Wyoming County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 26, 1998Flash Flood$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms crossed the area during the early morning hours. The thunderstorms produced large hail and damaging winds which downed trees and power lines. The damage from thunderstorm winds paled in comparison to the damage resulting from the flash floods the thunderstorms produced. Five to six inches of rain fell in a two hundred square mile area sending small streams out of their banks causing several million dollars worth of property damage in the Villages of Arcade and Gowanda. Cattaraugus Creek rose faster than any time in memory and crested two feet over flood stage. This surge caused many boats to break loose from their moorings at the mouth of the creek at Sunset…

2. Jun 2, 1998Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado struck Wyoming county and did substantial damage to numerous structures and completely destroyed several others. Much of the damage done to this rural area included snapped and downed trees and wires. The initial touchdown of the tornado occurred in Orangeville just east of Orangeville Center Road. As the tornado moved east a barn was leveled on Hermitage Road in Orangeville. On Liberty Street a hanger with three airplanes and a helicopter inside, was destroyed and all four craft sustained damage. Also on Liberty Street a barn and modular home were leveled. The tornado passed south of the Village of Warsaw damaging two houses, a barn and a garage on Keeney Street.…

3. Dec 26, 2001Heavy Snow, Wyoming$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lake effect snowbands developed and persisted for an unprecedented five days meandering north and south across the region. Multiple bands of snow developed over the Niagara peninsula during Monday, the 24th , morning and extended into Niagara and northern Erie counties into early afternoon dropping up to six inches. The activity consolidated into a single band during the mid-afternoon and dropped south across the Buffalo metro area through the evening and early overnight. Snowfall rates of 4" per hour and thunder were reported during the evening. The band drifted back north to the Niagara peninsula on Christmas day. On Wednesday the 26th, the band over the peninsula began to drift…

4. Nov 17, 2014Lake-Effect Snow, Wyoming$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The epic November 17-19th 2014 lake effect event will be remembered as one of the most significant winter events in Buffalo���s snowy history. Over 5 feet of snow fell over areas just east of Buffalo, with mere inches a few miles away to the north. There were 13 fatalities with this storm, hundreds of major roof collapses and structural failures, 1000s of stranded motorists, and scattered food and gas shortages due to impassable roads. Numerous trees also gave way due to the weight of the snow, causing isolated power outages. While this storm was impressive on its own, a second lake effect event on Nov-19-20 dropped another 1-4 feet of snow over nearly the same area and…

5. Nov 19, 2014Lake-Effect Snow, Wyoming$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lake effect snow developed over Eastern Lake Erie and Southern Ontario Wednesday (19) evening on a southwest flow. Cloud to ground lightning was noted near Long Point near the onset of the activity. As the cold air deepened and low level winds veered, the lake band pivoted east and aligned itself with Lake Erie, allowing it to take full advantage of heat and moisture fluxes from the full fetch of the lake. The somewhat cellular band intensified into a solid plume of moderate to heavy lake snow, producing more thundersnow in the Buffalo area. The band temporarily settled south to the Chautauqua County lake shore to the Buffalo Southtowns to Southern Genesee County by…

6. Jul 28, 2022Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down in Wyoming County at approximately 10:40AM EDT in the town of Java just southwest of the intersection of NY Route 78 and Chaffee Rd. The tornado then moved along an east-northeast path near NY Route 78 for approximately 10 miles before dissipating in the western portion of the Town of Gainesville just west of NY Route 19 at about 10:55 AM EDT. The tornado was on the ground for approximately 15 minutes.||The tornado reached a maximum intensity of EF-2, with winds of 115 mph. The maximum path width was about 500 yards. The majority of the EF-2 rated damage was along the first two miles of the tornado path. This was also the portion of the track with the most…

7. Jul 8, 1998Flood, Wyoming$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Localized thunderstorms early in the morning of the 8th dropped three to five inches of rain across parts of Erie, Genesee, Wyoming and Livingston counties. Over five inches fell in just a few hours over much of Wyoming county. This resulted in rare, widespread devastating flash flooding. Many small streams and creeks became raging torrents and the upper reaches of the Tonawanda Creek rose drastically--faster than at any time in at least 30 years according to locals--and flooded out much of the Village of Attica. Two deaths resulted from the flooding. A 28 year-old female and a 17 year-old male drowned while attempting to rescue animals from the basement of an animal clinic. More…

8. Oct 31, 2019High Wind, Wyoming$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A deepening area of consolidated low pressure tracked from the north shoreline of Lake Erie to Toronto, and then along the northern shoreline of Lake Ontario Thursday evening, October 31st. This system brought recorded breaking Halloween rains to our region, damaging wind gusts, a large Lake Erie seiche, a smaller Lake Ontario seiche, and river flooding in the North Country (Cayuga, Black and Moose River). Southwest winds increased dramatically on Halloween evening following a cold frontal passage. Immediately behind the front, winds were southwest and channeled across the typical locations northeast of Lake Erie from Dunkirk to the Niagara Frontier and eastward to Rochester.…

9. Nov 21, 2000Heavy Snow, Wyoming$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Cold air crossing the warm waters of Lakes Erie and Ontario resulted in lake effect squalls that dropped over two feet downwind of the lakes.Off Lake Erie, the squall developed around midday on the 20th in a southwest flow ahead of a cold front. Snow fell at the rate of two to four inches per hour for several hours. The storm crippled much of the Buffalo metro area. Tens of thousands of people were stranded in autos as city and suburban streets became clogged with traffic and came to a standstill. Three thousand school children were stranded in buses which were unable to complete their routes. Snowfall in this early stage were as high as two feet in a narrow strip about three…

10. Jul 8, 1998Flood, Wyoming$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Localized thunderstorms early in the morning of the 8th dropped three to five inches of rain across parts of Erie, Genesee, Wyoming and Livingston counties. Over five inches fell in just a few hours over much of Wyoming county. This resulted in rare, widespread devastating flash flooding. Many small streams and creeks became raging torrents and the upper reaches of the Tonawanda Creek rose drastically--faster than at any time in at least 30 years according to locals--and flooded out much of the Village of Attica. Two deaths resulted from the flooding. A 28 year-old female and a 17 year-old male drowned while attempting to rescue animals from the basement of an animal clinic. More…

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

95°FSep 3, 1953

All-time low

−30°FJan 15, 1957

Warmest night

74°F4 times, most recently Jul 2, 2026

Coldest day

−8°F2 times, most recently Feb 16, 2015

Wettest day

3.31 inAug 14, 1955

Snowiest day

18.0 in2 times, most recently Dec 26, 2017

Hottest year

2024mean 48.0°F

Coldest year

2014mean 41.6°F

Wettest year

201756.20 in

Driest year

196833.25 in

Snowiest season

218.9 in2013-14

Station Warsaw 6 Sw (USC00308962), 1,820 ft elevation, 2.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1952 to October 27, 2026; 96.2% 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 USC00308962.
• 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.