Mathews County

Every recorded tornado

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

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, 2003Hurricane (Typhoon), Mathews$21.0 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. Sep 1, 2006Coastal Flood, Mathews$5.6 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 Peninsula and Middle Peninsula near the Chesapeake Bay and adjacent tributaries.

3. Sep 1, 2006High Wind, Mathews$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The remnants of Ernesto along the Mid Atlantic coast combined with strong high pressure over New England produced very strong winds across eastern and southeast Virginia. Sustained winds in mph ranged from the lower 40s to near 60 with maximum gusts ranging from the mid 50s to as high as the mid 70s. Some higher sustained winds included 60 mph (52 knots) at York River Range Light and York River United States Coast Guard, and 56 mph (49 knots) at Wallops Island (WAL). Some higher maximum gusts included 76 mph (66 knots) at York River Range Light, and 75 mph (65 knots) at York River USCG. The high winds caused numerous downed trees and power outages, along with significant…

4. Nov 12, 2009Coastal Flood, Mathews$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous streets, homes and businesses were flooded in low lying areas of the county close or directly exposed to the Chesapeake Bay. Mathews Fire Station 1 had 2 inches of water in it.

5. Aug 4, 2020Tropical Storm, Mathews$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm winds downed and uprooted several trees and power lines, produced significant structural damage, and caused power outages across the county. Wind gust of 43 knots (49 mph) was measured at Gwynn.

6. Aug 27, 2011Tropical Storm, Mathews$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

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

7. Aug 6, 2000Lightning$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a home on Gwynn's Island and caused a fire that caused major damage. A two-car garage and a room above the garage were destroyed and the home was damaged by smoke. A car parked outside was destroyed and several family pets died from smoke inhalation.

8. Apr 28, 2008Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A brief tornado touched down just southwest of Bohannon on North River Road near Cakes Creek. The tornado took the roof off a home, overturned a boat and a vehicle, and downed several trees.

9. Sep 15, 1999Hurricane (Typhoon), Mathews$47,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Floyd was a Category 1 hurricane as it crossed the Wakefield WFO county warning area. Sustained tropical storm force winds with gusts to near hurricane force occurred over the northwest quadrant of the storm over interior portions of northeast North Carolina and along the coastal waters of the Wakefield marine area. The center of the storm crossed the county warning area along an Elizabeth City to Currituck county to Sandbridge Virginia Beach axis. The highest sustained wind speed recorded was 69 mph at Chesapeake Light (CHLV2). Other sustained wind speeds were 46 mph at Langley Air Force Base (LFI), 44 mph at Norfolk Naval Air Station (NGU), and 41 mph at Oceana Naval…

10. Oct 2, 2015Coastal Flood, Mathews$40,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A tidal departure of 3 to 4 feet resulted in moderate flooding along the York River and Chesapeake Bay. Waves caused damage to some piers and docks, with a few buildings sustaining minor flood 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

104°F2 times, most recently Aug 22, 1983

All-time low

−7°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

83°FAug 29, 1953

Coldest day

15°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

14.28 inSep 16, 1999

Snowiest day

13.5 inJan 5, 1980

Hottest year

2017mean 61.5°F

Coldest year

1952mean 56.6°F

Wettest year

197575.65 in

Driest year

196529.62 in

Snowiest season

35.4 in1979-80

Station Williamsburg 2 N (USC00449151), 70 ft elevation, 22.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1951 to October 22, 2026; 99.4% 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 USC00449151.
• 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.