Winchester city

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Apr 23, 1999Hail$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of thunderstorms developed in West Virginia during the early afternoon and moved rapidly southeast across Northern Virginia. These storms produced very large hail in a 10 mile wide strip from Winchester in Frederick County to Woodbridge in Prince William County from 3:30 PM EDT to 5:00 PM EDT. Winds over 55 MPH also downed trees and power lines in Frederick and Clarke County between 3:30 PM EDT and 4:15 PM EDT. Frederick County spotters reported between 1 3/4 to 3 1/2 inch diameter hail. The rubber membrane roof of the War Memorial Building in Winchester was punctured by hail the size of golf balls, allowing heavy rain to fall inside the structure and cause significant…

2. Feb 14, 2003Winter Storm, Frederick$1.4 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…

3. Sep 18, 2003High Wind, Frederick$500,000
   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…

4. Jan 14, 2006High Wind, Frederick$100,000
   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. Jul 17, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and wires blew down in Winchester. A large tree blew down into the roadway at the corner of Fort Collier Road and Berryville Avenue. A tree blew into the roadway at the corner of Jubal Early Drive and Plaza Drive. A tree blew down in the 100 block of Lambden Avenue. The roof of a nearby townhome blew off.

6. May 26, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees blew down in the vicinity of the Apple Blossom Mall. Power lines and a traffic light were blown down near the intersection of Hillcrest Avenue and Massanutten Terrace. Numerous trees were blown down near the intersection of Adam Drive and South Pleasant Valley Road.

7. Feb 10, 2008High Wind, Frederick$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frederick County Emergency Management and Winchester Police reported trees and power lines down across the city and county. A trained spotter reported a roof collapse at an apartment building just east of Interstate 81 near Route 7.

8. Jan 7, 1996Blizzard, Frederick$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An historic winter storm, known as the "Blizzard of '96", crippled all of northern Virginia during the first full weekend of January. In general, snow totals ranged from 20 inches on the coastal plain (VAZ052>53; 055>057) to over 3 feet at the higher elevations of the central and northern Shenandoah Valley. To complicate matters, winds gusting in excess of 35 mph produced drifts of 4 to 7 feet, except over 10 feet in the mountains. The storm produced the largest statewide storm totals since the "Megalopolitan Storm" of February 11th, 1983. Numerous 24-hour accumulation records were shattered at airports from southwest Virginia through New England; Washington/Dulles airport (IAD;…

9. Jun 22, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A couple dozen trees and wires blew down across the City of Winchester.

10. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A strong upper-level disturbance passed through the region in a northwest flow aloft. Extremely hot and humid conditions caused high amounts of instability. The upper-level disturbance triggered a line of thunderstorms that moved through the area. Due to the high instability, thunderstorms caused widespread wind damage.

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, 4.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1912 to October 28, 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 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 November 1, 2026.