Preston County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (1,407).

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 2, 1998Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F2 tornado passed southeast through southern Fayette County PA, the northeast tip of Preston County WV, and into northwest Garrett County MD. The total length of the tornado as it passed across these three counties was 12 miles. Damage in Preston County included a completely destroyed dairy barn, two completely destroyed house trailers, and at least 21 other structures heavily damaged, many with roofs partially or completely peeled off. Several cows were killed, with one cow thrown through the air over 100 yards. A clearly visible 300-yard wide, 1-mile long swath of trees which were completely sheared/uprooted was present near the Pennsylvania/West Virginia state border. One…

2. Jan 19, 1996Flood, Preston$710,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Cheat River, in the northern mountains of West Virginia and one of the flashiest rivers in the country, was the first river to reach flood stage in this widespread flood event. The Cheat River began a rapid rise on the night of the 18th due to snow melt. Up to 25 inches of snow was in place before warm air moved in and melted the icy snowpack. Rain then fueled the rise, culminating in a river crest for Parsons, West Virginia of 19.8 feet at 1 pm on the 19th, 6.8 feet above flood stage. This was just four feet below the flood of record of 23.8 feet (November 1985). Near record flooding also occurred downstream at Rowlesburg. The river crested at 24.2 feet, 8.2 feet above its 16…

3. May 11, 2024Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm survey performed by the National Weather Service preliminarily confirmed an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds of 90 MPH, occurred in southeast Fayette County and northeast Preston County near Fike Run.||After the tornado crossed into West Virginia, the worst damage was located just off of Mason Dixon drive. There were over 200 downed hardwood tress on both sides of the road along nearly the entire length. A roof was blown off a detached garage and a tree fell on a car crushing the roof. A trampoline was places thirty feet on top of a tree. The damage across state route 26 was consistent with straight line wind as the storm bowed out.

4. Aug 17, 1997Lightning$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a Masontown business and started a fire, severely damaging the building and its contents.

5. Apr 3, 2024Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding along Route 50 and Route 92. Preston County declared $250,000 in damage from storms between April 2-6th.

6. Jun 6, 2001Flash Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong thunderstorms produced torrential rainfall, which caused flooding in the towns of Newburg and Tunnelton. Approximately 30 homes reported basement flooding, and a mudslide above the former Newburg School damaged another home. Several roads in the area were closed from the flooding, and a one-lane bridge on a dirt road off SR 92 was washed out.

7. Jul 30, 2008Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This was segment 2 of a 3 segment tornado that originated in Fayette county Pennsylvania and continued into Garrett county Maryland. This EF0 tornado entered Preston county from Fayette county Pennsylvania about one and one half miles north of Glade Farms, West Virginia, and exited the county almost 3 miles east southeast of Glade Farms, West Virginia and continued into Garrett county Maryland. This tornado was 100 yards wide at its greatest width and had a path length over 3 miles. Damage was to 2 barns, an out building, and some minor damage to 5 homes including fallen trees on homes, as well siding and roof damage. Maximum sustained winds were estimated at 75 MPH.

8. Feb 11, 2009High Wind, Preston$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful cold front moved across the Ohio Valley on the evening of the 11th as strong low pressure moved north across the Great Lakes. A convective line along the cold front produced widespread damage across eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, and Garrett county Maryland with thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 to 70 MPH and a peak wind gust of 92 MPH at Allegheny County Airport near Pittsburgh. High winds gusting to 60 MPH behind the front in a strong pressure gradient produced wind damage across the entire region into midday on the 12th. In all across eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and Garrett county Maryland over one half million…

9. Feb 19, 2000Flood, Preston$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread heavy rains of between 2.0 and around 3.5 inches fell across northern West Virginia and portions of southwest Pennsylvania on February 18th. This rain fell onto ground that was already nearly saturated from heavy rainfall a few days earlier. As a result, moderate flash flooding developed across northern West Virginia starting late on the 18th and continued into the 19th. In addition to the flash flooding along creeks and streams, this heavy rain produced flooding along the Monongahela River in Monongalia County and the Cheat River in Preston and Tucker Counties. The following are crests/flood stages in feet for river forecast locations in northern West Virginia: On the…

10. Aug 7, 2011Flash Flood$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Emergency management reported flash flooding on sections of SR 26 from Tunnelton to Fellowsville, and flash flooding of sections of U.S. 50 from Fellowsville to Aurora.

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

108°FJul 25, 1892

All-time low

−20°FJan 16, 1972

Warmest night

78°FJul 9, 1981

Coldest day

−4°FDec 25, 1983

Wettest day

5.01 inAug 5, 1956

Snowiest day

20.0 inMar 13, 1993

Hottest year

2024mean 57.5°F

Coldest year

1969mean 50.6°F

Wettest year

200360.91 in

Driest year

196329.53 in

Station Morgantown Municipal Airport (USW00013736), 1,226 ft elevation, 16.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1877 to October 26, 2026; 98.6% 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 USW00013736.
• 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.