Pulaski County

Every recorded tornado

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

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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 27, 2024Flood$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flood waters along the New River were observed rising an average of 2 feet per hour during the flooding associated with Hurricane Helene. At the height of the damage inflicted by Helene, Claytor Lake had a debris field that was 4+ miles long, covered 250+ acres, and weighed an estimated 240 tons. The debris was washed in from Major Flooding along the New River upstream of the reservoir. Debris included uprooted or snapped trees, boats and docks, and portions of buildings. About 25% of collected material is manmade. The debris also included hazardous materials such as fuel tanks and chemical waste containers. It was estimated that it would take several months to clean the majority…

2. Sep 26, 2024Flood$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The New River at Allisonia (ALSV2) crested at 21.91 feet (166,945 cfs) at 11:15 PM EDT on Sept. 27th (28/0315 UTC) due to heavy rain associated with Tropical Cyclone Helene. It was observed that the gage flatlined at this stage for about 3 hours, so it's possible that the crest was closer to or rose above 22 feet. This is the second highest crest in the history of this gage, behind the flooding event of August 1940 (23.42 ft). This crest rates just above a 200-year Average Recurrence Interval (ARI), or a 0.5% Annual Exceedance Probability per USGS StreamStats. The flooding was the result of between 10 and locally 20 inches of rain that fell across the upper New River basin between…

3. Apr 8, 2011Tornado$3.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down along Mount Olivet Road and traveled southeast, with the most significant damage along Pulaski Street, Valley Road, and Maple Street. Several roofs were torn off homes, top floors of a couple homes were completely destroyed, a couple homes were knocked off their foundations, and numerous large trees were snapped off. Over 200 homes received some damage, with around 30 of these destroyed beyond repair.

4. Apr 8, 2011Tornado$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down on Highway 11 near the National Guard Armory. It then tracked southeast, with intermittent damage over a wooded area. More continuous damage was then observed as it crossed Interstate 81 at Draper near exit 92. In this area, there was significant damage to a gas station and many homes. One mobile home was completely destroyed and numerous trees were snapped off. The tornado lifted as it moved up a small ridge about 1.5 miles southeast of Old Baltimore Road.

5. Oct 23, 2017Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down as an EF1 at 5:33PM (LST) just west of Belspring Road and traveled 1.3 miles before crossing the New River along Depot Road into Montgomery County at approximately 5:35PM. The tornado would continue almost two more miles before lifting near McCoy at 5:39PM. The heaviest damage was to a residence that had an unattached garage/workshop that was torn apart. Debris from this structure fell over onto two nearby vehicles and was also thrown into the two story home which suffered considerable damage. Many other homes, mainly along Belspring and Depot Roads, received some minor structural damage. Hundreds of trees were snapped or knocked down. The tornado reached…

6. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$450,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds blew hundreds of trees down across the county. Many power lines came down as a result of the winds or the falling trees. The winds also destroyed two mobile homes in Dublin.

7. Sep 27, 2024High Wind, Pulaski$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were downed across the county by high winds associated with the remnants of Hurricane Helene, several of which landed across roads and made them impassable, such as on Little Creek Road. Over 3,100 customers were reported without power by 2 PM on Friday. Around $450,000 in losses were sustained in the agriculture industry, including losses to crops, as well as facilities, structures, and land in Pulaski County and the City of Radford.

8. Apr 13, 2020Flash Flood$312,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The IFLOWS stream gage at Pulaski (PCRV2) rose from near baseflow to flood stage (8 feet) in less than 6 hours and crested at 11.4 feet around 730 AM EST on the 13th. Moderate flood stage is 11 feet. This was the highest crest in the fairly short and erratic history of this gage (back to around 2010), It exceeded the previous record of 11.2 feet set on March 13, 2010. Other small tributaries of Peak Creek flooded as well and local news reports spoke of the 'worst flooding in 40 years' with up to a dozen homes flooded into the living areas. Three water rescues were conducted as well around Pulaski.

9. Aug 9, 2019Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A supercell thunderstorm mainly generating severe straight line winds produced a brief embedded EF1 tornado that traveled a quarter mile. This brief tornado snapped and downed numerous trees as it tracked parallel to Sunrise Drive in the community of Bella Vista in Pulaski County. Multiple outbuildings and one large equipment shed were destroyed. Vehicles inside the shed were completely destroyed, including a collectible antique vehicle. An estimated 100 or more trees were downed in the tornado event.

10. Feb 15, 2025Flash Flood$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous creeks and streams throughout the county were observed flowing out of their banks and onto nearby roads or over bridges. Roads that were flooded and impassible include Annie Akers Road, Lowman's Ferry Road, Gill Lane, Highland Road, Parrott River Road, Old Route 100, Fairlawn Road, Cox Hollow Road, Pond Lick Hollow Road, Buena Vista Road, Hilton Village Loop, Little Creek Road and Cleburne Boulevard. A trained Skywarn Spotter reported that Brookmont Road was flooded as Tract Fork rose out of its banks. WDBJ7 reported that several private bridges over creeks throughout the county that provide access to homes were heavily damaged or destroyed during the flooding.

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

99°F2 times, most recently Jun 30, 2012

All-time low

−16°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

76°FAug 17, 1965

Coldest day

7°F2 times, most recently Jan 16, 1994

Wettest day

4.68 inJul 22, 1922

Snowiest day

17.0 inFeb 27, 1987

Hottest year

1921mean 55.9°F

Coldest year

1988mean 50.1°F

Wettest year

202070.06 in

Driest year

196324.76 in

Snowiest season

56.1 in1995-96

Station Pulaski 2 E (USC00446955), 2,080 ft elevation, 4.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1920 to October 21, 2026; 96.8% 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 USC00446955.
• 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.