Gilmer County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Gilmer 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 (2,023), USGS Conterminous (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. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and large branches were blown down in the county. Two houses were destroyed, 2 others had major damage, and 5 more had minor damage. The public infrastructure damage assessment was around $210,000.

2. Jun 4, 2008Flood$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Small stream flooding lead to river flooding along the Little Kanawha River.

3. Feb 18, 2000Flash Flood$500,000
   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…

4. Feb 16, 2003Ice Storm, Gilmer$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…

5. Feb 19, 2000Flood, Gilmer$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…

6. Nov 19, 2003Flood, Gilmer$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rains of 2 to 4.2 inches fell from 2200E on the 18th through 1600E on the 19th. A strong inflow of moist air from the southeast, helped enhance these rains. The heaviest rain was over the central and southern mountains, say from the Snowshoe region on through Richwood, Beckley, Mullens, and Elkhorn. Some of the preliminary rain totals were 4.2 inches at Snowshoe, 3.9 inches at Richwood, 3.7 inches at Elkhorn, 3.5 inches at Rosedale, 3.3 inches at Frost and Mullens, 3.1 inches at Webster Springs and Glenville, 2.9 inches at Oak Hill and Beckley. Vegetation was dormant for the upcoming winter, the ground saturated, and the waterways were still flowing above normal levels from the…

7. May 10, 2003Flood, Gilmer$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms formed, along and south a warm frontal boundary. Flooding, gusty winds, hail, and even a funnel cloud were observed. The heaviest rains fell across the upper reaches of the Little Kanawha River basin in central West Virginia, on east, into the central mountains of Webster County. Rains of 1.5 to 3 inches fell from early on the 10th into the evening hours. The upper limit of the rain fell between Sutton and Cowen. One to 2 inches of rain fell in 3 hours during the morning of the 10th across portions of Braxton and Webster Counties. Along Laurel Creek in the Erbacon vicinity of Webster County, an American Red Cross survey found 1 single…

8. Jul 31, 1996Flash Flood$250,000
9. Aug 29, 2005Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Leading Creek flooded roads and washed out culverts near Alice. Near Troy, a barn and a house had water damage. West of Glenville, Sinking Creek flooded roads. Horn Creek around Cox Mills and the Right Fork of Steer Creek near Shock flooded. Near the Braxton County line, the cooperative observer near Rosedale measured 3.8 inches of rain in 24 hours, while Glenville had 2.7 inches. The majority of this rain fell in 3 hours or less time.

10. Sep 2, 2003Flood, Gilmer$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    South of a strong frontal zone, rain of 2 to 4 inches fell in a narrow west to east band, from the evening on the 1st, through the afternoon on the 2nd. The heaviest rain appeared across central Jackson County, near Ripley, through northern Roane County, around Spencer and Reedy. The heavy rain continued east into central Calhoun County and southern Gilmer County. A spotter near Normantown of Gilmer County reported 4 inches of rain. An automated rain gauge near Mt Zion of Calhoun County reported 3.7 inches of rain. The cooperative observer at Ripley measured 3.1 inches of rain. By late morning on the 2nd, several roads were covered and damaged by water from overflowing small…

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 Aug 6, 1918

All-time low

−29°FFeb 10, 1899

Warmest night

77°F2 times, most recently Jul 1, 1945

Coldest day

−5°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

5.09 inJul 24, 1951

Snowiest day

28.0 inNov 25, 1950

Hottest year

1921mean 58.9°F

Coldest year

1963mean 49.9°F

Wettest year

189068.79 in

Driest year

193027.81 in

Snowiest season

67.0 in1913-14

Station Glenville (USC00463544), 738 ft elevation, 0.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1891 to April 7, 2026; 90.6% 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 USC00463544.
• 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.