Alleghany County

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. Jun 23, 2016Flash Flood$6.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding was first reported in Alleghany County at 215 PM EDT (115 PM EST) as Indian Draft Road (Route 600) was closed. Numerous additional reports and social media reports continued to be received through the afternoon. Numerous small streams flooded including Wilson Creek which overflowed Route 629 (Douthat Park Road). The most serious flooding was along Dunlap Creek with runs through the southwestern portions of the county joining the Jackson River just north of Covington. More than 25 homes were badly damaged in the county most of them along Dunlap Creek which set a new flood of record (see Episode for details). Water was reported over Route 60 from Dunlap Creek in…

2. Jan 19, 1996Flash Flood$3.5 million
3. Apr 7, 2012Wildfire, Alleghany$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This fire was known as the Barbours Creek Fire, affecting Craig and Alleghany counties. The fire affected the Jefferson National Forest and Barbours Creek Wilderness area. The cause of the fire was believed to have been human. The fire burned for eleven days and burned 7,402 acres, of which 7236 was federal land and 166 was private land. No structures were burned. Suppression costs were $1.668 million and rehabilitation costs were $86,693.

4. Apr 7, 2012Wildfire, Alleghany$870,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This fire, known as the Alleghany Tunnels Fire, affected just Alleghany county. The fire was believed to have been caused by a railroad crew sanding the tracks within the George Washington National Forest. This fire burned over 11,000 acres of land, mostly owned by the United States Forest Service. Costs to contain the fire were nearly $1 million and rehabilitation treatment costs were nearly $30,000. There were no structures lost and no injuries or deaths from this wildfire.

5. Sep 30, 2010Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The East Fork of Dry Creek was out of its banks and up to three feet deep at one point of the flooding. Damage values are estimated.

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

   Thunderstorm wind downed hundreds, and possibly thousands, of trees across the county. Some vehicles were damaged by the falling trees. Structural damage occurred when the wind blew off a barn roof. Damage values are estimated.

7. May 28, 2010Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding occurred as the result of runoff from heavy rain collecting in a blocked culvert. Water inundated three homes along Stone Road. Damage values estimated.

8. Jan 25, 2010Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain prompted a road to collapse due to a flash flood. Damage values are estimated.

9. Jul 3, 2002Lightning$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lighting during the late evening of the 3rd struck a house, starting a fire which destroyed the house.

10. May 22, 2001Flash Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorms during the afternoon of the 22nd produced damaging winds, flash flooding, damaging lightning, and hail up to quarter size.Thunderstorm winds downed large trees in Richlands, Wytheville, Bland, Pulaski, Pembroke, Blacksburg, Cambria, Check, Lexington, Burnt Chimney, Moneta, Bedford, across Craig County, and onto Route 11 in TroutvilleThunderstorm winds also downed large trees 10 miles west of Independence, in Dublin, damaging a porch, in Roanoke, some onto vehicles, onto Route 58, seven miles west southwest of Hillsville,7 miles northwest of Moneta, 6 miles south of Hot Springs, and large trees and power poles in Marion. Thunderstorm winds in Covington also downed…

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

102°F3 times, most recently Aug 1, 1999

All-time low

−19°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

75°FAug 6, 2011

Coldest day

7°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

8.00 inNov 4, 1985

Snowiest day

17.0 inDec 19, 2009

Hottest year

1990mean 58.6°F

Coldest year

2014mean 52.7°F

Wettest year

201854.74 in

Driest year

196324.23 in

Snowiest season

40.0 in2009-10

Station Covington Fltr Plt (USC00442044), 1,244 ft elevation, 3.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1960 to October 23, 2026; 97.9% 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 USC00442044.
• 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.