Bland 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.

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by WV GS (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. Sep 27, 2024High Wind, Bland$480,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundres of trees were downed by high winds associated with the remnants of Hurricane Helene, including a massive swath of trees just off Wesendonck Road and in the Little Creek Road area. Nearly 4,000 customers were reported without power at the peak of the high winds. Agriculture damage losses exceed $700,000, including losses from crops, as well as facilities, land, and structures.

2. Nov 19, 2003Flash Flood$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Moderate to heavy rainfall late on the 18th and on the 19th resulted in flash flooding and small stream flooding. In addition, an isolated severe thunderstorm knocked down large tree limbs in Huddleston.Runoff from heavy rainfall resulted in numerous creeks and streams out of their banks, some of which flooded roads in Grayson, Roanoke, Bath, Alleghany, Tazewell, Wythe, Carroll, and Bland Counties and in and near Sugar Grove. In Bland County, sections of some roads were washed away by the flood waters. In Pembroke, Doe Creek flooded and damaged a barber shop. Near Lexington route 11 was closed because flood waters pushed debris into the road. In Tazewell county, businesses were…

3. Jun 9, 2011Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy and persistent heavy rain from slow moving thunderstorms prompted creeks to leave their banks. Willow Springs Road in Ceres was washed out due to water flowing across it. Damage values are estimated.

4. Nov 19, 2003Flood, Bland$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Moderate to heavy rainfall late on the 18th and on the 19th resulted in flash flooding and small stream flooding. In addition, an isolated severe thunderstorm knocked down large tree limbs in Huddleston.Runoff from heavy rainfall resulted in numerous creeks and streams out of their banks, some of which flooded roads in Grayson, Roanoke, Bath, Alleghany, Tazewell, Wythe, Carroll, and Bland Counties and in and near Sugar Grove. In Bland County, sections of some roads were washed away by the flood waters. In Pembroke, Doe Creek flooded and damaged a barber shop. Near Lexington route 11 was closed because flood waters pushed debris into the road. In Tazewell county, businesses were…

5. May 16, 1996Flash Flood$150,000
6. Jun 27, 2016Flash Flood$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A portion of Bears Trail road near the Bland County School Board office was washed out by flowing water from Hunting Camp Creek. A nearby unofficial rain gauge near Bland reported 3.12 inches of rain on the 27th with nearly 2.25 inches falling from 5:30 PM EDT to 7:00 PM EDT.

7. Jun 20, 1997Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall during the evening hours on the 20th near Pumkin Center washed out portions of roads, flooded a barn, and washed fences and a mailbox away.

8. Apr 16, 2007High Wind, Bland$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A very strong pressure gradient developed as a vigorous area of low pressure moved northeast from the North Carolina coast to off the Long Island coast developing into a nor'easter and high pressure progressed into the area from the midwest. Trees and power lines were knocked down as a result of the strong winds which were common across the region. There was also some minor damage to some structures. Most areas experienced wind gusts between 50 and 60 mph...with isolated wind gusts approaching 70 mph.

9. Oct 28, 2006High Wind, Bland$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many trees were blown down, especially in the Hollybrook area.

10. Jul 8, 2001Flash Flood$35,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorms during the morning of the 8th produced damaging winds and flash flooding.In Tazewell County, heavy rains caused major flash flooding during the late morning and early afternoon. 1655 homes and 52 businesses received major damage, with 300 people evacuated. Numerous roads were closed with some washed out by flooding and mudslides. An automobile dealership had major damage to the building as well as the vehicles.Thunderstorm winds downed trees onto route 311, four miles northeast of Paint Bank.Heavy thunderstorm rains caused numerous small streams and creeks to flood across Bland County. Many roads were flooded and closed with several washed out. Lick Creek flooded 11…

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

98°F4 times, most recently Jun 30, 2012

All-time low

−20°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

77°F2 times, most recently Aug 18, 2010

Coldest day

−3°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

4.85 inJul 18, 1964

Snowiest day

16.0 inJan 7, 1996

Hottest year

1949mean 56.4°F

Coldest year

1997mean 50.2°F

Wettest year

202065.31 in

Driest year

193021.36 in

Snowiest season

59.3 in1986-87

Station Wytheville (USC00449301), 2,095 ft elevation, 14.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 23, 2026; 96.9% 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 USC00449301.
• 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.