Braxton County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 WV GS (2,013), NASA (1).

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jul 31, 1996Flash Flood$1.5 million
2. Oct 29, 2012Heavy Snow, Braxton$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A rare consolidation of a strong mid and upper level trough in the polar jet with a tropical hurricane named Sandy resulted in a historical snow storm for the month of October. ||Periods of rain fell for 2 days from the 27th into the 28th, as a cold front moved east. In response to the colder air associated with the polar jet and the strengthening mid level trough, light rain changed to the first snowflakes around 0000E to 0200E on Monday the 29th. This snow was only across the high terrain of southwest Virginia northward into the mountainous counties of central West Virginia. For example, the first flakes around Beckley were around 0100E. However, little accumulation was seen…

3. Jun 16, 1998Hail$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A Ford dealership had over 100 vehicles dented.

4. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and large branches were blown down. The airport near Flatwoods recorded a gust to 53 mph, but higher gusts were likely in the county. One house had minor damage and 1 other had minor damage. The public infrastructure damage assessment was around $236,000.

5. Jul 13, 2015Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roads were flooded, damaged, and closed around Sutton, including Route 4 along Granny Creek. Centralia Road was heavily damaged and undermined in sections by the Left Fork and Spruce Fork. Residents along Centralia Road lost water when a water pipe was exposed. A water rescue also took place from a vehicle stalled in flood waters. Even the water on downtown streets in Sutton was 6 to 12 inches deep. Culverts were washed out and numerous road closures occurred around Little Birch. ||Many campgrounds in the headwaters of Sutton Lake were flooded. Yet, that was by design. Runoff was stored behind the dam, causing the lake elevation to rise several feet.

6. Feb 16, 2003Ice Storm, Braxton$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe ice storm occurred across a narrow east to west band of counties. The severe ice continued west, into southeast Ohio and northeast Kentucky. Ice from freezing rain accumulated 1 to 3 inches on power lines and trees. The precipitation then ended as snow on the 17th. The added weight from the ice, broke limbs and snapped the tops off thousands of trees. Other trees were uprooted or left leaning at precarious angles. The fallen trees blocked many roads. Power outages were widespread, and lasted for more than 3 days. Refrigerated frozen foods thawed and spoiled. Phone and water services were also interrupted. The Red Cross opened shelters. One gas station in Ravenswood wired…

7. May 27, 2004Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rains of 2.5 to 3.5 inches of rain fell. Rosedale reported 2.7 inches of rain, while Sutton measured 2.6 inches. Evacuations took place in Newville and near Flatwoods. Water was in homes and blocking roads. Some roads and culverts were washed out. Damage assessment counted 17 homes with major damage in the county.

8. Jun 16, 1998Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Unusually large hail for the Mountain State occurred in central counties. Insurance companies estimated on the order of 4000 claims across West Virginia with this event. The majority of the damage was from hail damaging vehicles.

9. Jun 23, 2016Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The headwaters of the Elk River, above Sutton Dam, and the Birch River flooded. Roads were damaged.

10. Jun 16, 1998Hail$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Unusually large hail for the Mountain State occurred in central counties. Insurance companies estimated on the order of 4000 claims across West Virginia with this event. The majority of the damage was from hail damaging vehicles.

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

110°FAug 5, 1988

All-time low

−24°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

73°F4 times, most recently Jul 18, 2013

Coldest day

4°FJan 17, 2009

Wettest day

4.60 inAug 24, 1945

Snowiest day

27.0 inNov 25, 1950

Hottest year

2016mean 57.3°F

Coldest year

2014mean 53.3°F

Wettest year

201872.18 in

Driest year

198832.48 in

Snowiest season

76.0 in1963-64

Station Sutton Lake (USC00468662), 868 ft elevation, 2.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1966 to October 23, 2026; 91.6% 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 USC00468662.
• 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.