Noble County

Every recorded tornado

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

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 27, 1998Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Another round of thunderstorms starting on the evening of the 27th created widespread flash flooding throughout Noble County. These floods caused five deaths during the evening of the 27th and early morning hours of the 28th. In Caldwell, a 90-year-old man and 89-year-old woman were killed as flash flooding from the nearby Duck Creek washed part of their home away. Numerous roadways across the county were closed. However, two fatalities occurred as people tried to drive through water on the roads. Two more deaths occurred in Caldwell as a 71-year-old and 31-year-old man were killed when they tried to drive their cars through high water. In Belle Valley, a 37-year-old man was…

2. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Noble$250,000
   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…

3. Sep 17, 2004Flood, Noble$243,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan began the night of the 16th and ended just before midnight on the 17th. At 1114 AM EDT on 17th, road flooding began in Sarahsville. By 1230 PM, major flooding occurred from Caldwell northward. By 315 PM, Rtes 265 and 513 were flooded west of Batesville after 5 inches of rain. As of 9 AM on 18th, State Rtes 147, 333, and 564 were still closed, but water was receding. 81 structures damaged or destroyed. Total rain: 6" Hiramsburg and Sharon. (IVAN)

4. Feb 16, 2003Heavy Snow, Noble$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A massive, slow-moving snow storm began shortly after midnight on the 16th. Counties in the south reached 6 inches of snow by noon on 16th, and 12 inches by 9 PM on 16th. Columbiana and Tuscarawas counties reached 6 inches by 10 PM on 16th. Greatest accumulations, by the morning of the 18th, rounded to the nearest inch for each county are: Monroe 30, Muskingum 25, Belmont 22, Guernsey 20, Harrison 19, Jefferson 18, Noble 17, Coshocton 14, and Tuscarawas 12 inches. In Bellaire (Belmont Co), the roof of a business collapsed from the weight of the snow, about 11 pm on 17th, causing $200,000 in damage to the building and 11 vehicles.

5. Feb 12, 2009High Wind, Noble$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…

6. Jun 16, 2022Flash Flood$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Media reported that flooding caused evacuations along State Route 821 between Belle Valley and Cambridge. Also the local emergency manager reported numerous roads closed due to flash flooding.

7. Jun 27, 1998Tornado$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F2 tornado with estimated 150 MPH winds demolished a mobile home, killing a 45-year-old woman. Numerous trees along the relatively short path were sheared/downed.

8. Jan 5, 2005Flood, Noble$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   By Noon on 5th, flooding was reported countywide. By 2 PM on 5th, these roads were flooded: 145, 146, 147, 260, 564. By 9 PM, numerous county and township roads were still closed by flood. Still flooding at noon on 6th.

9. Jan 9, 2008High Wind, Noble$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong cold front produced widespread wind damage and power outages from downed wires across southeast Ohio and northern West Virginia.

10. Jan 11, 2005Flood, Noble$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    By 655 PM on 11th, SR 339 and 821 flooded south of Caldwell. By 730 PM, SR 147, 260, and 513 flooded. By 10 pm on 11th, 9 (out of 11) state roads closed by flooding.

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, 24.6 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.