Bedford County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Apr 28, 2002Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A second tornado developed 8 miles east-southeast of Bedford City in Bedford County and remained on the ground for 5 miles before crossing over into Campbell County. This tornado injured one person, destroyed seven homes, three businesses, and about two dozen farm buildings. The tornado damaged about 129 other homes, 39 businesses, and a tractor trailer. Numerous trees were toppled.

2. Sep 22, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds blew down six large trees, destroyed an outbuilding, flipped over two boats and downed power lines on Waterfront Drive near the Marina at Smith Mountain Lake. Also, the Smith Mountain Eagle reported numerous trees were blown down at the Waterfront Park campground. Severe damage occurred to numerous recreational vehicles and campers at the park. Damage values are estimated.

3. Apr 28, 2002Tornado$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado formed in Bedford City and traveled east 1/2 mile before dissipating. The tornado destroyed four businesses and damaged 25 homes, 58 businesses, several dozen vehicles, and one church.

4. May 27, 2022Tornado$925,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-2 tornado with max winds of 135 mph touchdown 0.4 miles southeast of Norwood before heading north northeast toward U.S Highway 221. The tornado crossed Bethany Church Road and Langford Lane where two mobile homes were destroyed. The tornado then continued northeast snapping and uprooting trees just west of the Ivy Hill Golf Course. Additional tree damage was noted on the western slopes of Fleming Mountain along Rocky Mountain Road. In total, 15 homes were damaged along with 35 structures including sheds, outbuildings, and garages. Three injuries were reported with zero fatalities. The length of the tornado track was estimated at 6.25 miles, and the maximum width was…

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

   Thunderstorm winds blew hundreds of trees down across the county. Some of these trees brought down power lines and also fell onto houses. A wind gust of 66 MPH was measured in Goode. Damage values are estimated.

6. Jan 10, 2001High Wind, Bedford$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds during the morning of the 10th produced damage in Bedford and Carroll counties.In Bedford County, strong winds downed power lines, power poles, and numerous trees, including 4 onto houses and 1onto a car, destroying the car. Winds stripped shingles and siding off of more than 90 residences. Windows in 2 businesses were blown out and numerous canopies and signs were blown down. In Carroll County, winds blew over 3 tractor trailers on Interstate Route 77.

7. Sep 22, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm pirouetted around big oaks and poplars, toppling them on lakefront homes and at least two vehicles just west of the bridge. Damage values are estimated.

8. Sep 6, 1996Flash Flood$300,000
9. Apr 15, 2018Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 5:10 PM EST, a tornado briefly touched down on the 1800 block of Mead Valley Road about four miles northwest of Moneta. This tornado caused significant damage to the roof of one home, and it also caused damage to an adjacent barn and outbuilding. About fifty mature trees were either snapped or uprooted. Estimated maximum winds were 105 MPH. By 5:11 PM EST, the tornado lifted near the 10000 block of Dickerson Mill Road.

10. Sep 6, 1996High Wind, Bedford$150,000

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 Jun 29, 2012

All-time low

−11°FFeb 20, 2015

Warmest night

77°F4 times, most recently Jun 23, 1996

Coldest day

11°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

6.05 inSep 6, 1996

Snowiest day

14.3 inJan 7, 1996

Hottest year

2020mean 59.4°F

Coldest year

1997mean 54.0°F

Wettest year

202069.73 in

Driest year

196326.56 in

Snowiest season

56.8 in1995-96

Station Lynchburg Regional Airport (USW00013733), 902 ft elevation, 15.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1944 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00013733.
• 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.