Doddridge County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (4,701).

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 10, 2022Flash Flood$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Doddridge County Senior Center in West Union observed substantial damage to its foundation due to the inundation of rain. The wall inside of the building was caved in from downed trees and water rushed down the hill into the basement. Neighborhoods within West Union also suffered basement and roof damage. Minor road damage was observed within the town due to blocked culverts and small landslides.

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

   Numerous trees and large branches were blown down in scattered locations about the county. One house sustained major damage. Electricity was out to around 3,300 customers. The pubic infrastructure damage assessment was around $158,000.

3. Jul 10, 2003Flash Flood$450,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The heaviest rains fell in the Leopold, Summers, Big Isaac region. An estimated 2.5 to 3.5 inches of rain fell. American Red Cross surveyed 1 single family dwelling and 1 mobile home destroyed. Seven single family homes and 4 mobile homes had major damage. Five churches had minor damage. Vehicles were also flooded.

4. Jun 3, 2008Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Increasing moisture quickly moved up the Ohio River Valley on the morning of the 3rd into a developing east to west frontal zone. The first of several thunderstorm complexes moved from west to east into western West Virginia during the early afternoon on Tuesday, the 3rd. The west to east band of training thunderstorms shifted slightly north overnight, toward the Route 50 corridor, including areas near Parkersburg on east toward West Union, Clarksburg, Philippi, and Grafton. The ground was already wetter than normal in this region, from above normal rainfall in May. By dawn on the 4th, the highest rain totals were 2.5 to over 3 inches from near Harrisville on east toward…

5. Jun 28, 1998Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Three consecutive nights of thunderstorms left western and northern counties with wind damage and flooding. The first night was from Friday evening, the 26th, into early Saturday morning, the 27th. The convection on the second and third nights was further south than the first night, hitting the Parkersburg to Charleston corridor the hardest. Total rains were 6 to 10 inches across portions of Wood, Jackson, and northern Kanawha Counties, with 5 inches further northeast, into the Middle Island Creek basin. The heaviest rain rates were with the second night of convection from late Saturday night. the 27th, into Sunday morning, the 28th. The cloudbursts swept southeast from eastern…

6. Jun 28, 1998Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Three consecutive nights of thunderstorms left western and northern counties with wind damage and flooding. The first night was from Friday evening, the 26th, into early Saturday morning, the 27th. The convection on the second and third nights was further south than the first night, hitting the Parkersburg to Charleston corridor the hardest. Total rains were 6 to 10 inches across portions of Wood, Jackson, and northern Kanawha Counties, with 5 inches further northeast, into the Middle Island Creek basin. The heaviest rain rates were with the second night of convection from late Saturday night. the 27th, into Sunday morning, the 28th. The cloudbursts swept southeast from eastern…

7. Feb 29, 2012Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Small streams, such as Broad Run and Franks Run, flooded. Roads, culverts, and 2 private bridges were damaged.

8. Feb 18, 2000Flash Flood$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…

9. Mar 4, 2015Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Small streams overflowed and closed roads. One example, was the headwaters of Middle Island Creek closing Route 18 near West Union. Another location was along Meathouse Fork near New Milton.

10. Aug 13, 2013Flash Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Streams across the northern portion of the county flooded and damaged roads. One example was McElroy Creek, where Route 23 was closed by 2 to 4 feet of water 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

103°FJul 17, 1988

All-time low

−33°F2 times, most recently Jan 20, 1994

Warmest night

77°F3 times, most recently Jul 30, 2025

Coldest day

−6°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

4.47 inAug 11, 2022

Snowiest day

14.0 in2 times, most recently Jan 5, 1994

Hottest year

2016mean 54.7°F

Coldest year

1997mean 48.9°F

Wettest year

201867.54 in

Driest year

198834.47 in

Snowiest season

62.4 in1993-94

Station W Union 2 (USC00469458), 806 ft elevation, 2.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1971 to September 30, 2026; 93.2% 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 USC00469458.
• 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.