Appomattox County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Feb 24, 2016Tornado$11.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down just outside Appomattox county in Campbell county, then traveled 16 miles northeast across Appomattox county. At its peak, this tornado reached EF-3 intensity, which was the first EF-3 tornado or stronger in the month of February in the NWS Blacksburg forecast area. For Appomattox County, this was only the third tornado on record since 1950, and the only tornado rated EF-3 or higher.||The tornado passed just southeast of the town of Appomattox, impacting the community of Evergreen before lifting near Holiday Lake State Park. The fatality and all the injuries occurred in Evergreen, when the tornado was at its greatest intensity.||Thirty structures were…

2. Sep 6, 1996Flash Flood$1.0 million
3. Sep 6, 1996High Wind, Appomattox$200,000
4. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds blew down around 100 trees across the county. Many of those trees brought down power lines. Damage values are estimated.

5. Feb 11, 2025Winter Storm, Appomattox$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Between 3 and 4 inches of snow fell across Appomattox County from February 11 through February 12. A quarter of an inch to half of an inch of ice accumulation was also observed throughout the county. Widespread tree and power line damage occurred throughout the county, resulting in almost 200 tree damage reports, and at the peak of damage, an estimated 70 percent of the county did not have power. Key Impacts: extensive power outages, numerous downed trees, road closures, hazardous travel conditions, downed power lines.

6. Jan 28, 1998Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains resulted in Wreck Island Creek flooding route 666 about 4 miles west-northwest of Oakville. The bridge and adjacent road was damaged by the flooding.

7. Sep 18, 2003Tropical Storm, Appomattox$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   As Hurricane Isabel weakened to a tropical storm, winds were sustained during the mid afternoon and early evening at up to 50 to 60 mph with gusts near 70 mph. This produced widespread wind damage with numerous trees and power lines reported down.In Campbell County, 2 homes were destroyed and 10 homes suffered minor damage. In Amherst County, 1 residence suffered minor damage. In Appomattox County 1 home suffered major damage. In Buckingham County, 1 home was destroyed, 3 homes suffered major damage and 1 business suffered minor damage. In Charlotte County, 2 homes were destroyed, 30 homes suffered major damage, and 5 businesses suffered minor damage. Crop damage was also reported…

8. Oct 11, 2018Flash Flood$69,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Appomattox County was included in a Presidential Major Disaster declaration due mainly to the severe flooding associated with Tropical Storm Michael. Purdums Branch was several feet out of its banks and flooding apartments along Red House Road. In the town of Appomattox, a woman and boy were rescued after fast-moving water trapped the two in a creek behind their home on Church Street. A team of about 17 first responders with the Concord Appomattox Swiftwater Team responded to the rescue effort around 4:45 PM Local time. The two victims were quickly pulled from the waters without injury according to news reports.

9. Oct 25, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds downed a power line that fell across Watt Abbitt Road, blew a portion of a roof off two barns and onto Wagon Wheel Road, and blew a tree down on a shed with a vehicle parked inside it. Damage values are estimated.

10. Apr 19, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    WSET Television of Lynchburg, Virginia and a trained storm spotter reported that nearly two dozen trees and several power lines were blown down down around Appomattox, mainly on the west and north side of the city. A considerable amount of damage was noted on High Street in Appomattox, just north of downtown Appomattox. Some homes on Country Club road were damaged from downed trees. The damage on Country Club Street alone was estimated to be near $10,000. Although to some the damage appeared to have been caused by a tornado, it was determined that the damage was a result of strong thunderstorm straight-line winds, not a tornado.

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°F2 times, most recently Aug 21, 1983

All-time low

−20°FJan 20, 1994

Warmest night

79°FJul 23, 1991

Coldest day

8°FJan 11, 1982

Wettest day

8.35 inSep 8, 1987

Snowiest day

18.0 inJan 7, 1996

Hottest year

2024mean 59.0°F

Coldest year

1962mean 52.7°F

Wettest year

202079.99 in

Driest year

196325.01 in

Snowiest season

43.4 in1986-87

Station Appomattox (USC00440243), 850 ft elevation, 2.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1961 to May 23, 2026; 89.3% 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 USC00440243.
• 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.