Guernsey County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Guernsey 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 27, 1998Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms continued to move across Guernsey county on the 27th, bringing widespread flooding to the entire county. The town of Byesville was especially hard hit, as two cars were swept off the road in on the evening of the 27th, but both drivers were rescued. Thunderstorms continued on the 28th, forcing the closure of many roads across the county. Major flooding was reported in the town of Cambridge, as 9.71 inches of rain were recorded by the Cambridge cooperative observer from June 26th through 29th. Wills Creek at Cambridge crested at 26.92 feet at 6 PM EDT on June 29th, 14 feet above flood stage and nearly 2.5 feet above the previous flood of record. This flooding forced…

2. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency manager reported damage to the clock tower of an 150 year old courthouse, the collapse of a church, and several other structures damaged in the city of Cambridge.

3. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Guernsey$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Low pressure from the remains of Hurricane Ike moved across central Ohio to Lake Erie on the evening of September 14th and produced very strong winds into the early morning of September 15th across eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia, and western Pennsylvania. Widespread damage to trees and power lines was reported across the region with power outages and damage to some structures from falling trees. Power was not restored to some rural areas for one week after the storm. At the peak of the storm more than 2 million homes were without power. For a period of about 8 hours, sustained winds during the storm were from 30 to 50 MPH, with gusts well over 60 MPH. The highest reported…

4. Aug 25, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense thunderstorm gust known as a macroburst raked across central Guernsey County, wind gusts were estimated between 80 and 90 mph. The thunderstorm formed in northeast Guernsey County about 430 pm just ahead of another very intense thunderstorm moving through Muskingum County. It then moved southeast at nearly 40 mph.The swath of damage produced by this intense downburst of wind was estimated to be nearly 8 miles long. Its width fluctuated between 0.75 miles to over 2.5 miles. The damage started just south of Cambridge and continued southeast to near the town of Buffalo. There were 3 reported injuries which consisted of cuts and abrasions. One person was treated and…

5. Apr 2, 2024Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An NWS damage survey confirmed that an EF-1 tornado, with winds |peaking near 100 mph, tracked through north central Guernsey County|on the evening of April 2, 2024. The length of the tornado was |about 1.30 miles and the max width was estimated to be about 75 |yards. This tornado was associated with the same circulation that |initially produced 2 tornadoes in Muskingum County. One tornado in|Muskingum County was surveyed near North Zanesville, OH (EF-1) and|the other tornado was surveyed in Highland Twp (EF-0).||Peak intensity was reached as Cool Springs Road meets Cowden |Road, where a number of trees were snapped and/or uprooted. The |tornado caused minor structure damage to a…

6. Jan 4, 2004Flood, Guernsey$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This nearly 3-day flood began when Vocation Rd and Frankfort Rd flooded in East Cambridge. At 425 PM, numerous roads near Cambridge flooded. By 930 PM on the 4th, over 50 roads were flooded county-wide. State Routes 66 and 209 were still flooded at 6 AM on the 6th. After 12 noon on the 6th, water levels began to fall. Flooded ended the morning of the 7th.

7. Nov 15, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread tree and power line damage was reported across the county.

8. Jan 5, 2005Flood, Guernsey$130,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   By noon on 5th, small stream flooding was reported county-wide. By 950 PM on 5th, numerous county and township roads remainder flooded, until about 7 PM on 6th. By 8 AM on 6th, Cambridge reported 2.1 inches of rain. On Wills Creek, Cambridge was above flood stage (15 ft), from 230 PM on 5th to 1030 AM on 10th; it crested 21.2 ft 12 PM on 7th.

9. Feb 12, 2009High Wind, Guernsey$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful cold front moved across the Ohio Valley on the evening of the 11th as strong low pressure moved north across the Great Lakes. A convective line along the cold front produced widespread damage across eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, and Garrett county Maryland with thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 to 70 MPH and a peak wind gust of 92 MPH at Allegheny County Airport near Pittsburgh. High winds gusting over 60 MPH behind the front in a strong pressure gradient produced wind damage across the entire region into midday on the 12th. In all across eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and Garrett county Maryland over one half…

10. Sep 17, 2004Flood, Guernsey$90,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    By Noon EDT on 17th, many roads were flooded, especially in southeastern part of county. By 3 PM, people were being evacuated because of flooding in Quaker City. At 9 AM on 18th, 15 to 20 roads remained closed because of flooding, including Rte 22 near Winterset. At late as 4 PM on 19th, Wills Creek, and streams feeding into it, continued to cause flooding. 30 structures damaged or destroyed. Wills Creek at Cambridge rose to flood stage (15 ft) at 2 AM EDT on 18th; crested at 22.9 at 6 AM on 19th; and fell below flood stage 8 AM EDT on 22nd. Total rain: 4" in Cambridge; 3.4" Salt Fork. (IVAN)

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

103°FJul 16, 1988

All-time low

−25°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

81°FJun 27, 2021

Coldest day

−2°F3 times, most recently Jan 19, 1994

Wettest day

4.46 inSep 8, 2004

Snowiest day

16.0 inApr 4, 1987

Hottest year

2024mean 56.4°F

Coldest year

1963mean 49.1°F

Wettest year

199054.47 in

Driest year

199126.55 in

Station Zanesville Municipal Airport (USW00093824), 881 ft elevation, 19.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1946 to October 26, 2026; 99.6% 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 USW00093824.
• 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.