King George County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within King George 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. Sep 18, 2003Tropical Storm, King George$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   On September 18, 2003, Hurricane Isabel made landfall on the North Carolina Coast. Its huge wind field was already piling water up into the southern Chesapeake Bay. By the time Isabel moved into central Virginia, it had weakened and was downgraded to a tropical storm. Isabel's eye tracked well west of the bay, but the storm's 40 to 60 mph sustained winds pushed a bulge of water northward up the bay and its tributaries producing a record storm surge. The Virginia western shore counties of the Chesapeake Bay and the tidal tributaries of the Potomac, Rappahannock and other smaller rivers, experienced a storm surge which reached 5 to 9 feet above normal tides. In many locations,…

2. May 7, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several dwellings were damaged from felled trees and power lines.

3. Sep 17, 2004Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F1 tornado crossed central King George County on the 17th. The initial touch down was near the intersection of Route 3 and 607, near Popcastle. Frame homes in the Lake Jefferson Subdivision and nearby Igo Road areas were damaged by topped or felled trees. Windy Hill Farm also reported extensive damage to the barn and two other out buildings. The storm then jogged to the right and crossed Comorn Road, just south of Osso. The storm continued to produce damage as it entered the Potomac River at the end of Route 641. Trees fell on a house at the end of Route 641.

4. Aug 4, 2020Tropical Storm, King George$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The King George County 911 Center received nearly three dozen calls for trees, wires, and branches down. A tree also fell onto a house.

5. Sep 6, 1996Storm Surge/Tide$250,000
6. Mar 22, 1998Debris Flow, King George$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A portion of local route 627 slid down a cliff overlooking the Rappahannock River in southeastern King George Co. At least 1/2 the width of the road was removed. The rock slide, which occurred during benign weather, was partly due to repeated heavy rains, very moist soil, and minor flooding along the river during the winter of 1997/98. Major river and flash flood events in 1996 likely set the stage, over the long term, for the slide.

7. Aug 27, 2011Tropical Storm, King George$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were down. Twenty trees fell into homes and 8 homes sustained major damage.

8. Sep 1, 2006High Surf, King George$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Storm surge tidal flooding occurred along the Tidal Potomac River from the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto, causing extensive flooding and heavy surf action in King George County. Flooding was observed at Fairview Beach. Heavy surf caused extensive beach erosion and subsequent damages to beach areas at Fairview Beach, such as to piers, docks, and bulkheads. The boardwalk was also damaged at Colonial Beach. A tide crest was measured of 5.54 ft. (NAVD88-MSL) on the Tidal Potomac at Alexandria, which was well above the flood stage of 4.0 ft.

9. Jan 14, 2006High Wind, King George$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and powerlines down across the county.

10. Jul 4, 2008Lightning$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    King George County Emergency Management reported several lightning-sparked fires, including 2 homes and a business. One person was reportedly struck by lightning through a TV and suffered minor injuries.

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 8, 2012

All-time low

−6°FFeb 5, 1996

Warmest night

82°FJul 6, 2012

Coldest day

11°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

5.28 inSep 30, 2010

Snowiest day

17.9 inFeb 16, 2003

Hottest year

2012mean 62.7°F

Coldest year

1996mean 54.9°F

Wettest year

194853.18 in

Driest year

202116.18 in

Station Quantico Mcas (USW00013773), 10 ft elevation, 16.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1945 to October 23, 2026; 87.7% 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 USW00013773.
• 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.