Shenandoah County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Shenandoah 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. Jan 19, 1996Flash Flood$27.0 million
2. Sep 6, 1996Flood, Shenandoah$21.1 million
   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…

3. Jul 13, 2015Flash Flood$1.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous streets flooded and closed in Woodstock including Main Street and multiple sections on Route 11. There was a car stalled out in water near the intersection of Main Street and Indian Springs Road. There was water in multiple businesses in Woodstock.

4. Apr 28, 2002Tornado$1.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado injured 2 people, destroyed 4 homes, damaged 56 additional homes and 36 agricultural structures, downed numerous trees, and blew over a tractor-trailer on Interstate 81.

5. Feb 14, 2003Winter Storm, Shenandoah$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A complex storm system produced copious amounts of wintery precipitation across the northern third of Virginia between the evening of the 14th and midday on the 18th. The first batch of precipitation fell between the evening of the 14th and the evening of the 15th in the form of light to moderate snow or rain. The second batch of precipitation fell between midnight on the 16th through midday on the 17th in the form of heavy snow or sleet. The third batch of precipitation on the back side of the storm fell between the evening of the 17th and midday on the 18th in the form of scattered snow showers. After the precipitation came to an end, record breaking snow and sleet accumulations…

6. Jul 21, 2026Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado that began in Rockingham County, Virginia, continued east and crossed the 800 and 900 blocks of Ridge Road where approximately 50 trees were downed, one on a chicken coop structure. Further tree damage occurred along the 1900 and 2000 blocks of New Market Depot Road where several trees were uprooted and snapped, with numerous large branches snapped. The final noted damage was to the 500 block of Hayneswood Lane where one large tree was uprooted and several large branches were snapped.

7. Sep 6, 1996Flash Flood$1.0 million
8. Mar 20, 2024Wildfire, Shenandoah$983,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several fires were sparked by very strong westerly winds in excess of 50 mph and extremely low relative humidity values on the afternoon of March 20th. There were two large fires that straddled the Shenandoah/Page county line in the George Washington National Forest. The first of which was called the Waterfall Mountain/Shenandoah Forest/211 West Fire, which burned 6,399 acres between Shenandoah and Page counties. The other fire was named the Edith Gap/Serenity Ridge Fire, which burned 832 acres. These were both combined to be a part of a greater complex of fires, named the North Zone Complex. Throughout the county, 8 homes were either damaged or destroyed.

9. Jun 22, 2001Flash Flood$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Water rose rapidly on several waterways, a propane tank was washed away, a home was washed off its foundation, numerous roads and bridges were flooded or washed out, and 7 people were evacuated.

10. Jul 28, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several trees snapped and trucks were off the road due to high thunderstorm winds on I-81 near Woodstock. Dozens of trees were blown down in the area. Several outbuildings were also destroyed.

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

107°F2 times, most recently Jul 17, 1988

All-time low

−18°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

82°F2 times, most recently Jul 7, 1925

Coldest day

5°FJan 11, 1982

Wettest day

6.51 inOct 15, 1942

Snowiest day

22.0 inMar 6, 1962

Hottest year

1953mean 57.3°F

Coldest year

1981mean 51.5°F

Wettest year

201863.35 in

Driest year

193017.15 in

Snowiest season

71.0 in1960-61

Station Winchester 7 Se (USC00449186), 680 ft elevation, 25.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1912 to October 6, 2026; 87.8% 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 USC00449186.
• 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.