Mecklenburg County

Every recorded tornado

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

   Tropical Storm Isabel produced tropical storm force sustained winds and wind gusts over the piedmont of central and south central Virginia, as it crossed the Wakefield WFO county warning area. 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 38 mph at Richmond International Airport. The highest gusts recorded were 73 mph at Richmond International Airport, 63 mph at WWBT-TV, and 53 mph at Chase City in Mecklenburg county. Approximately several thousand persons were evacuated and housed in numerous shelters across…

2. Feb 24, 2016Tornado$260,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS storm survey found EF1 tornado damage along a path from the North Carolina Virginia line near Keats Point northeast through Palmer Point Recreation area, then to a point about five miles west of Bracey. Numerous trees were downed or snapped, minor roof damage occurred to a few homes, minor structural damage occurred to one home and a shed, and one home was moved off its foundation.

3. May 5, 2017Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado briefly touched down along and just south of the John Kerr Reservoir in southern Mecklenburg county. The tornado caused minor tree damage along Phyllis Road south of Boydton, uprooting a few trees and snapping off several others. The tornado lifted and continued north northeast crossing Route 58, before touching |down again in Baskerville along Baskerville Road, and uprooting and breaking numerous trees. A barn on Baskerville Road was destroyed with at least two walls failing. Some additional minor structural damage to flashing was noted to another outbuilding just north of VA-47.

4. Sep 16, 1999Flash Flood$153,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very heavy rain from Hurricane Floyd produced widespread flooding and flash flooding across much of central and eastern Virginia, and northeast North Carolina. Rainfall amounts generally ranged from near 7 inches from eastern Caroline county to Richmond City to Brunswick, Lunenburg and Mecklenburg counties, to 12 to 18 inches in much of the Virginia Tidewater. Numerous roads were washed out due to flooding. Many areas normally prone only to flooding of poor drainage and low lying areas experienced significant flash flooding. Primary routes out of service included US 460 near Wakefield, US 58 near Emporia and Franklin, and Interstate 95 south of Petersburg to Emporia. River…

5. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$90,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were downed. Structural damage also occurred.

6. Feb 13, 2021Ice Storm, Mecklenburg$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain or freezing drizzle resulted in significant ice accretion between 0.25 inch and 0.50 inch across the county. Numerous trees and power lines were downed, with widespread power outages reported due to the ice accretion.

7. Oct 31, 2019Tornado$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF1 tornado touched down across far southwest Mecklenburg county near Whitehouse Road. The circulation traveled northeast with numerous trees uprooted and snapped along the tornado's path. Many outbuildings and small barns were either destroyed or had significant roof damage. Only minor roof, shingle, and spouting damage to homes was observed. The tornado lifted shortly after crossing Route 58.

8. Feb 18, 2021Winter Storm, Mecklenburg$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ice accretions between 0.20 inch and 0.25 inch were reported. Several trees and power lines were downed, with numerous power outages reported.

9. Jul 5, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roof of a furniture store was damaged along North Mecklenburg Avenue. There was also minor roof damage to a mobile home on Union Mill Road.

10. Jan 30, 2000Ice Storm, Mecklenburg$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An ice storm affected a large portion of central and eastern Virginia with ice accumulations of up to one-half inch. Freezing rain mixed with sleet and snow spread over the area during the morning hours. Freezing rain then mixed with rain during the afternoon and evening along the eastern counties of Prince George, Charles City, New Kent, King William, King and Queen, Essex, Richmond, and Westmoreland. Farther west, freezing rain fell for most of the day with general accumulations from one-fourth to one-half inch. At one point, 300,000 people were without power in the Richmond vicinity due to the weight of ice downing trees and power lines. One Richmond TV station was knocked off…

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

108°FAug 10, 2007

All-time low

−5°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

83°FJul 25, 2010

Coldest day

12°FJan 17, 1972

Wettest day

5.91 inJul 6, 2006

Snowiest day

13.0 inJan 27, 1966

Hottest year

2024mean 62.6°F

Coldest year

1969mean 55.6°F

Wettest year

202062.10 in

Driest year

196525.59 in

Station John H Kerr Dam (USC00444414), 250 ft elevation, 6.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 23, 2026; 94.8% 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 USC00444414.
• 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.