Kanawha County

Every recorded tornado

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

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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 (17,759), NASA (35), 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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 23, 2016Flood$36.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The flood of record occurred on the lower Elk River around Clendenin. ||Two women died. They were trying to save family heirlooms in the basement of a home in Elkview. In likely their last cell phone contact, 1 of the 2 women described the scene, as like the Titanic. An elderly man also died in his home in Elkview. Another young woman died, but the situation was unknown. | |Both the flash flooding and the river flooding were severe, but the amount of damage from the record river flooding was likely higher in Kanawha County, than the damage from the flash flooding.

2. Jun 23, 2016Flood$26.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe flash flooding occurred in the northeastern portion of the county. Streams such as Jordan Creek, Doctors Creek, Thorofare Run, Little Sandy Creek, Wills Creek, and the lower reaches of Big Sandy Creek caused much destruction. ||Little Sandy Creek inundated one large culvert over the only road access to a shopping plaza. The road collapsed. Many shoppers were stranded. About 200 people slept in their vehicles overnight, before walking out on the 24th. ||A 62 year old male drowned along Jordan Creek. He did not leave his home. His small house was washed away. A 47 year old female drowned in her vehicle. She was on a flooded road along Wills Creek.

3. Jun 16, 2003Flash Flood$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The initial flooding began along Grapevine Creek and Legg Fork in the Sissonville and Pocatalico region, but shifted southeast after dawn. The flooding became more severe after 0730E in the area from Charleston northeast toward Rutledge and Pinch. The axis of the heaviest rain was slightly east of the flash flood on the 11th. However, both flood events hit the Pinch vicinity hard. The airport was on the western edge of the heavy rain this Monday morning, measuring 1.9 inches between 0600-1000E. Amounts of 2.5 to 3.5 inches likely fell just to the east and northeast of the airport, with isolated amounts of 3.5 to 4 inches possible in those 4 hours. A National Weather Service…

4. Nov 12, 2003Flood, Kanawha$6.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rains of 2.5 to 4.75 inches fell from 2200E on the 11th through 1900E on the 12th. Repetitive showers formed, as dew points of 60 to 65 degrees fed the system from Kentucky. The heaviest rain rates came toward the end of this prolong period, mainly from 1530E to 1730E, with rates peaking around an inch per hour. South of the training showers, across Logan and Mingo Counties, the heavy rain was more sudden, the result of the last shot of enhanced rain during the late afternoon. The heaviest rain totals ran west to east, from Wayne County and southern Cabell County, through northern Lincoln County, central Kanawha County, southern Clay County, and into central Nicholas County.…

5. Jun 2, 1998Hail$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The rotating supercell that formed in southeast Ohio cut a path southeast, up the Kanawha River Valley. The most damage was from large hail hitting the urban areas, especially the Kanawha City section of Charleston. Hundreds of vehicles were dented, including new cars at dealerships. Roofs, plus west facing siding and windows were also damaged. Large trees were also uprooted or snapped. The largest concentration of tree damage was from the South Hills and Kanawha City sections of Charleston on east, to Malden. So the wind damage was still substantial. One large tree damaged a church, another tree heavily damaged a home along Lower Donnally Road. The largest insurance company…

6. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and large branches were blown down in the county. Seven homes were destroyed, 20 had major damage, and another 86 dwellings had minor damage. Nearly 79,000 customers were without electricity. The public infrastructure damage assessment was over 3 million dollars.

7. Aug 30, 2006Hail$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail, the size of golf balls to tennis balls, fell on the West Side hills of Charleston, then across the Knollwood and Mink Shoals vicinity, to Coonskin Park and Capital High School. The swath of hail then reached toward Crede and Big Chimney. This path narrowly missed the more densely populated Kanawha River Valley. Nevertheless, hundreds of homes and vehicles were damaged by hail. Some of the damaged vehicles had been traveling on Interstate 79 near Mink Shoals. The 2 largest insurance companies reported a total of 1600 claims, costing about 5 million dollars. The storm also contained torrential rains. A spotter between Big Chimney and Pinch recorded 2.7 inches of rain in less…

8. Jun 28, 1998Flash Flood$5.0 million
   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…

9. Aug 28, 2023Flash Flood$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extensive flooding damage was observed in different neighborhoods within the Chelyan and Cedar Grove townships. ||On the Cedar Grove side of the Kanawha River, many homes were surrounded by water as Kelleys Creek rose out of its banks. The NWS Storm Survey crew noted a few areas along Horsemill Hollow Road that were washed out as the creek curved in and around the roadway. Department of Highways crews were quickly attempting to put gravel on the road to ensure a way for citizens that live up along Horsemill Hollow Road to evacuate, otherwise they were trapped due to the obstruction of the road. A water rescue was conducted on William Street as parts of East Dupont Avenue also were…

10. Mar 1, 1997Flash Flood$3.5 million

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

104°F2 times, most recently Aug 16, 2007

All-time low

−16°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

78°FJul 17, 1988

Coldest day

4°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

5.60 inJul 19, 1961

Snowiest day

17.1 inMar 13, 1993

Hottest year

2024mean 59.0°F

Coldest year

1963mean 52.7°F

Wettest year

201867.05 in

Driest year

196330.25 in

Snowiest season

106.0 in1995-96

Station Charleston - Yeager Airport (USW00013866), 912 ft elevation, 3.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1947 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00013866.
• 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.