Botetourt County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 NASA (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. Jan 19, 1996Flash Flood$1.6 million
2. Jan 19, 1996Flood, Botetourt$700,000
3. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds blew thousands trees down countywide. Power lines also came down as a result of the strong winds and trees falling upon them. Less than twenty structures sustained damage where their roofs blew off. In the community of Blue Ridge, trees fell upon and damaged several mobile homes. Flying debris injured five people at the Buchanan Carnival. A two-vehicle accident, with two injuries, occurred when the driver of one vehicle swerved to avoid an already downed tree. Falling trees and limbs injured three others at the Middle Creek Campground. Unknown causes resulted in three additional people taken to medical facilities.

4. Sep 6, 1996Flash Flood$500,000
5. Jun 16, 2025Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extensive road damage occurred on Grove Hill Road between White Church Road and the border between Craig and Botetourt Counties due to considerable flash flooding of North Fork Catawba Creek, which was observed well out of its banks. Multiple vehicles were stranded due to the flash flooding, with the occupants requiring swift water rescue from emergency services personnel. Two minor injuries were reported of those rescued occupants. At least 6 homes were cutoff from access along Grove Hill Road between White Church Road and Lees Gap Road.

6. Aug 5, 2003Lightning$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms during the afternoon of the 5th produced damaging winds, hail up to quarter size, and damaging lightning.Thunderstorm winds downed trees in Troutville, Copper Hill, and large tree limbs in Moneta. Lightning struck a house near Nace, starting a fire that destroyed the house.

7. Sep 17, 2018Flash Flood$230,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Botetourt County was included in the Presidential Major Disaster declaration with significant damage to roads and other structures. The time of occurrence and spatial extent of flooding is based on the highest runoff from the CREST hydrologic model. Flash flooding was worst across the southern parts of the county.

8. Jun 25, 2006Flood$90,000
   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.

9. Jul 22, 2008Flash Flood$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A measured three to five inches of rain in parts of Botetourt County, VA helped to produce flash flooding in Fincastle, VA. The flash flooding prompted the closure of several roads in Botetourt County. Route 220 had 3.5 feet of water on it, and many cars became stalled. Damage values are estimated.

10. Mar 1, 2018High Wind, Botetourt$70,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Winds downed over one dozen trees and several power lines in the county with several roads blocked. One downed tree fell upon a car. Damage values are estimated.

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°FAug 21, 1983

All-time low

−11°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

79°FAug 9, 2007

Coldest day

11°F5 times, most recently Dec 22, 1989

Wettest day

6.61 inNov 4, 1985

Snowiest day

15.4 inFeb 13, 1960

Hottest year

2024mean 60.5°F

Coldest year

1966mean 54.6°F

Wettest year

202062.65 in

Driest year

200124.94 in

Snowiest season

62.7 in1959-60

Station Roanoke-blacksburg Regional Airport (USW00013741), 1,138 ft elevation, 11.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 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 USW00013741.
• 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.