Orleans County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by VT GS (56).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 28, 2011Flood$500 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain from Tropical Storm Irene inundated roads in Orleans County Vermont. The Barton River flooded river road near Orleans, and the Barton River at Coventry crested at 10.27 feet at 04:00 am EST Aug 29, over two feet above flood stage of 8.0 feet. Other local roads near Troy were flooded by the Missisquoi river, and the Missisquoi at North Troy crested at 13.94 feet at 02:30 am EST Aug 29, almost five feet over flood stage of 9.0 feet.

2. Jul 15, 1997Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A cold front stalled across northern Vermont during the morning of July 15, 1997. This front focused heavy convective rain in this area. Extensive flooding with a number of road washouts resulted. Rises on area rivers were quite rapid. The Albany and Hardwick areas were especially hard hit with road washouts.

3. Jul 30, 2024Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dept. of Highways reported significant flash flooding the the Morgan Center area, specifically on VT-111 at Water St. Additional reports of severe flash flooding on Toad Pond Rd. along the Sucker Brook in Morgan were also received via the public and media. Some homes and businesses were damaged in these locations.

4. Dec 21, 2013Ice Storm, Orleans$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain accumulated between 1/2 to 3/4 inch, across portions of Orleans county, especially along the Canadian border, causing numerous vehicle accidents as well as damage to trees and utility lines.

5. Nov 1, 2019Flood$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several roads flooded due to very heavy rainfall across Orleans county. Some of the more intense flooding occurred near the headwaters region of the Missisquoi near Lowell and North Troy.

6. May 29, 2012Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding along East Branch and Burgess Branch, tributaries to the Missisquoi River, caused damage along Mink Farm Road, Route 100, and Route 58 in Lowell. Several parked cars were moved around by the water. Portions of Mink Farm Road and Route 100 were washed out by flood waters.

7. Jul 10, 2023Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Training showers and thunderstorms with heavy to torrential rainfall affected the area during the early to mid morning hours on July 10, 2023. Observations and radar estimates show 1.5 to 4 inches of rain fell in the area with scattered reports of flash flooding, most notably in the towns of Barton and Orleans.

8. Aug 11, 1998Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A cold front moved across the region during the late afternoon and night of August 11th into the early morning of August 12th. With a warm humid airmass in place, thunderstorms resulted in torrential downpours during the late night. Small streams and brooks quickly rose to bankful or greater. Roads were flooded in Westfield.

9. Jul 30, 2024Flash Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dept. of Highways reported VT-111 was closed between Old McCabe Rd. and VT-11 due to flash flooding.

10. Oct 30, 2017High Wind, Orleans$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous tree damage and power outages with measured wind gusts in the 40-50 mph range but damage indicative of 60 mph in spots.

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

92°FJul 2, 2026

All-time low

−43°FFeb 7, 1993

Warmest night

74°FJul 18, 2005

Coldest day

−13°F2 times, most recently Jan 15, 2004

Wettest day

7.17 inJul 30, 2024

Snowiest day

21.0 inMar 15, 1993

Hottest year

2012mean 44.2°F

Coldest year

1995mean 37.6°F

Wettest year

202454.92 in

Driest year

200131.99 in

Snowiest season

170.2 in1992-93

Station Island Pond (USC00434120), 1,200 ft elevation, 16.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1990 to October 23, 2026; 97.7% 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 USC00434120.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.