Wayne County

Every recorded tornado

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

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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 (7,960), KY GS (91), NASA (5).

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. Feb 15, 2003Flood, Wayne$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rains from Friday afternoon, the 14th, into Sunday the 16th were on the order of 3.5 to 4.9 inches, with the maximum over Wayne and Lincoln Counties. Small streams flooded onto roads Saturday evening, the 15th, into early Sunday, the 16th. Major flooding occurred along the Twelvepole Creek in Wayne County including Dunlow, Wayne, and Lavalette. Evacuations occurred along Falls Creek near West Hamlin. The larger rivers, including the Guyandotte, the Mud, the Coal, the Tug Fork, and the lower Elk flooded. Major flooding occurred along the lower portion of the Guyandotte Basin, including the Mud River in Lincoln and Cabell Counties. Communities such as Branchland, West Hamlin, Hamlin…

2. Mar 1, 1997Flash Flood$2.0 million
3. Mar 2, 2012Tornado$1.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado crossed the Tug Fork River from Lawrence County, Kentucky and enter Wayne County. Numerous trees were blown down near Glenhayes. The tornado passed between Dunlow and Radnor, then into the Kiahsville and Cove Gap vicinity along Route 37. In the Dunlow vicinity, the damage was from hilltop to hilltop, just over a half mile wide. In that vicinity, about 5 homes were destroyed with 1 sustaining major damage. At least 3 vehicles were damaged in Dunlow. The East Lynn Lake campground vicinity saw toppled trees and damage to electric and phone lines. Approximately 15 homes were destroyed with 7 sustaining major damage around Kiahsville and Cove Gap. The homes included mobile…

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

   Numerous trees and large branches were blown down. Nearly 21,000 customers lost electricity. The public infrastructure damage assessment was around $192,000.

5. Dec 23, 2022Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Wayne$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Water issues began on the evening of Christmas as extreme cold temperatures froze the water lines in the county. The Public Service District (PSD) that provides for Wayne County observed their entire water system go dry due to a chain reaction of issues. The Public Service Districts nearby, Kermit PSD and Mingo PSD in Mingo County, which is typically how Wayne County receives their water supply, failed due to ice jams along the local rivers. Once the water plants were restored, multiple leaks were discovered in their lines, which once again cut off water from reaching Wayne County. Most of these leaks were from main line shifts and breaks and burst water lines underneath private…

6. Jul 13, 2006Flash Flood$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Some 15 to 20 homes were flooded along Spring Valley Drive between the Interstate 64 overpass and Jefferson Park. Krout Creek left its bank and sent water surging into homes, most of which were located across the street from the stream. Furniture, appliances, and carpet were damaged or destroyed. Some vehicles were also flooded. The nearby cooperative observer in West Huntington, at the waste water treatment plant, recorded 3.3 inches of rain in their 24 hour report. Local residents were questioning whether excess dirt used to raise the elevation of a downstream field affected the crest.

7. Mar 2, 1997Flood, Wayne$500,000
8. Sep 17, 2004Flood, Wayne$500,000
   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…

9. Mar 4, 2015Flood$450,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The West Fork of Twelvepole Creek and other streams were flooding during the morning of the 4th. Eventually, flooding became restricted to near the major rivers, including the Ohio. Roads were blocked by the high water.

10. Apr 3, 2015Flash Flood$450,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous streams overflowed and blocked roads. Examples were Newcomb Creek and Lynn Creek near East Lynn, Lick and Cove Creeks near Kiahsville, plus Mill Creek near Saltpetre. Some homes near Kiahsville were impacted. A few homes along Mill Creek were flooded. Small private bridges were washed out. Road culverts were damaged. A couple of vehicles were found in Mill Creek. ||A 62 year old woman tried to walk out of Rowe Hollow in the Amilda vicinity. She was going to attend a Good Friday evening service at the neighborhood church around 1800E on the 3rd. The unnamed run, that flows out of the hollow and into the East Fork of Twelvepole Creek, was flowing across the dead end gravel…

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

104°FJul 7, 2012

All-time low

−21°FJan 19, 1994

Warmest night

78°F4 times, most recently Jul 27, 2023

Coldest day

3°FJan 8, 1970

Wettest day

3.89 inSep 17, 2004

Snowiest day

21.1 inMar 13, 1993

Hottest year

2024mean 60.2°F

Coldest year

1963mean 53.3°F

Wettest year

201162.44 in

Driest year

196329.99 in

Snowiest season

55.7 in1977-78

Station Huntington Tri-state Airport (USW00003860), 824 ft elevation, 7.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1961 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 USW00003860.
• 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.