Arlington County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jul 29, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees, branches, and wires blew down in Chain Bridge Forest, Rivercrest, Bellevue Forest, Riverwood, Court House, Clarendon, Virginia Square, Maywood, Lyon Village, Rosslyn, and Fort Myer, with dozens onto cars and houses. Dozens of trees and branches blew down in Arlington National Cemetery. Southbound George Washington Memorial Parkway was closed north of US-50 Arlington Boulevard for nearly a week due to fallen trees and storm debris; northbound was shut down north of Spout Run Parkway. Southbound Spout Run Parkway was also closed for several days between Lorcom Lane and George Washington Memorial Parkway due to downed trees. Numerous trees blew down blocking…

2. Oct 29, 2012High Wind, Arlington$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts of 58-61 mph were measured at Reagan Airport. There were many dwellings with damage due to debris.

3. Jun 25, 2006Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   More than 10 heavily traveled roads were closed, including I-395, Route 110, and Washington Blvd. I-395 was closed at the Glebe Rd exit due to high water. Several cars were submerged up to their hoods. The George Washington Memorial Parkway South at the Washington National Airport exit was closed.

4. Sep 24, 2001Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado from Alexandria moved just east of Interstate 395 from Shirlington to Pentagon City before it crossed the 14th Street bridge into D.C. Large trees and power poles were downed, a few house roofs were damaged, and two people were injured by flying debris.

5. Sep 6, 1996Storm Surge/Tide$500,000
6. Jul 1, 2021Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down at 8:59 PM EDT in the Waverly Hills community of Arlington. Numerous trees were snapped in multiple directions in this community, notably in and around Woodstock Park and in the backyards of residences in the 4500 block of 20th Place North in Arlington. One tree in Woodstock Park had its bark removed as a result of the wind. As the tornado crossed into the Cherrydale neighborhood of Arlington, several trees were uprooted and numerous large branches were snapped, some blocking roads and downing power lines. Some homes had siding and shingles removed, and a few windows were broken from falling trees. Several homes also had porch railing and gutter damage with…

7. Sep 7, 1996Flood, Arlington$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The rapid runoff produced by the heavy rains from Fran caused substantial, damaging, and in some cases record river flooding across much of the northern Virginia watershed from late on the 6th until early on the 10th. Flash flooding on the 6th rapidly became river flooding late on the 6th along the headwaters of the Potomac, Shenandoah, and Rappahannock River basins, and continued throughout the basins over the weekend and into early the following week. Crests at gaging points in these basins were similar to those in January 1996 across the Lower Main Stem of the Potomac. Levels were 1 to 5 feet higher across the Upper Main Stem Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. The Shenandoah…

8. Aug 7, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Nearly 400 trees were downed onto homes, roads, cars, and power lines.

9. Feb 14, 2003Winter Storm, Arlington$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A complex storm system produced copious amounts of wintery precipitation across the northern third of Virginia between the evening of the 14th and midday on the 18th. The first batch of precipitation fell between the evening of the 14th and the evening of the 15th in the form of light to moderate snow or rain. The second batch of precipitation fell between midnight on the 16th through midday on the 17th in the form of heavy snow or sleet. The third batch of precipitation on the back side of the storm fell between the evening of the 17th and midday on the 18th in the form of scattered snow showers. After the precipitation came to an end, record breaking snow and sleet accumulations…

10. Jul 1, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A few dozen trees and large limbs were blown down in the Glebewood and Waycroft-Woodlawn section of Arlington. A tree blew down on North Buchanan Street near 20th Street North. A large tree and multiple large tree limbs blew into a house in the 4300 block of 16th Road North, injuring and briefly trapping a resident. Trees blew down on North Upton Street and 22nd Road North. A tree blew down on North Illinois Street near 22nd Street North. Several other large trees blew down, tearing down power lines, poles and transformers on North Columbus Street. A few homes had minor siding damage.

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

105°F2 times, most recently Jul 7, 2012

All-time low

−5°FJan 17, 1982

Warmest night

84°F4 times, most recently Jul 3, 2026

Coldest day

8°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

6.11 inJun 21, 1972

Snowiest day

16.4 inFeb 11, 1983

Hottest year

2024mean 61.8°F

Coldest year

1958mean 55.6°F

Wettest year

201866.28 in

Driest year

196526.94 in

Snowiest season

56.1 in2009-10

Station Washington Reagan Natl Airport (USW00013743), 13 ft elevation, 4.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1941 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 USW00013743.
• 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.