Morgan County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Morgan 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 (37).

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 18, 2006Hail$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail to the size of tennis balls was reported at a local business in Berkeley Springs. Newspaper reports indicated roughly 100 cars were damaged by the very large hail stones.

2. Jan 19, 1996Flash Flood$500,000
3. Apr 19, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were over 100 calls for trees, wires, and poles blown down across the northern portion of the county from Berkeley Springs to Great Cacapon, including several onto cars and homes. Shingle and siding damage was reported. Dozens of trees blew down near Berryville and east of Berkeley Springs, and in Shady Grove where trees blew down in the 5000 block of WV-9 Martinsburg Road. The hospital in Berkeley Springs lost power, and was briefly cut off due to roads around the hospital being blocked by downed trees. Several large trees fell onto homes and vehicles along WV-9 Martinsburg Road near the Panorama Overlook. Several large trees were toppled along Fairview Drive in Berkeley…

4. Sep 6, 1996Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The remnants of Hurricane Fran moved through eastern West Virginia during the late afternoon of the 6th, preceded by torrential rains which caused widespread and in some cases catastrophic flooding. Property and crop damage was most substantial in the Potomac Highlands where flooding was severe. Evacuations were required once again in portions of Hardy, Hampshire, and Pendleton Counties. Two persons died directly from the floods. In Grant Co, a man drove a tractor into flood waters and was swept away to his death. A young man drove an automobile into flood waters in Pendleton Co, and was swept away as well.Property and crop damage was less severe in the Panhandle - a combination…

5. Jul 18, 2006Flash Flood$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Warm Springs Run was out of its banks. The Emergency Services Director stated that the flash flooding just south of Berkeley Springs was the worst experienced in the past 30 years. Some street flooding and closed streets was reported in downtown Berkeley Springs. The Berkeley Springs high school sustained damages in the school cafeteria. The basement walls of a house in Berkeley Springs collapsed due to the heavy rainfall. Mesner Road near Libby's Ridge Road sustained damages. Several vehicles were stranded in high water along US Route 522 just south of Berkeley Springs. A few other roads were washed out due to the flash flooding.

6. Apr 8, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage was reported to buildings and cars on Williams and Independence Streets.

7. Aug 1, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were blown down in the 3000 block of Hancock Road. A tree was blown down near the intersection of First Church Street and Pratt Street. Two trees fell onto houses on Whisner Avenue.

8. Sep 19, 2003Flood, Morgan$100,000
   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…

9. Sep 28, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$85,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees down in and around Berkeley Springs. A large pole barn on a farm in Eastern Morgan County was shifted from it's foundation and subsequently collapsed. Trees also down on Pooles Road.

10. Jan 14, 2006High Wind, Morgan$80,000
    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.

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

112°FJul 11, 1936

All-time low

−19°FJan 14, 1912

Warmest night

86°FJul 21, 1930

Coldest day

2°FJan 17, 1982

Wettest day

6.18 inSep 24, 1912

Snowiest day

27.0 inFeb 24, 1914

Hottest year

1998mean 58.5°F

Coldest year

1904mean 49.8°F

Wettest year

201861.58 in

Driest year

193021.43 in

Snowiest season

84.4 in1960-61

Station Martinsburg E W Virginia Regional (USW00013734), 541 ft elevation, 18.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1891 to October 26, 2026; 99.8% 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 USW00013734.
• 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.