Washington County

Every recorded tornado

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

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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 (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 27, 2024Flash Flood$39.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding on the Nolichucky River flowed downstream from Unicoi County. This stretch of the river is a gorge that opens into the flood plain of the Bumpus Cove Road section of the town of Embreeville. Water rescue operations had begun by 9:00 am EST in Embreeville. The stream gauge in Embreeville crossed the 16 foot moderate flood stage around 9:07 am EST. Flooding of low spots along TN 107 between Embreeville and Erwin began around 9:30 am EST. By 10:00 am EST water was beginning to threaten Embreeville homes along the river on Bumpus Cove Road as the river reached 18 feet. The river reached the 20 foot major flood stage shortly after 10:30 am EST, and water was entering…

2. Aug 5, 2012Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant Flash Flooding on Dry Creek. Several houses damaged, one house destroyed. A dozen miniature horses killed on a horse farm. Some automobiles destroyed. A mudslide uphill at the Methodist Camp may have temporarily dammed water whose release contributed to the flash flood. The mudslide carried large rocks and boulders into yards. Water rescues required. No civilian injuries. One water rescue raft flipped, resulting in minor injuries to the rescue team.

3. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Horse Creek Tornado. A NWS storm survey reported an EF3 tornado that initially touched in the Horse Creek area in Greene county, continued a northeast path into Washington county. The tornado had weakened to an EF2 by the time it was in Washington County with 115 mph winds, but still caused extensive damage. One 47-year-old man was killed in his home.||This tornado had a total path length in the two counties of 13.6 miles.

4. Jan 27, 1998Winter Storm, Washington$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy snow fell throughout most of northeast Tennessee. Most snowfall totals ranged from 5 to 10 inches. However, in the high mountain elevations of Johnson, Carter, Greene, Cocke, Sevier and Blount counties, as much as 2-3 feet of snow fell. 3-4 feet was reported on top of Roan Mountain in Carter county. The heavy wet snow resulted in numerous power outages in northeast Tennessee, with as many as 100,000 people with out power at one point. A man in the Hartford community in Cocke county was killed when a snow-laden barn collapsed on him. The roof of the island gas pumps at a market in Elizabethton (Carter Co.) collapsed due to the weight of snow.

5. Jun 13, 1997Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A short-lived tornado struck a subdivision at the intersection of Bailey Bridge Road and Lester Snapp Road. The tornado destroyed 3 homes and blew the roofs off 10 others. Around 25000 homes were without power in the county immediately after the storm. Most had power restored by the next day.

6. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ducktown Tornado. A NWS storm survey reported an EF2 tornado touched down in the Ducktown area in Greene County and tracked northeast into Washington County south of Falls Branch. The 120 mph wind ripped off the entire roofs off several homes and downed numerous trees. Across Greene and Washington Counties this tornado had a pathlength of 8.8 miles.

7. Feb 23, 2019Flood$324,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Carmel Village mobile home park flooded. Car submerged to hood. All told, there was about 324 thousand dollars in individual and public flood damages throughout the county for the overall event, but fortunately very little in the way of infrastructure and roads.

8. Sep 11, 2010Lightning$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a home and caused a fire which destroyed a home.

9. Oct 25, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Johnson City Power Board reported that 19 utility poles and numerous power lines and trees were downed due to thunderstorm winds.

10. Apr 9, 2011Tornado$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Emergency management personnel reported an EF-1 tornado touched down 2 miles east of Jonesborough. It had a 3 mile path length and a path width of 150 yards. The maximum wind of 90 mph downed numerous trees and powerlines. Three barns were also damaged by the wind.

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°FJun 30, 2012

All-time low

−21°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

79°FJul 6, 1943

Coldest day

2°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

3.65 inOct 16, 1964

Snowiest day

16.2 inNov 21, 1952

Hottest year

2024mean 58.9°F

Coldest year

1996mean 53.9°F

Wettest year

200365.64 in

Driest year

200722.39 in

Snowiest season

51.0 in1959-60

Station Bristol Airport (USW00013877), 1,496 ft elevation, 10.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1937 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00013877.
• 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.