Northumberland County

Every recorded tornado

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

High tide flooding

1. High tide flooding days are days on which a NOAA tide gauge recorded water at or above NOAA's minor flood threshold, set from the gauge's tide range, counted by meteorological year (May to April). These are the counts in NOAA's annual high tide flooding reports; they are not National Weather Service flood stages. Years with less than 80 percent of data are left out.

NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, through April 2026, 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.

Tsunamis

1. Places where NOAA's Global Historical Tsunami Database records a tsunami's water arriving, with the greatest height it reached above sea level at the time. Only tsunamis NOAA rates probable or definite are counted. Heights from eyewitness accounts and tide gauges are mixed, and older events are less completely recorded.

NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 1, 2006Coastal Flood, Northumberland$19.7 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's Northern Neck and Eastern Shore near the Chesapeake Bay, Atlantic Ocean and adjacent tributaries. Some of the most significant damage occurred in the Lewisetta area of Northumberland county.

2. Sep 1, 2006High Wind, Northumberland$15.0 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…

3. Aug 4, 2020Tornado$626,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the NWS Wakefield office found a path of storm damage consistent with an EF1 tornado. The tornado moved onshore from the Chesapeake Bay in the town of Fleeton, crossing Fleeton Road where several houses experienced roof and siding damage. In addition, trees were snapped and uprooted. The tornado then crossed over the Wicomico River and then moved back onshore near Timbs Road where trees were uprooted and snapped, and a few houses experienced roof and siding damage. The tornado then moved northward to near Buzzards Point Road, destroying a canopy, before lifting.

4. Sep 15, 1999Hurricane (Typhoon), Northumberland$617,000
   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…

5. Nov 12, 2009Coastal Flood, Northumberland$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several streets, homes and businesses were flooded in low lying areas of the county close or directly exposed to the Chesapeake Bay. There were also damaged piers, bulkheads, and groins.

6. May 3, 2021Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down along Richmond Road (Route 360) just southwest of Callao. The tornado was EF0 intensity at its beginning as it tracked northeast crossing Lakeside Drive just east of Callao. The tornado then crossed Northumberland Highway (Route 360), intensifying as it approached Chambers Lane. The tornado quickly reached EF2 intensity as it crossed Chambers Lane destroying one home and damaging several others. The destroyed home was built in the 1970s and based on builder inspector data was constructed to withstand 100 mph wind. In this same area, another home lost its garage causing severe damage to the home. In this area, winds were estimated around 120 mph at the…

7. Apr 3, 2024Tornado$274,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado tracked from Richmond County across Ridge Road and into Northumberland County where it caused mainly EF-0 damage to Quinton Oaks Gulf course as several hardwood trees were knocked down along with a storage shed which was destroyed. Additional damage was caused to a double wide manufactured home off of Ridge Road which had large sections of its roof ripped off. The tornado then intensified as it crossed Azalea Lane and Owl Town Road where numerous hardwood trees were snapped along with two houses which had portions of their roofs lifted off. One of these houses had its garage wall blown out and the other had multiple walls collapse and cave in. The damage in this area was…

8. Jul 12, 1996Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado damage occurred from Burgess to Oyster Cove. The most significant damage was found in the Edwardsville area, where nearly 20 mobile homes were severely damaged or destroyed. Numerous trees were downed or suffered damage. Nine, mostly minor, injuries were reported.

9. Oct 28, 2012Coastal Flood, Northumberland$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Water levels reached 2.0 feet to 3.5 feet above normal adjacent to the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River resulting in moderate to severe coastal flooding.

10. Oct 28, 2021Coastal Flood, Northumberland$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Strong low pressure tracked from the Middle Mississippi Valley east northeast toward the Northeast United States from Thursday, October 28th into Saturday, October 30th. This system produced very strong east southeast winds, then strong south to southwest winds through the period. This caused moderate to major (tidal) coastal flooding across portions of Northumberland county adjacent to the Potomac River. Lewisetta reached 4.78 feet MLLW at 900 pm on Friday, October 29.

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°F3 times, most recently Jun 25, 2025

All-time low

−3°F2 times, most recently Jan 17, 1977

Warmest night

85°FAug 12, 2005

Coldest day

10°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

11.76 inSep 30, 2010

Snowiest day

17.6 inJan 7, 1996

Hottest year

2024mean 62.0°F

Coldest year

1988mean 55.2°F

Wettest year

201863.66 in

Driest year

196328.25 in

Station Patuxent River NAS (USW00013721), 39 ft elevation, 28.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1945 to October 26, 2026; 89.4% 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 USW00013721.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Tide gauges NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, 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.
• Tsunamis NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database.
• 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.