Upshur County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Upshur 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 (962).

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, Upshur$3.0 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. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and large branches were blown down. Over 11,000 customers lost electricity. The public infrastructure damage assessment was around $268,000.

3. May 16, 1996Flash Flood$400,000
4. Jun 17, 2015Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple trees were snapped, twisted, and broken along the path near Queens. Several buildings sustained roof and property damage. ||The National Weather Service survey team estimated the strongest wind gusts around 100 mph.

5. Feb 16, 2003Ice Storm, Upshur$300,000
   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…

6. Jan 19, 1996Flood, Upshur$300,000
7. Apr 5, 2010Lightning$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a petroleum container at a water treatment facility. An oil fire was ignited that caused considerable damage. Since there was a possibility of an explosion, the nearby area was evacuated. ||At the Upshur County Regional Airport, lightning struck one of the ramps. It created several holes in the asphalt. ||An elderly woman suffered minor injuries from being hit by lightning while looking out the screen door of her Gate Street home in Buckhannon.

8. Aug 18, 2000Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A rain gauge on Heaston Ridge, between Arlington and Holly Grove, measured 4.5 inches of rain in a 3 to 6 hour period. Alton had 3.4 inches of rain. Six homes had major damage, 4 private bridges and 1 state bridge sustained damage.

9. Feb 18, 2000Flash Flood$150,000
   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…

10. Mar 4, 2015Flood$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Small stream overflowed and blocked roads. Headwater rivers such as the Middle Fork along the county border also flooded roads. The Buckhannon River also crested 2 to 3 feet above flood stage, keeping roads blocked into the afternoon of the 5th.

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

100°FSep 3, 1953

All-time low

−31°FFeb 10, 1899

Warmest night

77°FJul 22, 1930

Coldest day

−4°FFeb 10, 1899

Wettest day

5.85 inJul 22, 2026

Snowiest day

20.0 inNov 25, 1950

Hottest year

1921mean 56.0°F

Coldest year

1963mean 49.3°F

Wettest year

201868.58 in

Driest year

193029.79 in

Snowiest season

103.5 in2009-10

Station Buckhannon (USC00461220), 1,455 ft elevation, 1.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1891 to October 23, 2026; 96.8% 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 USC00461220.
• 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.