Loudoun County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Loudoun 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 7, 2020Tornado$5.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Staff from NOAA's National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington Weather|Forecast Office located in Sterling, VA performed a survey of |storm damage that occurred in the Town of Leesburg, VA on the |morning of February 7, 2020. This survey, coupled with radar |analysis from the KLWX WSR-88D and the FAA's TIAD Terminal Doppler|Weather Radar, concluded that a tornado rated EF0 on the Enhanced|Fujita Scale impacted the Town of Leesburg between 7:20 AM EST |and 7:23 AM EST. The tornado had a path length of 3.3 miles |producing intermittent damage, with a path width of up to 250 |yards. The tornado was moving northeast at approximately 60 mph.||The first damage was reported in the…

2. Apr 23, 1999Hail$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many Cars and Homes Damaged by Hail in South Riding Community

3. Sep 17, 2004Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm moved into eastern Loudoun County from Fairfax County near the Dulles International Airport. The storm produced a tornado which touched down at Dulles International Airport and passed within one half mile of the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Sterling. This prompted the staff on duty to seek shelter in the office constructed saferoom. As the storm traveled north from the Dulles International Airport, it produced minor tree damage. More extensive damage occurred north of Waxpool Road at the Beaumede Corporate Park. Seven buildings were damaged. A wall collapsed in one of the buildings. A tractor trailer was overturned. The tornado also pushed two cars…

4. Apr 23, 1999Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of thunderstorms developed in West Virginia during the early afternoon and moved rapidly southeast across Northern Virginia. These storms produced very large hail in a 10 mile wide strip from Winchester in Frederick County to Woodbridge in Prince William County from 3:30 PM EDT to 5:00 PM EDT. Winds over 55 MPH also downed trees and power lines in Frederick and Clarke County between 3:30 PM EDT and 4:15 PM EDT. Frederick County spotters reported between 1 3/4 to 3 1/2 inch diameter hail. The rubber membrane roof of the War Memorial Building in Winchester was punctured by hail the size of golf balls, allowing heavy rain to fall inside the structure and cause significant…

5. Apr 23, 1999Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of thunderstorms developed in West Virginia during the early afternoon and moved rapidly southeast across Northern Virginia. These storms produced very large hail in a 10 mile wide strip from Winchester in Frederick County to Woodbridge in Prince William County from 3:30 PM EDT to 5:00 PM EDT. Winds over 55 MPH also downed trees and power lines in Frederick and Clarke County between 3:30 PM EDT and 4:15 PM EDT. Frederick County spotters reported between 1 3/4 to 3 1/2 inch diameter hail. The rubber membrane roof of the War Memorial Building in Winchester was punctured by hail the size of golf balls, allowing heavy rain to fall inside the structure and cause significant…

6. Jan 19, 1996Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An unprecedented combination, in recent history, of unseasonably warm, humid air overriding a dense snowpack estimated between 12 and 18 inches (but up to 2 feet or more at higher elevations) caused nearly the entire pack to vanish in a 12-hour period. The unseasonably warm air was drawn northward around the circulation of a deepening storm west of the Appalachians late on the 18th and early on the 19th. The melting snow and additional rainfall produced widespread flooding and flash flooding on the 19th.Strong low-level southeast flow developed by late afternoon on the 18th. Initially, colder temperatures in sheltered valleys slowed the rate of snow melt while the warm moist air…

7. Jun 22, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A macroburst swept across southwestern Loudoun County near Philomont. Thousands of trees, tree limbs, wires, and poles were toppled, especially along VA-611 Saint Louis Road.

8. Sep 23, 2003Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Six inches of rain in 4 hours caused major flooding.

9. Sep 18, 2003High Wind, Loudoun$500,000
   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…

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

    A tornado touched down in western Loudoun County. This storm was a continuation of a track of the storm that moved through Fauquier County Virginia. The storm first touched down south of Hamilton and, intermittent damage was noted from Hamilton to Lovettsville. A farm near Hamilton suffered severe damage. The farmhouse, horse barn and outbuildings were severely damaged or demolished. Two thoroughbred horses were cut by flying debris. The tornado produced damage along a 12 mile track. This storm continued to travel north into Maryland and produced damage in extreme southwest Frederick and eastern Washington Counties.

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

105°FJul 22, 2011

All-time low

−18°FJan 22, 1984

Warmest night

81°FJul 16, 2026

Coldest day

6°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

10.67 inJun 21, 1972

Snowiest day

22.5 inFeb 11, 1983

Hottest year

2024mean 58.9°F

Coldest year

1976mean 51.9°F

Wettest year

201866.74 in

Driest year

200727.02 in

Snowiest season

73.2 in2009-10

Station Washington Dulles International Airport (USW00093738), 294 ft elevation, 7.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1960 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00093738.
• 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.