Calhoun County

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 (1,438).

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. Aug 29, 2005Flash Flood$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Most of the flooding occurred from the headwaters of the West Fork of the Little Kanawha River, including Walker Creek and Walnut Fork, on north, to the Arnoldsburg and Millstone vicinity. In 3 hours ending at 1600E, 3.45 inches of rain fell at the gauge near Walnut. About 75 family dwellings, 3 businesses, 1 fire hall, and a community building sustained some degree of water damage. In Arnoldsburg, 2 houses were flooded, but most of the damage was along Route 16 near Stinson, Chloe, and Minnora. Four cars, 1 truck, 1 motorcycle, and 2 four wheelers were destroyed. On Walnut Road, 30 bales of hay floated down and backed up the water at the bridge crossing Route 16. In Calhoun…

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

   Numerous trees and large branches were blown down in the county. Electricity was lost to about 5,500 customers. Two houses were destroyed, 2 others had major damage, and 1 more had minor damage. The public infrastructure damage assessment was near $47,000.

3. Mar 1, 1997Flash Flood$500,000
4. Feb 18, 2000Flash Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A warm front surged north during the morning of Friday the 18th, dropping a half inch to an inch of rain. Meanwhile, low pressure extended from southern Ohio on down the entire length of the Ohio River during that afternoon. A southerly wind at the surface, with dew points in the 55 to 60 degree range, fed moisture north from Tennessee and Kentucky. This moisture was advected into the boundary along the Ohio River. Additional rains sank south into western and central West Virginia during the afternoon of the 18th, reaching the Charleston to Sutton corridor around 1500E. The southern edge of the rain lifted a bit further north during the early evening hours, temporarily ending the…

5. Feb 16, 2003Ice Storm, Calhoun$400,000
   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…

6. May 4, 2009Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The West Fork of the Little Kanawha River and its feeder streams flooded roads and homes. Later that day, the main stem of the Little Kanawha River flooded. The crest at Grantsville was just over 1 foot about flood stage, cresting near 37 feet overnight on May 4th into the 5th. In the county, 2 homes had major damage, while several other homes received minor damage. Three businesses also received damage. The elememtary school in Arnoldsburg got about 17 to 18 inches of water inside. School employees moved vulnerable supplies to higher ground before the water spilled inside. One church had a basement classroom damaged.

7. Jun 28, 1998Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A few evacuations took place along Philip Run.

8. Jul 30, 2020Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rain gauges indicated 4 to 5 of rain fell around Grantsville, causing numerous areas of flash flooding. Parts of Route 16 were closed, and several homes along the road were damaged by high water. Pine Creek flooded, washing away a driveway bridge and flooding several vehicles. Philip Run also experienced flooding, with several homes damaged by the high water.

9. Mar 2, 1997Flood, Calhoun$200,000
10. Feb 19, 2000Flood, Calhoun$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A warm front surged north during the morning of Friday the 18th, dropping a half inch to an inch of rain. Meanwhile, low pressure extended from southern Ohio on down the entire length of the Ohio River during that afternoon. A southerly wind at the surface, with dew points in the 55 to 60 degree range, fed moisture north from Tennessee and Kentucky. This moisture was advected into the boundary along the Ohio River. Additional rains sank south into western and central West Virginia during the afternoon of the 18th, reaching the Charleston to Sutton corridor around 1500E. The southern edge of the rain lifted a bit further north during the early evening hours, temporarily ending the…

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

105°FJul 26, 1934

All-time low

−31°F2 times, most recently Jan 20, 1994

Warmest night

85°F2 times, most recently Jun 27, 1953

Coldest day

−4°FDec 25, 1983

Wettest day

4.26 inJun 26, 1918

Snowiest day

16.0 inDec 26, 1894

Hottest year

1921mean 57.6°F

Coldest year

1981mean 50.4°F

Wettest year

198966.37 in

Driest year

193025.92 in

Snowiest season

68.1 in2009-10

Station Spencer (USC00468384), 972 ft elevation, 14.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1892 to August 31, 2026; 92.2% 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 USC00468384.
• 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.