Mineral County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Mineral 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 (449).

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 6, 1996Flood, Mineral$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Incredible rainfall associated with the remants of Hurricane Fran caused considerable and in some cases record flooding along rivers and tributaries in the Potomac basin. A thin band of 11 to 14 inches of rain falling along higher ridges ran off into the Upper South Fork of the South Branch Potomac River and the Lost River sub-basin. These rain amounts led to record river flooding along the South Fork, Lost River, and Trout Run sub-basins.River flooding began simultaneously with the flash flooding in the Potomac Highlands. The flooding continued for nearly 48 hours before levels receded below flood stage. Crests were 1 to 5 feet above those of the January 1996 flood across the…

2. Sep 6, 1996Flash Flood$500,000
3. Oct 29, 2002Ice Storm, Mineral$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to 2 inches of ice accumulated at elevations above 2500 feet. The damage amount was estimated.

4. Jun 2, 1998Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The combination of an upper-level disturbance, increasing atmospheric shear, and ample instability set the stage for a major severe weather episode across portions of eastern West Virginia during the late afternoon and evening. The episode was highlighted by supercell thunderstorms which produced two multi-county tornadoes and several instances of large hail. For many residents of the Potomac highlands, the storms were a watershed event; the locals believed that tornadoes "like those in the midwest and Great Plains" could never strike.The first twister, originally associated with a supercell which had produced a long (11-13 mile track) tornado in Somerset Co, Pennsylvania,…

5. Sep 19, 2003Flood, Mineral$140,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   On September 18, 2003, Hurricane Isabel made landfall on the North Carolina Coast. It moved northwest across Virginia and by 5 am on September 19, the center was over the heart of the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. Fortunately the storm had greatly weakened by this point. The heaviest rains appear to have been on the left side of the center track of the storm with the greater wind damage was to the right side. While sustained winds were no longer strong enough to do damage, the storm was still producing wind gusts in the 50 to 60 mph range. Previous rains had softened the soil and trees still had a full sail of leaves. Numerous trees uprooted onto power lines, roads, cars and…

6. Jan 14, 2006High Wind, Mineral$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very strong winds developed on the 14th due to a strengthening low pressure system off the Mid Atlantic Coast and a fast moving cold front that passed through the region early in the day. Widespread damages and power outages occurred during this event, with newspaper reports indicating tens of thousands without power for an extended period of time.

7. May 21, 2006Strong Wind, Mineral$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds accompanied a cold front as it moved across the Appalachian Mountains. Gusty winds were estimated at around 45 mph. The gusty winds caused a few trees to come down in Cumberland and LaVale in Allegany County, MD. The time listed was estimated.

8. Feb 17, 2006High Wind, Mineral$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous reports of downed trees and powerlines occurred across portions of the county, especially in the higher ridges.

9. Mar 2, 2006Strong Wind, Mineral$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong cold front crossed the region and caused strong winds to occur. There were reports of a few trees downed and minor property damage due to the strong winds. Trees and powerlines were downed along route 956 in Mineral County, and also at a campground on Patterson Creek Road.

10. Sep 6, 1996High Wind, Mineral$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The track of the remnants of Hurricane Fran brought high winds, gusting between 60 and 70 mph at elevations above 1500 feet, into eastern West Virginia during the morning and early afternoon of the 6th. Numerous trees were knocked down, mainly at higher elevations - although the damage was not as pronounced as that several ridges over in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. In Harper's Ferry (WVZ053), channeling winds and a northeastern exposure caused numerous trees to fall. The gusty winds also tore a portion of roof from one home.

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

109°FAug 6, 1918

All-time low

−20°F3 times, most recently Feb 8, 1936

Warmest night

84°FJul 22, 1930

Coldest day

2°FFeb 10, 1899

Wettest day

6.00 inSep 6, 1996

Snowiest day

26.0 inJan 1, 1971

Hottest year

1921mean 57.9°F

Coldest year

2003mean 49.9°F

Wettest year

201858.09 in

Driest year

193017.46 in

Snowiest season

83.0 in1917-18

Station Romney 1 Sw (USC00467730), 720 ft elevation, 11.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1891 to October 23, 2026; 90.4% 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 USC00467730.
• 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.