Randolph County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Randolph 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 (886).

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. Oct 29, 2012Blizzard, Randolph$3.8 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…

2. May 16, 1996Flash Flood$1.5 million
3. Jun 30, 2019Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding led to several roads being closed overnight in the Harman area, causing infrastructure damage throughout the town. The local water and sewage plant were significantly impacted and knocked offline. Numerous roads and culverts were washed out and several homes and trailers were pushed off their foundations. In total, 13 homes were damaged. Three of them were rendered uninhabitable. Sewer lines in Harman were also washed out. Many water rescues were conducted. Across the Monongahela National Forest, 68 miles of train track were damaged.

4. Jan 19, 1996Flood, Randolph$1.0 million
5. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees were blown down in scattered locations throughout the county. Motorists were stranded along Route 250 by fallen trees. The public infrastructure damage assessment was around $150,000. On the order of 19,000 customers were without electricity.||In the aftermath, there was 1 indirect death. A 71 year old woman of Gilman died because of carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator at her home. Her dog was also killed. The generator had been set up in the garage.

6. Apr 27, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$650,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The most serious damage was within the city limits. Damage was consistent with straight line winds. Seventeen structures were damaged to some degree. The damage ranged from trees blown into homes and asphalt shingles blown off roofs, to the entire roof torn off the Veterans of Foreign Wars building. ||Maximum wind gusts were estimated at around 70 mph.

7. Mar 8, 2018Winter Weather, Southeast Randolph$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An upper level disturbance kicked off a round of snow squalls during the afternoon of the 8th. In general, these were quick moving squalls that produced brief visibility less than one mile and a quick coating of snow. One heavier squall played a role in 17 vehicle pileup in the northbound lanes of I-77 near Beckley. The interstate was closed for several hours. Travelers on the interstate stated that visibility was very poor, and that the road had a light coating of snow. Seven injuries were reported as a result of the accident.

8. Jul 31, 1996Flash Flood$300,000
9. Sep 6, 1996Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Cottages and bridges were damaged or destroyed in the RedCreek basin along the Tucker County line. Twelve to 15residences near the junction of Red Creek and the Dry Forkwere damaged. Rainfall of around 4 inches was likely in a12 hour period from the remnants of Hurricane Fran. RandolphCounty was one of the 10 West Virginia counties included inthe federal disaster declaration. It was the 5th disasterdeclaration in 1996 for this county.

10. Dec 18, 2009Heavy Snow, Randolph$200,000
    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…

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 16, 1988

All-time low

−24°F2 times, most recently Dec 23, 1989

Warmest night

78°FJul 21, 1930

Coldest day

−6°FDec 25, 1983

Wettest day

5.02 inNov 4, 1985

Snowiest day

19.9 inDec 19, 2009

Hottest year

2024mean 54.2°F

Coldest year

1981mean 47.0°F

Wettest year

199672.88 in

Driest year

193028.38 in

Snowiest season

136.6 in1995-96

Station Elkins- Randolph County Airport (USW00013729), 1,955 ft elevation, 1.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1926 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00013729.
• 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.