Nicholas County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Nicholas 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 (2,170), NASA (5).

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, 2016Flash Flood$22.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flash flooding occurred on small headwater rivers, like the Cherry, plus the small streams and runs throughout the county. Due to the saturated mountain slopes, water cascaded down mountainsides where no stream existed, as was the case in Richwood. Many water rescues took place and much of the town of Richwood was evacuated. The evacuation included a nursing home with 97 patients. One resident of Richwood said, just seems like there was a cloudburst right back on this mountain. It just all came at one time. It was just like a big river coming down through here. In the wake of this flooding, previously abandoned homes on the mountainside were demolished. Severe flooding…

2. Oct 29, 2012Blizzard, Nicholas$7.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A rare consolidation of a strong mid and upper level trough in the polar jet with a tropical hurricane named Sandy resulted in a historical snow storm for the month of October. ||Periods of rain fell for 2 days from the 27th into the 28th, as a cold front moved east. In response to the colder air associated with the polar jet and the strengthening mid level trough, light rain changed to the first snowflakes around 0000E to 0200E on Monday the 29th. This snow was only across the high terrain of southwest Virginia northward into the mountainous counties of central West Virginia. For example, the first flakes around Beckley were around 0100E. However, little accumulation was seen…

3. Jun 23, 2016Flood$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The severe flash flooding transitioned into river flooding on the Gauley and Meadow Rivers.

4. Nov 19, 2003Flood, Nicholas$3.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rains of 2 to 4.2 inches fell from 2200E on the 18th through 1600E on the 19th. A strong inflow of moist air from the southeast, helped enhance these rains. The heaviest rain was over the central and southern mountains, say from the Snowshoe region on through Richwood, Beckley, Mullens, and Elkhorn. Some of the preliminary rain totals were 4.2 inches at Snowshoe, 3.9 inches at Richwood, 3.7 inches at Elkhorn, 3.5 inches at Rosedale, 3.3 inches at Frost and Mullens, 3.1 inches at Webster Springs and Glenville, 2.9 inches at Oak Hill and Beckley. Vegetation was dormant for the upcoming winter, the ground saturated, and the waterways were still flowing above normal levels from the…

5. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and large branches were blown down. Electricity was lost to around 13,000 customers. Twelve homes, including mobile homes, were destroyed, 31 had major damage, and 48 others had minor damage. The public infrastructure damage assessment was around $500,000.

6. Jan 27, 1998Heavy Snow, Nicholas$1.0 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. Feb 16, 2003Ice Storm, Nicholas$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe ice storm occurred across a narrow east to west band of counties. The severe ice continued west, into southeast Ohio and northeast Kentucky. Ice from freezing rain accumulated 1 to 3 inches on power lines and trees. The precipitation then ended as snow on the 17th. The added weight from the ice, broke limbs and snapped the tops off thousands of trees. Other trees were uprooted or left leaning at precarious angles. The fallen trees blocked many roads. Power outages were widespread, and lasted for more than 3 days. Refrigerated frozen foods thawed and spoiled. Phone and water services were also interrupted. The Red Cross opened shelters. One gas station in Ravenswood wired…

8. Jul 29, 2001Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The mayor of Richwood reported around 30 homes and a business flooded by the waters of the Cheery River, or by runoff from the mountainsides. Most of the homes had less than a foot of water, but 3 homes had more than 2 feet of water inside. A 120 bed nursing home was evacuated. Water also got into the basement of the hospital. Mudslide and high water on Routes 39 and 55, cut off the town of Richwood. Electricity was also out for about 3 hours. Around a dozen homes in Cottle, 12 homes in the Mount Nebo-Mount Lookout area, and 5 homes along the Fayette County border around Nallen, were flooded.

9. Dec 18, 2009Heavy Snow, Nicholas$400,000
   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…

10. Jul 13, 2015Flash Flood$350,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Runoff of the mountainsides flooded the streets of Richwood and Leivasy. According to the emergency manager, water quickly overwhelmed drainage lines and backed into streets. Minor drainage damage occurrred to a total of 20 homes and businesses in the Richwood area. Other damage included cracks and holes in side streets, but no major damage to major roads.

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

99°FJul 6, 2012

All-time low

−20°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

78°FJul 6, 2012

Coldest day

0°F2 times, most recently Jan 16, 1994

Wettest day

5.16 inJul 2, 1986

Snowiest day

24.0 inDec 19, 2009

Hottest year

2017mean 54.3°F

Coldest year

1976mean 48.9°F

Wettest year

201861.62 in

Driest year

199934.85 in

Snowiest season

95.8 in2009-10

Station Summersville Lake (USC00468614), 1,768 ft elevation, 7.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1967 to October 20, 2026; 89.5% 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 USC00468614.
• 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.