Culpeper County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Feb 14, 2003Winter Storm, Culpeper$2.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A complex storm system produced copious amounts of wintery precipitation across the northern third of Virginia between the evening of the 14th and midday on the 18th. The first batch of precipitation fell between the evening of the 14th and the evening of the 15th in the form of light to moderate snow or rain. The second batch of precipitation fell between midnight on the 16th through midday on the 17th in the form of heavy snow or sleet. The third batch of precipitation on the back side of the storm fell between the evening of the 17th and midday on the 18th in the form of scattered snow showers. After the precipitation came to an end, record breaking snow and sleet accumulations…

2. Sep 24, 2001Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado damaged several buildings and destroyed one home before crossing into Fauquier County. Two people were injured when the tornado damaged a trailer park.

3. Sep 18, 2003High Wind, Culpeper$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   By 9 pm on September 18, a rain band associated with Isabel had set up over the Shenandoah Valley and showers were training southward into the Blue Ridge Mountains on the east side of Augusta County. The rain gauge located at Upper Sherando had recorded over 6 inches of rain and more was to come. County officials quickly began evacuations of homes downstream. In all 350 people in the South River area would be evacuated and 21 of those ended up being by boat. Water flowed down the Black Creek at 60 mph washing out the bridge and several hundred feet of asphalt along Route 608. Four spillways to dams flooded causing damage but none of them failed. There was $125,000 damage to the…

4. Sep 17, 2004Tornado$850,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down in Mitchells along Route 615. The tornado moved over several out buildings and homes. At least 12 homes sustained moderate to severe damage. Numerous trees were uprooted, and a shed was picked up off its foundation by the storm.

5. Sep 6, 1996Flood, Culpeper$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The rapid runoff produced by the heavy rains from Fran caused substantial, damaging, and in some cases record river flooding across much of the northern Virginia watershed from late on the 6th until early on the 10th. Flash flooding on the 6th rapidly became river flooding late on the 6th along the headwaters of the Potomac, Shenandoah, and Rappahannock River basins, and continued throughout the basins over the weekend and into early the following week. Crests at gaging points in these basins were similar to those in January 1996 across the Lower Main Stem of the Potomac. Levels were 1 to 5 feet higher across the Upper Main Stem Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. The Shenandoah…

6. Jun 22, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees, branches, and wires blew down across northern Culpeper County between Amissville, Jeffersonton, and Rixeyville between 4:40 and 4:50 PM. Minor damage to farm buildings was reported, as well. This was part of the same destructive thunderstorm cluster that affected Fauquier County. Peak winds were estimated to be up to around 75 MPH in this area.

7. Jun 6, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees blew down in the Rapidan and Locust Dale areas. A few trees fell onto houses. Damage was reported at the Rapidan Volunteer Fire Department.

8. May 26, 2024Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The National Weather Service conducted a ground survey of storm damage in the Rixeyville area that occurred on Sunday night, May 26, 2024. NWS Doppler Weather Radar in Sterling, Virginia showed a rotating severe thunderstorm that developed a tornado. Radar also showed a tornado damage signature due to lofted debris from the tornado as it was occurring. The tornado touched down along VA-714 Dunkard Church|Road, a third of a mile west of VA-729 Eggbornsville Road in rural, northwest Culpeper County. Several trees were snapped and uprooted in multiple directions. The tornado proceeded east-northeast and crossed VA-729 Eggbornsville Road. In this area, two dozen trees were noted to be…

9. Sep 6, 1996Flash Flood$240,000
10. Sep 17, 2004Tornado$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A tornado touched down north of Culpeper near Catalpa. The tornado blew down branches from severaltrees. It blew in a garage door and the roof was blown off the garage and off part of the house.

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

106°F2 times, most recently Jul 1, 1959

All-time low

−11°FFeb 5, 1996

Warmest night

81°FJul 2, 1955

Coldest day

12°F2 times, most recently Jan 20, 1994

Wettest day

7.85 inJun 22, 1972

Snowiest day

18.0 inMar 6, 1962

Hottest year

2024mean 59.0°F

Coldest year

2014mean 52.5°F

Wettest year

199663.47 in

Driest year

196330.37 in

Snowiest season

57.0 in1995-96

Station Piedmont Rsch Station (USC00446712), 520 ft elevation, 19.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1946 to October 11, 2026; 98.6% 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 USC00446712.
• 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.