Pleasants County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Pleasants 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 (2,762), NASA (2).

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 17, 2004Flood, Pleasants$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   As the weakening Hurricane Ivan moved inland across Alabama, light rain began in southern West Virginia on the morning of the 16th. The rain shield moved into northern counties overnight. Heavy rain began before dawn on the 17th around Huntington. The heavier rain moved up the Ohio River counties and engulfed the Ravenswood, Parkersburg, and Sistersville vicinity during the mid morning on the 17th. The heavy rain continue along the Ohio River counties into the mid afternoon, before lifting north and east. The more significant rain rates pivoted through central West Virginia during the late afternoon hours on the 17th before diminishing to drizzle after dark that evening. The low…

2. Jun 28, 1998Flash Flood$500,000
   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 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large trees and branches were blown down in scattered locations throughout the county. One house had major damage and 2 others had minor damage. Around 3100 customers were without electricity. The public infrastructure damage assessment was around $55,000. ||In the aftermath, there was 1 indirect death. A 38 year old man died. He was riding his 4 wheeler late at night. He struck a tree that had fallen across a road near Arvilla.

4. Jan 20, 1996Flood, Pleasants$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Prior to a rain, the extensive snow cover in the western lowlandshad melted during the prior 5 days. Only patches of snow remainedin the wooded areas. Yet, 10 to 20 inches of snow remained overthe mountainous counties. The water content of that remainingsnow was 2 to 3 inches. On Thursday the 18th, temperatures aheadof a cold front rose into the 50s and 60s. Dew points climbedinto the 50s. Meanwhile, the winds increased. Thus, the remaining mountain snow was melting rapidly as rain approached. Six hour rainfall of 1.25 to 1.75 inches was common late Thursday night,the 18th, into the predawn hours of Friday, the 19th. Heavier rain fell in northern Pocahontas County and the…

5. Aug 13, 2013Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several small bridges to private property were damaged or destroyed. People were stranded. Many culverts were damaged. The South Fork of Rock Run damaged County Route 30. Asphalt was peeled off the road deck.

6. Jul 21, 2026Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado that began in Washington County Ohio strengthened as it crossed the Ohio River and entered the West Virginia side at the Saint Marys Bridge. A large sign was left barely hanging off the side of the bridge structure and a large patch of trees around the bridge showed significant damage. From there, the tornado tracked southeast up the hillside, reaching peak intensity and a high end EF2 rating near the intersection of Greens Run Road and Route 16. Observed damage in this area included several homes that suffered significant damage, a roughly 600 yard wide by 300 yard long patch of hardwood trees were leveled, and a large communications tower was buckled over. The tornado…

7. Jan 6, 2005Flood, Pleasants$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Separate waves of rain moved along a strong west to east frontal zone in the Ohio Valley from late on the 3rd into the early morning hours of the 8th. Dew points in the 50 to 55 degree range were in Kentucky and southern West Virginia. The heaviest rain was over eastern Ohio into western Pennsylvania. Yet, Middlebourne of Tyler County still reported 3.24 inches during the period. Small stream flooding occurred across Tyler County on the 5th, such as along Indian Creek. People were rescued from 2 stranded cars. The Ohio River crested on the 8th to the 9th along the stretch from Tyler County on down to Cabell and Wayne Counties. The crest from Willow Island Lock and Dam through…

8. Jan 9, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees and telephone poles were knocked down. A tree limb crashed through a house in Eureka. A large pine tree fell onto the middle school along Route 2.

9. Jun 27, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees were down on one house in Belmont. Several trees were uprooted or snapped at their base along Cow Creek and at the entrance to Polecat Hollow.

10. Jul 13, 2010Flash Flood$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Within the area hit by the most rain, an automatic rain gauge southeast of Saint Marys measured 3.78 inches of rain in less than 3 hours. Further to the southwest, a gauge near Willow Island measured 2.83 inches. Streams such as Long Run and Broad Run flooded roads. Streets in Saint Marys were flooded with mud and debris.

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

103°FJul 7, 2012

All-time low

−24°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

79°FJun 27, 1969

Coldest day

0°FJan 17, 1982

Wettest day

4.10 inSep 17, 2004

Snowiest day

20.1 inMar 13, 1993

Hottest year

2024mean 57.3°F

Coldest year

1958mean 51.4°F

Wettest year

201157.24 in

Driest year

198727.24 in

Station Parkersburg Airport (USW00003804), 805 ft elevation, 13.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 88.5% 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 USW00003804.
• 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.