Essex County

Every recorded tornado

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

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 18, 2003Hurricane (Typhoon), Essex$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Isabel was a Category 1 hurricane as it crossed the Wakefield WFO county warning area. Sustained tropical storm force winds with frequent gusts to hurricane force occurred over Eastern Virginia, along and near the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Coastal Waters. Isabel made landfall near Ocracoke Inlet in North Carolina, tracked northwest into central Virginia just west of Richmond, then continued northward into western Pennsylvania. The highest sustained wind speed recorded was 72 mph at Chesapeake Light (CHLV2). Other sustained wind speeds were 69 mph at Gloucester Point (VIMS), 61 mph at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, 58 mph at Norfolk Naval Air Station (NGU), 57 mph at…

2. Feb 24, 2016Tornado$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado tracked from King and Queen county into Essex county as an intensifying, high end EF1 severely damaging several homes along Dunbrook Road. The tornado continued to intensify crossing Perkins Road as an EF2 before hitting Kino Road as an EF3 tornado. Along Kino Road, all the homes in the path including three modular homes, two double wide mobile homes and one single wide mobile home were completely destroyed with most of the debris carried away. Tree damage was severe and winds were estimated at 140 to 150 mph based on damage. Everyone impacted by the tornado along Kino Road suffered injuries, some life threatening. After leaving the Kino Road area, the tornado crossed…

3. Sep 1, 2006Coastal Flood, Essex$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tides of 4 to 5 feet above normal...combined with 6 to 8 foot waves caused significant damage to homes, piers, bulkheads, boats, and marinas across portions of the Virginia's Northern Neck and Eastern Shore near the Chesapeake Bay, Atlantic Ocean and adjacent tributaries. Some of the most significant damage occurred in the Lewisetta area of Northumberland county.

4. Aug 27, 2011Tropical Storm, Essex$281,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm force winds knocked down several trees and power lines, as well as caused some structural damage. In addition, heavy rains contributed to significant crop damage. Storm total rainfall generally ranged from five to nine inches.

5. Sep 16, 1999Flash Flood$195,000
   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…

6. Oct 28, 2012Coastal Flood, Essex$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Water levels reached 2.0 feet to 3.5 feet above normal adjacent to the Rappahannock River resulting in moderate to severe coastal flooding.

7. Feb 13, 2021Ice Storm, Eastern Essex$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. Feb 13, 2021Ice Storm, Western Essex$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.

9. Feb 18, 2021Winter Storm, Western Essex$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 1.0 inch were reported. Several trees and power lines were downed, with numerous power outages reported.

10. Feb 18, 2021Winter Storm, Eastern Essex$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 1.0 inch were reported. Several trees and power lines were downed, with numerous power outages reported.

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°FJul 20, 1942

All-time low

−6°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

85°F2 times, most recently Jul 19, 1942

Coldest day

10°FDec 30, 1917

Wettest day

8.45 inSep 16, 1999

Snowiest day

17.0 inJan 26, 1987

Hottest year

2002mean 61.4°F

Coldest year

1926mean 55.5°F

Wettest year

201864.57 in

Driest year

197028.30 in

Snowiest season

48.0 in1995-96

Station Warsaw 2 Nw (USC00448894), 140 ft elevation, 8.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 3, 2026; 91.8% 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 USC00448894.
• 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.