Hancock County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Hancock 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 WV GS (1,651), NASA (2).

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. Sep 17, 2004Flood, Hancock$36.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 1257 PM EDT on 17th, Kings Creek flooded in Weirton, where many businesses wiped out by flooding on Main St and Freedom Way. As of 9 AM EDT on 18th, Rte 2 was still closed by mud slides; several other roads remained flooded. Total of 480 structures damaged or destroyed. Route 2 closed by mud slides from Weirton to Wheeling. Other roads flooded or closed: Route 30, Kings Creek Rd, Shady Glen Rd. Most small stream flooded ended by 7 PM on 18th, the Ohio River flood continued: Wellsville rose above flood stage (11 ft) at 5 AM EDT on 18th, crested 19.0 ft 2 AM on 19th, and fell below flood stage 7 PM EDT on 19th. New Cumberland WV rose above flood stage (36 ft) at 330 AM EDT on…

2. Jan 19, 1996Flood, Hancock$1.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding from the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers met nearly simultaneously at the Point in Pittsburgh. The flood waters then flowed down the Ohio River. Widespread one to two inch rains, plus runoff from snowmelt in the West Virginia and Maryland mountains, combined to create major flooding along the Ohio River. The Ohio River went above flood stage at East Liverpool, Ohio around 10 pm EST on the 19th. The river crested 10.8 feet above the 14 foot flood stage at East Liverpool. Subsequent rises downstream on the Ohio River were not as pronounced, (5.4 feet above flood stage at Hannibal, Ohio). Nonetheless, damages due to flooding to cities, industry, bridges, and communities,…

3. Apr 2, 2024Flood$880,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding noted along roads near Kings Creek, North 12th Street, and Greentree Lane. Hancock County declared $881,000 in damage from storms between April 2-6th.

4. Apr 11, 2024Flash Flood$394,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hancock County declared $394,000 in damage from storms between April 11th-12th. However, no flash flood storm reports were made during the event.

5. Jan 5, 2005Flood, Hancock$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   By 945 PM on 5th, numerous roads were closed by flooding and mud slides after 2.5 inches of rain. Road flooding continued through noon on the 6th. On the Ohio River, New Cumberland was above flood stage (36 ft), from 1130 AM on 6th to 10 PM on 7th; it crested 49.1 2 PM on 7th. On the Ohio River, Wellsville OH was above flood stage (11 ft), from 1 PM on 6th to 6 PM on 7th; it crested 15 ft 2 AM on 7th. On the Ohio River, Steubenville was above flood stage (36 ft), from 7 PM on 6th to 5 PM on 7th; it crested 38.1 ft 5 AM on 7th. 21 homes were damaged. Nine homes suffered major damage; 15 minor.

6. Jun 28, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Newspaper reported large trees and power lines down, some blocking roads in and around Weirton.

7. Feb 11, 2009High Wind, Hancock$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful cold front moved across the Ohio Valley on the evening of the 11th as strong low pressure moved north across the Great Lakes. A convective line along the cold front produced widespread damage across eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, and Garrett county Maryland with thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 to 70 MPH and a peak wind gust of 92 MPH at Allegheny County Airport near Pittsburgh. High winds gusting to 60 MPH behind the front in a strong pressure gradient produced wind damage across the entire region into midday on the 12th. In all across eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and Garrett county Maryland over one half million…

8. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Hancock$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Low pressure from the remains of Hurricane Ike moved across central Ohio to Lake Erie on the evening of September 14th and produced very strong winds into the early morning of September 15th across eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia, and western Pennsylvania. Widespread damage to trees and power lines was reported across the region with power outages and damage to some structures from falling trees. Power was not restored to some rural areas for one week after the storm. At the peak of the storm more than 2 million homes were without power. For a period of about 8 hours, sustained winds during the storm were from 30 to 50 MPH, with gusts well over 60 MPH. The highest reported…

9. Apr 16, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trained spotters and law enforcement reported trees and power lines down in and around Weirton.

10. Jan 30, 2008High Wind, Hancock$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A large area of low pressure over the Great Lakes pushed a strong cold front across the region during the morning of January 30th. The strong pressure gradient along and behind the front produced wind gusts near 60 MPH in many locations across western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, eastern Ohio, and Garrett county Maryland. This produced numerous reports of trees and power lines down across the region.

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 16, 1988

All-time low

−22°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

77°F2 times, most recently Jul 23, 2010

Coldest day

−3°F2 times, most recently Jan 19, 1994

Wettest day

5.95 inSep 17, 2004

Snowiest day

23.6 inMar 13, 1993

Hottest year

2024mean 56.4°F

Coldest year

1976mean 48.0°F

Wettest year

201857.83 in

Driest year

196326.79 in

Snowiest season

82.0 in1950-51

Station Pittsburgh Asos (USW00094823), 1,119 ft elevation, 18.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00094823.
• 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.