Bath 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.

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 (2).

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. Jan 18, 1996Flash Flood$6.5 million
2. Apr 9, 2012Wildfire, Bath$2.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This fire was known as the Rich Hole Fire affecting Bath, Alleghany, and Rockbridge counties in west central Virginia. This was the largest single wildfire in Virginia's history. The fire affected the George Washington National Forest and the Rich Hole Wilderness area. The cause of the fire was believed to have been human. The fire burned for nine days and burned 15,454 acres, of which 14,960 was federal land and 494 was private land. No structures were burned. Suppression costs were $1.622 million and rehabilitation costs were $60,355.

3. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$320,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds downed thousands of trees and many power lines down across the county. Damage occurred to a home when one tree fell upon it. Cars also sustained damage when trees fell on them. Damage values are estimated.

4. Apr 16, 2011Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains caused flooding of low lying areas including public and private roads. Some businesses and homes were also flooded.

5. Apr 12, 2011Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   State Route 614 near Burnsville was washed out from heavy rains. Other roads and property were also damaged across the northern part of Bath County.

6. Jun 25, 2006Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A slow-moving frontal boundary and interaction with abundant tropical moisture produced widespread heavy rains. Rainfall amounts of 4 inches to as much as a 12 inches caused flooding along several creeks and streams. Numerous roads were closed due to flooding with high water. Some of the roads closed included Routes 663, 672, 709, 610, 672, 714, 668, 639, 617, 679, 637, 860 and 683.

7. Apr 1, 2023High Wind, Bath$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts downed tress throughout the county and also several power lines. A tree fell on a residence in West Warm Springs causing minor damage to the structure. Downed trees also blocked a couple of roads for a period of time. Damage values are estimated.

8. Oct 28, 2006High Wind, Bath$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   As an area of low pressure exited the region to the northeast, it intensified resulting in an increased pressure gradient across the area. The result was an increase in cross mountain flow helping to mix down stronger winds from aloft that downed numerous trees and a couple of power lines.

9. Mar 1, 2018High Wind, Bath$55,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Winds downed several trees and power poles in the county. Many homes were without power. Damage values are estimated.

10. May 21, 2018Flash Flood$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Route 687 near Bacova Junction was closed in several spots with water and debris running across the road. The valley bottom was flooded up to near the houses and several culverts and parts of the road were damaged.

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

100°F2 times, most recently Aug 29, 1987

All-time low

−20°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Warmest night

78°F3 times, most recently Aug 24, 1899

Coldest day

−3°FJan 11, 1982

Wettest day

8.25 inNov 5, 1985

Snowiest day

24.0 inJan 8, 1996

Hottest year

1897mean 54.1°F

Coldest year

1904mean 48.5°F

Wettest year

201869.22 in

Driest year

193021.48 in

Snowiest season

68.0 in2009-10

Station Hot Springs (USC00444128), 2,244 ft elevation, 4.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 23, 2026; 98.1% 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 USC00444128.
• 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.