Webster County

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.

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 (1,779), NASA (2).

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Oct 29, 2012Blizzard, Webster$5.0 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 23, 2016Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The flash flooding along the streams transitioned into river flooding along the Gauley and upper Elk Rivers. ||The highest stage on record occurred on the Gauley River at Camden on Gauley. See the episode narrative for the specifics. Of the 30 homes along Riverside Drive in Camden on Gauley, only 8 were located high enough on the hill to avoid the flood waters.

3. Jun 23, 2016Flash Flood$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe flash flooding occurred in scattered locations throughout the county. Runoff also cascaded down steep mountains, generating their own water channels. ||Stream flooding transitioned into severe river flooding on the upper Gauley River during the evening of the 23rd. ||The combination of both the flash flooding and river flooding destroyed on the order of 60 to 70 homes. About 15 to 20 dwellings sustained major damage, with another 15 to 20 houses having minor flood damage.

4. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and large branches were blown down. Around 6,000 customers lost electricity. Three homes had major damage and 3 others had minor damage. The public infrastructure damage assessment was around $156,000.

5. Jul 31, 1996Flash Flood$700,000
6. Jul 13, 2015Flash Flood$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were closed by flooding streams or runoff and debris off mountainsides. This included Route 15 and 20 between Webster Springs and Diana. Runoff came off the steep mountainsides and ran through the streets of Webster Springs. Water came down off of Spillman Mountain. The mountainside had a 26 percent grade or slope. The small unnamed stream overflowed. Its water ran down Euclyde Street and torn up the asphalt on Miller Mountain Road in front of the hospital. Water got inside the hospital too, causing it to close temporarily. The kitchen area of the hospital was most affected. A few windows were shattered. ||The emergency room opened shortly after the flooding.…

7. May 10, 2003Flood, Webster$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms formed, along and south a warm frontal boundary. Flooding, gusty winds, hail, and even a funnel cloud were observed. The heaviest rains fell across the upper reaches of the Little Kanawha River basin in central West Virginia, on east, into the central mountains of Webster County. Rains of 1.5 to 3 inches fell from early on the 10th into the evening hours. The upper limit of the rain fell between Sutton and Cowen. One to 2 inches of rain fell in 3 hours during the morning of the 10th across portions of Braxton and Webster Counties. Along Laurel Creek in the Erbacon vicinity of Webster County, an American Red Cross survey found 1 single…

8. Feb 16, 2003Ice Storm, Webster$400,000
   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…

9. Aug 9, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sixty structures received general damage, such as blown out windows, trees blown onto dwellings, and down electrical lines. Two businesses were damaged. An estimated 40 vehicles were damaged by fallen tree limbs or other debris. A pole building was flatten in Webster Springs. The worst damage was across the high terrain, such as Point Mountain. Another concentration of damage was from Diana through Webster Springs to the Erbacon area.

10. Jan 19, 1996Flood, Webster$300,000

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 6, 2012

All-time low

−20°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

78°FJul 6, 2012

Coldest day

0°F2 times, most recently Jan 16, 1994

Wettest day

5.16 inJul 2, 1986

Snowiest day

24.0 inDec 19, 2009

Hottest year

2017mean 54.3°F

Coldest year

1976mean 48.9°F

Wettest year

201861.62 in

Driest year

199934.85 in

Snowiest season

95.8 in2009-10

Station Summersville Lake (USC00468614), 1,768 ft elevation, 28.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1967 to October 20, 2026; 89.5% 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 USC00468614.
• 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.