Floyd County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Sep 29, 2015Flash Flood$3.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flooding occurred across the county but was concentrated in Route 8 corridor. Several swift water rescues were made and numerous roads were closed and many damaged. A van was swept off of Meadows Creek Road and the driver, a college student, was rescued. In addition, 13 homes were destroyed, 12 homes received major damage, 15 homes minor damage, and 42 other homes affected, for a total loss of $2.3 million dollars. The worst flooding appeared to be in the Sowers Mill Dam Road and Little River Road areas. According to county officials additional commercial and agricultural losses ran about $400,000. Road damage totaled an additional $400,000 per the Virginia Department…

2. Jan 8, 1998Flash Flood$225,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain and isolated thunderstorms during the early morning hours on the 8th produced damaging winds and flash flooding.Thunderstorm winds knocked down power lines in Galax. Flash flooding in Pulaski County resulted in the closing of route 693 near Allisonia and the flooding of Big Reed Island Creek and Little Reed Island Creek. Little Stoney and Big Stoney Creeks in Giles County, Little Reed Island Creek in Wythe County, Masons Creek 3 miles south of Bennett Springs in Roanoke County, Craig Creek in the southeastern portion of Craig County, and Crab Creek and the North Fork of the Roanoke River in Montgomery County were flooded. Two houses near Pearisburg in Giles County were…

3. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds blew numerous trees down across the county. Damage values are estimated.

4. Jun 25, 2006Flood$155,000
   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.

5. Sep 27, 2024High Wind, Floyd$137,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   About 150 trees were downed across the county from high winds associated with the remnants of Hurricane Helene, several of which fell into roads and caused road closures. At the peak of the high winds, around early Friday afternoon, nearly 5,000 people were reported without power. Total losses from agriculture damages were around $106,000, including damages to crops, structures, and land.

6. Oct 11, 2018Flash Flood$129,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   County-wide flooding was reported by law enforcement with at least seven roads were reported closed across Floyd County. An Amateur Radio report said Hale Road in the Terry's Fork area near Check was closed due to flooding and several creeks were well out of their banks. Four vehicles were abandoned in high water on Buffalo Mountain Road, Spangler Mill Road, Daniel's Run Road and Stonewall Road.

7. Jun 2, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms produced hail up to 1.75 inches in diameter, damaging winds, damaging lightning, and flash flooding during the late afternoon and evening of the 2nd.Thunderstorm winds damaged a business roof, blew out service stations doors, tore siding off of 2 apartment buildings, and knocked down numerous trees from 1 mile southwest to 1.5 miles south southwest of Christiansburg.In Floyd County, thunderstorm winds toppled many large trees countywide, blew a roof off of a barn and damaged another house.Thunderstorm winds toppled trees onto a house in Fairlawn; downed power lines onto a road, toppled, trees, and blew off the roof of a house in Martinsville.In Blacksburg, heavy rain…

8. Dec 1, 2010Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A driveway bridge was washed out near Alum Ridge. Damage values are estimated.

9. Apr 2, 2016High Wind, Floyd$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were blown down across the county. Damage values are estimated.

10. Mar 1, 2018High Wind, Floyd$40,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Winds blew down more than 30 trees and at least five power lines in the county. 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

99°F2 times, most recently Aug 23, 1983

All-time low

−18°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

72°F2 times, most recently Jul 13, 2011

Coldest day

2°FJan 28, 1986

Wettest day

4.44 inSep 22, 2021

Snowiest day

20.4 inJan 28, 1998

Hottest year

1953mean 55.2°F

Coldest year

1968mean 49.7°F

Wettest year

202059.48 in

Driest year

196326.95 in

Snowiest season

67.4 in1995-96

Station Blacksburg Nwso (USC00440766), 2,103 ft elevation, 18.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1952 to October 23, 2026; 99.3% 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 USC00440766.
• 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.