McDowell County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within McDowell 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 (2,618), NASA (6).

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. May 2, 2002Flash Flood$85.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Repetitive showers and thunderstorms moved rapidly across the southern coal fields, from the late morning hours to the early evening, on a Thursday, the 2nd of May. A few reports of large hail and gusty winds were received, but the major problem was the severe flash flooding in McDowell County. The heaviest rains were on the order of 2.5 to 5 inches, in a west to east corridor from northern Buchanan County, Virginia through central McDowell County. As a result, many more streams in McDowell County were flooded, compared to the 8th of July in 2001. In 2001, the downpours hit only the eastern portion of the county. Cooperative observers in Elkhorn measured 5.1 inches of rain, Welch…

2. Jul 8, 2001Flash Flood$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Streams that drain into the headwaters of the Tug Fork had severe flash flooding. This includes such streams as Elkhorn Creek and its North Fork. Some of the small communities hit hard were Landgraff, Jenkinjones, Anawalt, Kimball, Keystone, Eckman, Northfork, Maybeury, and Elkhorn. The remains of homes and other structures collected against the bridges, restricting the flow. The mayor of Northfork said, "Northfork hollow is wiped out. I've never seen anything like this in my lifetime". In Landgraff, water levels reached the tops of parked cars. In Keystone, the water crest left debris on the elevated tracks of the Norfolk Southern Railroad. The larger community of Welch measured…

3. Feb 15, 2025Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Tug Fork Fork River at Litwar exceeded its flood stage of 24 feet the night of February 15, then rose to a crest near 31 feet overnight. The river returned below flood stage the morning of the 16th. Major flooding impacted homes along the river between Iaeger and Panther, County Route 1, and several secondary roads.

4. Feb 15, 2025Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flash flooding occurred in and around Welch. Homes and businesses were surrounded by water, roads and underpasses became impassable, and cars were stranded. People became trapped in their vehicles on Riverside Drive before the Havaco bridge. In Kimball, water entered multiple homes, businesses, and cars. A vehicle with five occupants drove into floodwaters and was swept into the Tug Fork River. Two people were able to make it to safety while the other three occupants perished.

5. May 9, 2009Flood$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large thunderstorm complex moved from eastern Kentucky into West Virginia during the late afternoon on the 8th. In the wake of that feature, a strong upper air disturbance helped refire convection over southern Kentucky. Those thunderstorms moved east into southern West Virginia just after dark. One of these cells had strong rotation in McDowell County. No tornadoes were observed, but wind damage was reported. ||The storms lost their rotation later that evening, but a narrow broken train of showers and thunderstorms continued to roll east out of Kentucky and into southern West Virginia after midnight, during the early morning hours of Saturday, May 9th. This west to east train…

6. Jan 27, 1998Heavy Snow, Mcdowell$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A surprise heavy wet snow fell over these mountainous counties. Since the environment was near the freezing mark, through a deep layer, a wide variation in snow depth was observed. The variation was based on elevation. Elevations above 2000 feet were impacted the most. At these elevations of Fayette, Raleigh, Wyoming, McDowell, and southern Nicholas Counties, a snow depth of 20 to 38 inches was left in the storm's wake. Meanwhile, in nearby river valleys and deep hollows, depths of 6 to 12 inches were more common. Further north, amounts of 6 to 12 inches were also more common across Randolph, Webster, Pocahontas, and northern Nicholas Counties. While the storm center was moving…

7. Jun 12, 2010Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Streams flowing into the headwaters of the Tug Fork across the northern portion of the county flooded many hollows. This would include streams flowing off Indian Ridge, such as Davy Branch around the communities as Asco and Yerba. Down stream of the junction of Davy Branch and the Left Fork of Davy Branch, the community of Davy was also hard hit. One resident said her concrete slab driveway and her vehicles were pushed around like pieces of paper. Nearby, another one of those small streams was Jenny Branch. ||Around Welch, streams such as Browns Creek damaged roads.||Preliminary accounts had 1 single family home and 15 mobile homes destroyed in the county. Major damage occurred to…

8. Jul 12, 2022Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding isolated and/or damaged 40 to 45 homes and washed out road shoulders, a culvert and undermined parts of several roads in the communities of War, Warriormine and Berwind.

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

   Numerous trees and large branches were blown down. Two homes were destroyed, 5 had major damage, and 6 other dwellings sustained minor damage. The public infrastructure damage assessment was around $185,000.

10. Dec 18, 2009Heavy Snow, Mcdowell$750,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The mountain and the southern coal field counties were hit hard by heavy wet snow associated with a storm that moved out of the eastern Gulf of Mexico and across southern Georgia late Friday, the 18th. The storm then moved off the North Carolina coast early on the 19th. ||Heavy wet snow began over the southern mountains around Beckley after 1400E on the 18th. Meanwhile, the precipitation started as rain in the southwestern lowlands. The storm even started as rain, as far north as in the Tygart River Valley around Elkins about 1730E. In the Clarksburg vicinity the storm began mainly as snow around 2100E on the 18th. ||In about a 5 hour time span, 9 inches of snow had accumulated in…

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

102°FSep 15, 1998

All-time low

−17°F2 times, most recently Feb 21, 2015

Warmest night

75°FJul 30, 1967

Coldest day

4°FJan 11, 1982

Wettest day

4.33 inFeb 16, 2025

Snowiest day

15.0 inNov 25, 1950

Hottest year

1967mean 59.0°F

Coldest year

2014mean 52.2°F

Wettest year

197262.22 in

Driest year

198829.42 in

Snowiest season

46.0 in1986-87

Station Grundy (USC00443640), 1,157 ft elevation, 25.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1960 to October 22, 2026; 97.8% 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 USC00443640.
• 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.