Rappahannock County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 6, 1996Flood, Rappahannock$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The rapid runoff produced by the heavy rains from Fran caused substantial, damaging, and in some cases record river flooding across much of the northern Virginia watershed from late on the 6th until early on the 10th. Flash flooding on the 6th rapidly became river flooding late on the 6th along the headwaters of the Potomac, Shenandoah, and Rappahannock River basins, and continued throughout the basins over the weekend and into early the following week. Crests at gaging points in these basins were similar to those in January 1996 across the Lower Main Stem of the Potomac. Levels were 1 to 5 feet higher across the Upper Main Stem Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. The Shenandoah…

2. Jul 21, 2026Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado briefly touched down as a supercell thunderstorm crossed the Thorton Gap entrance to Shenandoah National Park near the intersection of Skyline Drive and US-211 Lee Highway. Numerous trees and large branches were snapped in a convergent manner from near the top of the ridgeline to a couple miles on the lee side of the ridge. Several metal signs were blown over at the Thorton Gap entrance. The tornado dissipated in the woods prior to reaching Sperryville. KLWX radar indicated rotation co-located with a tornadic debris signature as the storm crossed this location.

3. Sep 6, 1996Flash Flood$300,000
4. Jan 14, 2006High Wind, Rappahannock$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very strong winds developed on the 14th due to a strengthening low pressure system off the Mid Atlantic Coast and a fast moving cold front that passed through the region early in the day. Widespread damages and power outages occurred, with newspaper reports indicating tens of thousands without power for an extended period of time.

5. Aug 30, 2005Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The National Weather Service surveyed wind damage in eastern Rappahannock County near Viewpoint, to just west of Amissville. A small tornado touched down initially near Routes 640 and 642 in Viewpoint, where metal roofing was peeled off a farm outbuilding, and a few small trees were knocked down. Along the path, mainly scattered F0 tree damage was found. The tornado crossed U.S. Route 211, about 2 miles west of Amissville before lifting near Jefferson Mountain. This tornado has been rated an F0 on the Fujita Scale.

6. Sep 18, 2003High Wind, Rappahannock$50,000
   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…

7. Apr 2, 2005Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Route 522 north near Flint Hill flooded with cars stranded

8. May 4, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts estimated at 60 mph (Skywarn spotter report) knocked down trees and power lines in the Sperryville area. A rooftop tent was blown off of a country inn, and a barn reportedly collapsed from the winds in Nethers.

9. Aug 4, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and wires blew down around Flint Hill. At least seven trees blew down onto VA-637 Jericho Road between US-522 Zachary Taylor Highway and North Poes Road, especially near Fox Hall Farm Lane; one tree fell onto wires bringing down a pole. A tree blew down blocking the roadway on US-522 Zachary Taylor Highway near VA-641 Aileen Road. A tree also blew down in the 100 block of Grimsley Road.

10. Oct 29, 2012High Wind, Rappahannock$30,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Wind gusts of 58 mph were estimated based on nearby observations. There were numerous trees down mostly in the northeastern part of the county. Two houses had their roofs blown 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

104°FJul 7, 1999

All-time low

−8°FFeb 5, 1996

Warmest night

77°FJul 6, 1999

Coldest day

17°FFeb 17, 2015

Wettest day

5.49 inSep 7, 1996

Snowiest day

22.0 inJan 8, 1996

Hottest year

2020mean 56.4°F

Coldest year

2022mean 53.4°F

Wettest year

201894.43 in

Driest year

200737.16 in

Station Sperryville (USC00447985), 750 ft elevation, 6.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1995 to October 21, 2026; 87.9% 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 USC00447985.
• 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.