Roane County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 (3,914), NASA (1).

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 13, 2013Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A downpour occurred between 0500 and 0700E, followed by a lull, with a final downpour around 1045E to 1115E. ||The heaviest band was oriented west to east along the Route 33 corridor on south to the headwaters of the Pocatalico River. The heaviest rain was on the order of 1.5 to near 2 inches in an hour shortly after dawn. Near Looneyville, the heaviest measured rate was 1.8 inches between 0545 and 0645E. Spencer had 1.4 inches between 0500 and 0600E with near 2 inches by 0700E. All total, the measured amounts including the final midday downpour was 2.8 inches at the National Weather Service cooperative observer in Spencer and the automatic gauge near Spencer. The gauge at…

2. Jun 23, 2016Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe flash flooding occurred over the southern portion of the county. The headwaters of Big Sandy Creek were involved. This included Hurricane Creek near Clio and Pigeon Creek east of Amma. ||Near Cotton, all the mobile homes in Youngs Court near the mouth of Gabe Creek with Left Hand Creek flooded.||A rock slide occurred on Interstate 79 south of Amma. A tractor trailer was damaged. ||The preliminary damage assessment had around a dozen homes destroyed.

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

   Numerous trees and large branches were blown down. Around 10,000 customers lost electricity. One home was destroyed and 3 others had minor damage. The public infrastructure damage assessment was over $900,000.

4. Feb 16, 2003Ice Storm, Roane$2.0 million
   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…

5. Mar 1, 1997Flash Flood$1.5 million
6. Feb 18, 2000Flash Flood$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A warm front surged north during the morning of Friday the 18th, dropping a half inch to an inch of rain. Meanwhile, low pressure extended from southern Ohio on down the entire length of the Ohio River during that afternoon. A southerly wind at the surface, with dew points in the 55 to 60 degree range, fed moisture north from Tennessee and Kentucky. This moisture was advected into the boundary along the Ohio River. Additional rains sank south into western and central West Virginia during the afternoon of the 18th, reaching the Charleston to Sutton corridor around 1500E. The southern edge of the rain lifted a bit further north during the early evening hours, temporarily ending the…

7. Jun 28, 1998Flash Flood$750,000
   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…

8. Mar 4, 2015Flood$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several streams flooded roads. Water surrounded buildings in the community of Reedy, where the various forks of Reedy Creek meet. Left Hand Creek flooded near Cotton.

9. Sep 17, 2004Flood, Roane$250,000
   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…

10. Jan 21, 1999Flash Flood$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Rains of 2 to 2.5 inches were common between 1100 to 1900E, in a narrow band located north of a warm frontal zone. The heaviest rains, estimated at over 3 inches fell over northern Roane County. The most rain measured by cooperative observers included Ripley with 2.7 inches, Racine Locks near Letart 2.5 inches, and Creston with 2.4 inches. Flooding occurred along Reedy Creek that flows into southern Wirt County. Around 1700E, a 27 old female, driving a small car, flipped over into Stover Fork, west of Spencer. Only the 4 wheels of the vehicle were showing. Two fireman got her out. She died later that evening. In the community of Reedy, evacuations of 40 to 45 people were required.…

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

105°FJul 26, 1934

All-time low

−31°F2 times, most recently Jan 20, 1994

Warmest night

85°F2 times, most recently Jun 27, 1953

Coldest day

−4°FDec 25, 1983

Wettest day

4.26 inJun 26, 1918

Snowiest day

16.0 inDec 26, 1894

Hottest year

1921mean 57.6°F

Coldest year

1981mean 50.4°F

Wettest year

198966.37 in

Driest year

193025.92 in

Snowiest season

68.1 in2009-10

Station Spencer (USC00468384), 972 ft elevation, 5.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1892 to August 31, 2026; 92.2% 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 USC00468384.
• 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.