Buchanan County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Buchanan 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 KY GS (1), 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. May 2, 2002Flash Flood$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Repetitive showers and thunderstorms moved rapidly across northern Buchanan County from west to east from the late morning to the early evening. Hail fell from the thunderstorms in both Buchanan and Dickenson Counties, but the main problem was the severe flash flooding in the narrow valleys of northern Buchanan County. Rains of 2.5 to 5 inches fell in a 6 to 10 hour period. A cooperative observer at Hurley measured 4.5 inches of rain. On the state line with West Virginia, Paynesville measured 4.1 inches. Just south of the heaviest rain, Grundy had 2.3 inches. Automatic gauges at Home Creek measured 3.3 inches, while another at Big Rock had 3.5 inches. The downpours turned small…

2. Feb 15, 2025Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding began to impact multiple roads in the Hurley area by mid afternoon. Within the next couple of hours, rising waters submerged roads, impacted homes, and trapped residents in several locations. Floodwaters also rose halfway up the legacy bank building in Hurley. Impacted locations included Paw Paw Road, Rustic Road, McKracken Road, Guesses Fork Road, Hurley Road, Tree Top Road, Dan Branch Road, Lesters Fork Road, Race Fork Road, Cedar Branch Road, and Knox Creek Drive.

3. Feb 15, 2025Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding made numerous roads impassable, trapped residents, and impacted homes. By evening, catastrophic flooding occurred along Slate Creek Road and resulted in water rescues and evacuations. In addition to Slate Creek Road, the following roads were also impacted by flooding. White Oak Road, Grandview Road, Mercury Drive, Pheasant Run Road, Dandelion Road, and Stone Coal Road.

4. Aug 30, 2021Flash Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Guesses Creek rose out of its banks and led to significant damage of twenty homes around the town of Hurley.

5. Jul 12, 2022Flash Flood$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant damage occurred within the northern portions of Buchanan County. Between 100 to 125 structures observed structural damage with over 2,000 power outages within the communities. For 24 hours after the event, 40 stranded residents were unaccounted for due to loss of cell service and obstructed roadways due to the high water. One person was injured due to the inundation of flood waters.

6. Aug 8, 2000Flash Flood$850,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm rains of 2 to 3 inches fell in less than 3 hours over saturated ground. The hardest hit region was the Paw Paw to Hurley area, including streams such as Lester Fork, Home Creek, Paw Paw Creek, Rocklick Creek, and Elkins Branch. In the aftermath, county officials reported about 50 families asked for individual assistance, amounting to over $300,000. Damage to county roads was even more.

7. Feb 15, 2003Flood, Buchanan$850,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two day rain totals of 3 to 4.5 inches accumulated from the 14th into the 16th. Grundy had 4.3 inches, Hurley had 3.7 inches, and Clintwood measured 3.3 inches. Small streams flooded or washed out roads late on the 15th into the 16th. Mud slides occurred on steep slopes. The Virginia Department of Emergency Management reported 35 homes and 20 businesses had major damage in Buchanan County. The town manager of Grundy said water had seeped under the floors of the police department and a lot of mud was in the basement below the town offices. Hurley High School also reported some damage. A federal disaster was declared, that included these 2 Virginia Counties. See FEMA disaster…

8. Jan 27, 1998Heavy Snow, Buchanan$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A surprise heavy wet snow fell from the late morning hours of Tuesday the 27th, to the predawn hours of Wednesday the 28th. Since the environment was near near the freezing mark through a deep layer, a wide variation in snow depths were seen. The variation was based on elevation. At elevations about 2000 feet, 20 to 30 inches of snow was deposited. Meanwhile, in the river valleys and hollows, snow depths of 8 to 15 inches were measured. Grundy and Clintwood both reported 8 inches on the ground. The Breaks Interstate Park had 17 inches. The melted down water amount was 2.5 inches at Grundy. The heaviest snow fell late in the afternoon and during the evening. Lightning and thunder…

9. Dec 18, 2009Heavy Snow, Buchanan$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The cost for debris removal from the fallen trees in Buchanan County was around $450,000.

10. Jul 26, 2001Flash Flood$600,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Localized downpours occurred just south of Grundy. Private bridges were washed away. Grundy airport measured 3.8 inches, Vansant had 5.9 inches in about a 12 hour period. The sheriff reported Garden Creek, Dry Fork, and Greenbrier Creek were some of the streams that flooded.

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

102°FSep 15, 1998

All-time low

−17°F2 times, most recently Feb 21, 2015

Warmest night

75°FJul 30, 1967

Coldest day

4°FJan 11, 1982

Wettest day

4.33 inFeb 16, 2025

Snowiest day

15.0 inNov 25, 1950

Hottest year

1967mean 59.0°F

Coldest year

2014mean 52.2°F

Wettest year

197262.22 in

Driest year

198829.42 in

Snowiest season

46.0 in1986-87

Station Grundy (USC00443640), 1,157 ft elevation, 2.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1960 to October 22, 2026; 97.8% 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 USC00443640.
• 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.