Caroline County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 1, 1998Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Supercell thunderstorm produced a tornado along a 9 mile path extending from near Coatesville in northwest Hanover county eastward into south central Caroline county southeast of Ruther Glen. The damage path was nearly continuous along this track, with damage intensity ranging from F0/F1 to strong F2/F3 in a couple of locations along the path. Damage path ranged from about 200 yards wide to near one quarter of a mile wide at its widest. The most significant structural damage occurred to two homes east of Coatesville. One home was completely destroyed and another severely damaged. Numerous other homes in northwest Hanover and south central Caroline counties sustained lesser damage.…

2. Aug 8, 2024Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Around 654 PM, a thunderstorm in a rain band associated with Tropical Depression Debby produced a short lived tornado that initially touched down near Cedar Fork Road about 1 mile west of Route 1 near Golansville. The tornado snapped and uprooted several pine trees in this location before entering a densely wooded forest to the north. About 6/10 of a mile to the northeast, the tornado entered the Lake Caroline Subdivision near the intersection of Senate Drive and Kennedy Cove. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. As the tornado continued to travel north northwest, it continued to knock down additional trees, with numerous houses along Loyalist Drive, American Drive, West…

3. Sep 16, 1999Flash Flood$122,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very heavy rain from Hurricane Floyd produced widespread flooding and flash flooding across much of central and eastern Virginia, and northeast North Carolina. Rainfall amounts generally ranged from near 7 inches from eastern Caroline county to Richmond City to Brunswick, Lunenburg and Mecklenburg counties, to 12 to 18 inches in much of the Virginia Tidewater. Numerous roads were washed out due to flooding. Many areas normally prone only to flooding of poor drainage and low lying areas experienced significant flash flooding. Primary routes out of service included US 460 near Wakefield, US 58 near Emporia and Franklin, and Interstate 95 south of Petersburg to Emporia. River…

4. Jun 19, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant damage occurred across the central portions of the county from severe winds. Numerous trees were downed in Bowling Green and Milford. In Bowling Green, most of the damage was along West Broaddus Avenue and a mile to the west. A few trees were downed onto homes with significant roof damage. In Milford, numerous trees were downed along Baltimore Road. One tree fell onto a home, another onto a garage, and a third onto a shed.

5. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several large trees were downed along Penola Road. Structural damage also occurred.

6. Nov 11, 2022Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF0 tornado tracked from King and Queen county into Caroline county. The tornado struck a farm in Tignor at the intersection of Sparta Road and Tignor Road (Root Swamp Road becomes Tignor Road). Several outbuildings were heavily damaged or destroyed. One silo was damaged along with 3 tractors. The tornado dissipated just north of the farm.

7. Feb 13, 2021Ice Storm, Caroline$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain or freezing drizzle resulted in significant ice accretion between 0.25 inch and 0.35 inch across the county. Numerous trees and power lines were downed, with widespread power outages reported due to the ice accretion.

8. Jul 29, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Recreational vehicle (RV) was destroyed along Alps Drive.

9. Feb 18, 2021Winter Storm, Caroline$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ice accretions between 0.20 inch and 0.30 inch, along with sleet accumulations between 0.5 inch and 1.5 inches were reported. Several trees and power lines were downed, with numerous power outages reported.

10. Jan 30, 2000Ice Storm, Caroline$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An ice storm affected a large portion of central and eastern Virginia with ice accumulations of up to one-half inch. Freezing rain mixed with sleet and snow spread over the area during the morning hours. Freezing rain then mixed with rain during the afternoon and evening along the eastern counties of Prince George, Charles City, New Kent, King William, King and Queen, Essex, Richmond, and Westmoreland. Farther west, freezing rain fell for most of the day with general accumulations from one-fourth to one-half inch. At one point, 300,000 people were without power in the Richmond vicinity due to the weight of ice downing trees and power lines. One Richmond TV station was knocked off…

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

104°FAug 21, 1983

All-time low

−11°FFeb 5, 1996

Warmest night

79°FJul 17, 1980

Coldest day

10°F2 times, most recently Jan 20, 1994

Wettest day

7.45 inJun 22, 1972

Snowiest day

15.0 inMar 6, 1962

Hottest year

2012mean 59.3°F

Coldest year

1966mean 54.0°F

Wettest year

201864.50 in

Driest year

198130.45 in

Snowiest season

47.8 in1995-96

Station Corbin (USC00442009), 220 ft elevation, 13.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1959 to October 8, 2026; 93.0% 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 USC00442009.
• 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.
• 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.