Grayson County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Sep 27, 2024Flash Flood$23.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Considerable to catastrophic flash flooding occurred across Grayson County. This included at least 200 bridges or culverts that were completely washed out, making the roads impassible. Five large pipes were washed out in the county: three on Route 783 (Helton Creek Lane) and two on Route 749 (Cabin Creek).

2. Sep 27, 2024High Wind, Grayson$15.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were downed countywide by high winds associated with the remnants of Hurricane Helene, many of which fell into fences, structures, and roads, and resulted in several roads being blocked and many power outages. By late morning on Friday, over 10,700 customers were without power in the area. A 65 mph wind gust was recorded approximately four miles west of the town of Rugby at 7:40 AM. Agriculture damage totaled around $60 million across the county, and forestry damage totaled around $15 million. Christmas tree growers lost $281,250 and the dead trees will result in an additional $281,250 annually through 2031. The high winds also caused damage to agriculture…

3. Sep 26, 2024Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The New River near Galax (GAXV2) crested at 21.26 feet (108,000 cfs) at 10:15 PM EDT on Sept. 27th (28/0215 UTC) due to heavy rain associated with Tropical Cyclone Helene. This is the second highest crest in the history of this gage, only behind the flooding event of August 1940. This crest rates between a 100-year Average Recurrence Interval (ARI)(1% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP)) and a 200-year ARI (0.5% AEP) per USGS StreamStats. The flooding was the result of between 10 and locally 20 inches of rain that fell across the upper New River basin between the 25th and 27th, with totals ranging anywhere from between a 200-year and more than a 1,000-year ARI per NOAA Atlas 14…

4. Sep 26, 2024Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Little River at Peach Bottom (LPBV2) crested at 22.45 feet at 1815 UTC/2:15 EDT on Sept. 27th due to heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Helene. This stage-only gage was installed by the Virginia Dept. of Emergency Management during spring of 2024, so had no previously-documented flood crests to compare this event with. The flooding was the result of between 10 and locally 16 inches of rain that fell across the Little River basin between the 25th and 27th, with totals ranging anywhere from between a 200-year and more than a 1,000-year ARI per NOAA Atlas 14 Point Precipitation Frequency estimates. Downstream of the gage, much of Little River Road on the left bank was…

5. May 16, 2010Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding washed out roads along Jerusalem Road and Elk Valley Road near Elk Creek. Damage values are estimated.

6. Jan 19, 1996Flash Flood$250,000
7. Apr 13, 2020Flood$186,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The New River at Galax flooded with a crest of 9.36 feet (34,900 cfs) on the afternoon of the 13th. According to USGS data it was roughly a 5-year flood event (0.2 annual chance of occurrence). Several roads were flooded and there was some damage. Information on damage to roads and infrastructure provided by Virginia DOT.

8. May 24, 2017Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   In Grayson County at least eight roads were closed and up to six roads were damaged by flood waters. Winding Road near Fries was badly damaged. Several campgrounds along the New River were flooded although the New River near Galax (GAXV2) remained below flood stage, cresting at 6.21 feet (Action Stage - 7 ft.) early on the 25th. Damage estimates per VA DOT.

9. Apr 1, 2023High Wind, Grayson$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts downed trees and power lines throughout the county. Damage values are estimated.

10. Oct 23, 2017Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A brief tornado touched down at 4:53PM (LST) in Grayson County near the Town of Providence on Twin Pond Lane. The tornado would travel about a third of a mile before lifting over Highway 94 near Mandolin Lane after being on the ground for only a minute. . Multiple residencies received some damage with one house being totaled by a tree falling through it and a barn being knocked down. Numerous trees were snapped or knocked over. No injuries were reported. The maximum path width was 150 yards and peak intensity was consistent with EF1 (86-110 MPH) damage.

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

94°FJul 14, 1954

All-time low

−24°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

74°FJul 24, 1953

Coldest day

1°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

8.34 inSep 27, 2024

Snowiest day

24.0 inJan 7, 1996

Hottest year

1990mean 54.0°F

Coldest year

1983mean 48.7°F

Wettest year

201890.14 in

Driest year

200734.22 in

Snowiest season

52.2 in1982-83

Station Transou (USC00318694), 2,834 ft elevation, 20.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1946 to October 27, 2026; 98.2% 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 USC00318694.
• 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.