easter moved from the southeast United States early on the 3rd to the Delmarva peninsula that evening. The storm then moved to the southeast New England coast the morning of the 4th. Snow spread well ahead of the storm into central New York the evening of the 2nd. The snow was heavy at times on the 3rd during the day into the evening. Snowfall amounts were 8 to 14 inches in the central southern tier, Finger Lakes region, and northern Oneida County and 10 to 20 inches elsewhere. The highest amounts of up to 25 inches were in Broome, Tioga, southern Cortland and southern Chenango Counties. Water equivalents were mostly half an inch in the western areas to an inch…

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 10, 1936

All-time low

−34°FFeb 9, 1934

Warmest night

80°FAug 1, 1917

Coldest day

−11°FFeb 9, 1934

Wettest day

6.00 inSep 30, 2010

Snowiest day

30.0 inDec 26, 2002

Hottest year

1998mean 48.5°F

Coldest year

1923mean 40.2°F

Wettest year

200663.14 in

Driest year

196427.69 in

Snowiest season

147.2 in2010-11

Station Cooperstown (USC00301752), 1,257 ft elevation, 12.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 26, 2026; 97.5% 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 USC00301752.
• 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.