Lewis County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Lewis 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 (3,606).

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. Jul 21, 2026Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple reports of flooding occurred in the Weston area, including flooded roads and bridges. Landslides were also observed. The Weston Walmart flooded with up to a foot of water inside and many cars flooded in the parking lot.

2. Jun 28, 1998Flash Flood$750,000
   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…

3. Jun 19, 1998Flash Flood$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two rounds of early morning thunderstorms caused 1 to 4 inches of rain. There were 3 maximum rain areas. One was in the region within a West Union to Clarksburg to Weston triangle. The second rain maximum was in the headwaters of the Buckhannon River near Helvetia and Pickens. The third area of heaviest rain was around Philippi of Barbour County. The worst flooding from this episode was from the small streams, not the rivers. The hardest hit county was Lewis. The Stonecoal Creek caused 3 to 4 feet of water in downtown Weston. Willow Street was devastated according to the emergency manager. Three vehicles were swept down Willow Street at the height of the storm in Weston. The city…

4. Aug 29, 2005Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   After rains of 2 to 3 inches in a time frame of 3 hours or less, small stream flooding was common west of the Interstate 79 corridor. The headwaters of Leading Creek flooded, including Fink Creek, Alum Fork, and Philips Fork. Some of the other streams that flooded included Freemans Creek, Millstone Run, and McCann Run. Communities such as Alum Bridge, Pickle Street, Vadis, Freemansburg, Valley Chapel, and Churchville were affected by the high water. A total of 27 homes were affected to some degree by the flooding. One home was destroyed. One school had 9 inches of water inside. One one church school had 3 feet of water. One post office had 18 inches of water inside. Three…

5. Aug 18, 2000Flash Flood$450,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A rain gauge near Walkersville and Ireland measured 3.8 inches of rain. Damage from small stream flooding including areas around the communities of Crawford, Ireland, Wildcat, and Walkersville. Three homes were destroyed, with 41 homes sustaining minor damage. One church and 5 businesses also received water damage. One Walkersville resident had his house ripped off its foundation and moved 200 yards while he slept. He said, "When I woke up, my house was just surrounded by water. We tried to get out but couldn't. The only thing holding the house was the electric lines, but they eventually gave way." When the house stopped moving, he and his wife swam away from it. Thankfully, all…

6. Jun 24, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$420,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple intense downbursts, on the scale of microbursts, occurred just north of downtown Weston. The damage first occurred along Geelick Road, but increased as the wind descended into the West Fork River Valley in the Smith Village section of Weston. The included such roads as Cody Lane, Butchers Lane, and Garton Avenue. The worst damage was in the river valley, after crossing the river, in Deanville. The damage path fanned out to as wide as 250 yards. The highest wind gust of around 100 mph was estimated here. Homes were damaged or destroyed along such streets as Forinash Road and Dovenor Street. Sheets of the corrugated metal roof to the Deanville stockyard were twisted and…

7. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large branches were blown down. Houses were damaged.

8. Jan 6, 2014Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Lewis$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An arctic cold front sweep through West Virginia between midnight and 0400E on Monday the 6th. Wind gusts of 30 to 50 mph were common with the front. Rain showers and temperatures in the 40s and 50s quickly became snow showers with temperatures falling through the 20s by dawn. Snow accumulations were less than 2 inches. Temperatures continued to fall during the day on the 6th, with blustery winds. Readings reached down into the single digits by sunset. ||Temperatures at dawn on the 7th across the lowlands were mostly 2 below zero to 8 below zero. The coldest temperatures came from the highest elevations. Readings around 10 below were common across the mountains. The coldest…

9. Jan 22, 2016Heavy Snow, Lewis$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major storm spread snow north during Friday morning the 22nd, reaching the Route 50 corridor around noon. The initial warm air advection snow was heavy at times, with snow rates of 2 inches per hour. ||The snow mixed with sleet at times over the southern mountains and southern coal fields during the day on the 22nd. A mid level dry slot also worked into that same area during the late morning and early afternoon, causing lulls or lighter precipitation. ||The snow continued to fall through the night. The snow then diminished and ended from west to east during Saturday the 23rd. The duration was 24 to 30 hours. ||Prior to this storm, 1 to 3 inches of old snow was on the ground in…

10. Feb 18, 2000Flash Flood$125,000
    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

100°FSep 3, 1953

All-time low

−31°FFeb 10, 1899

Warmest night

77°FJul 22, 1930

Coldest day

−4°FFeb 10, 1899

Wettest day

5.85 inJul 22, 2026

Snowiest day

20.0 inNov 25, 1950

Hottest year

1921mean 56.0°F

Coldest year

1963mean 49.3°F

Wettest year

201868.58 in

Driest year

193029.79 in

Snowiest season

103.5 in2009-10

Station Buckhannon (USC00461220), 1,455 ft elevation, 13.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1891 to October 23, 2026; 96.8% 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 USC00461220.
• 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.