States › West Virginia › Jefferson County

Jefferson County, West Virginia

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 54037 · 58,370 residents (2021) · 209 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 66Tornado · 7Flood · 79Wind · 283Winter · 194

Jefferson County within West Virginia. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

The NCEI record lists 819 events for Jefferson County, West Virginia, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 391.3 events per 100 square miles, above the West Virginia figure of 124.4, and 140.3 per 10,000 residents against 167.7 statewide.

25 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 2 deaths and 11 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $24M and crop damage at $3.5M.

FEMA has designated the county in 19 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Winter Storm (emergency, 24 Jan 2026).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 143 claims since 1978, of which 119 were paid, totalling $1.8M (about $15K per paid claim). FEMA counts 163 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Low" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Low" ($19M a year across 18 hazards).

25 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 2 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

25events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

819events since 19502 deaths, 11 injuries recorded

19disaster declarationslast 24 Jan 2026

143NFIP flood claims$1.8M paid

Compared with West Virginia and the United States

Measure	Jefferson County	West Virginia	US
Recorded events since 1950	819	29,901	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	391.3	124.4	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	140.3	167.7	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	25	1,790	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	2	153	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$24M	$1.3B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	2.4	15.7	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$15K	$16K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	11.0	23.2	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Tornado: 1Wind: 2

Hail: 1Wind: 2

Hail: 2Tornado: 1Wind: 1

Hail: 10Flood: 8Wind: 32Winter: 19Heat: 6Cold: 2Drought: 10Lightning: 1Other: 2

Hail: 22Tornado: 2Flood: 17Wind: 76Winter: 54Heat: 15Cold: 21Drought: 3Lightning: 4Fog: 7Other: 11

Hail: 28Tornado: 1Flood: 40Wind: 84Winter: 81Heat: 13Cold: 22Fog: 39

Hail: 3Tornado: 2Flood: 14Wind: 86Winter: 40Heat: 8Cold: 11Fog: 15

01950s31960s31970s41980s901990s2322000s3082010s1792020s

Recorded events in Jefferson County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterHeatColdDroughtLightningFogOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 558 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 238 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Wind283

Winter194

Flood79

Hail66

Fog61

Cold56

Heat42

Drought13

Other13

Tornado7

Lightning5

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	283	2	2.8%	detail
■ Winter	194	—	2.7%	detail
■ Flood	79	—	1.9%	detail
■ Hail	66	—	2.1%	detail
■ Fog	61	—	11.2%
■ Cold	56	—	2.9%
■ Heat	42	—	4.6%
■ Drought	13	—	1.4%
■ Other	13	—	2.4%
■ Tornado	7	—	3.7%
■ Lightning	5	—	5.2%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
3 May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	60 mph	$10K	—	1	1	County
14 May 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$5K	—	1	—	County
16 Nov 1989	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	3	County
7 Jun 1999	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	—	3	Forecast zone
19 Jan 1996	Flood	Flood	—	$20M	$150K	—	—	Forecast zone
18 Sep 2003	High Wind	Wind	58 mph	$300K	$50K	—	1	Forecast zone
3 May 2021	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$100K	—	—	1	County
29 Sep 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$40K	—	—	1	County
13 May 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$2K	—	—	1	County
1 Jul 1997	Drought	Drought	—	—	$2.1M	—	—	Forecast zone
10 Apr 1997	Frost/Freeze	Cold	—	—	$1.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
26 Aug 2006	Lightning	Lightning	—	$500K	—	—	—	County
1 Jun 2006	Lightning	Lightning	—	$300K	—	—	—	County
17 Sep 2004	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	—	—	County
6 Sep 1996	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$100K	$50K	—	—	County
29 Nov 2005	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$150K	—	—	—	County
19 Sep 2003	Flood	Flood	—	$100K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
24 Nov 2005	Strong Wind	Wind	46 mph	$100K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
29 Nov 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	$100K	—	—	—	County
14 Jan 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	69 mph	$100K	—	—	—	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
24 Jan 2026	EM-3639	Emergency	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
3 Apr 2020	DR-4517	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3450	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
12 Jul 2018	DR-4378	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides	Public assistance
29 Oct 2012	EM-3358	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	Public assistance
23 Jul 2012	DR-4071	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Straight-Line Winds	Public assistance
30 Jun 2012	EM-3345	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Storms	Public assistance
23 Apr 2010	DR-1903	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorms	Public assistance
2 Mar 2010	DR-1881	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	Public assistance
19 Jun 2008	DR-1769	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Mudslides, And	Individual assistance
5 Sep 2005	EM-3221	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
23 Sep 2003	DR-1496	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Isabel	Public assistance
14 Mar 2003	DR-1455	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm, Record/Near Record Snow, Heavy Rains, Flooding And Landslides	Public assistance
11 Sep 1996	DR-1137	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Hurricane Fran And Associated Heavy Rains,Flooding Highwind	Individual assistance
25 Jan 1996	DR-1096	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Jan 1996	DR-1084	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Blizzard Of 96 (Severe Snow Storm)	Public assistance
17 Mar 1993	EM-3109	Emergency	Snowstorm	Severe Snowfall & Winter Storm	Public assistance
7 Nov 1985	DR-753	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
3 Jul 1972	DR-344	Major disaster	Flood	Tropical Storm Agnes	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Jefferson County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978143

Paid claims119

Total paid$1.8M

Average paid claim$15K

Repetitive-loss properties151 severe

Residential policies in force1630.8% of 19,441 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2025	2	1	$22,026	$22,026
2019	2	2	$8,559	$4,279
2018	13	13	$75,669	$5,821
2017	1	0	$0	—
2011	1	1	$21,525	$21,525
2010	3	1	$5,624	$5,624
2008	1	0	$0	—
2003	2	1	$12,117	$12,117
1998	2	1	$1,015	$1,015
1997	1	0	$0	—
1996	76	70	$1,231,630	$17,595
1994	1	1	$2,966	$2,966
1993	2	1	$6,231	$6,231
1989	1	0	$0	—
1987	5	3	$26,334	$8,778
1985	17	15	$314,174	$20,945
1984	9	5	$18,710	$3,742
1979	4	4	$6,122	$1,531

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskRelatively Lowscore 47.8 of 100

Expected annual loss$19MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityVery Low

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Low	$12,836,862
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$1,139,771
Tornado	Relatively Low	$907,982
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$905,737
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$747,405
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$660,415
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$658,316
Lightning	Relatively Low	$278,694
Hail	Relatively Low	$274,278
Cold wave	Very Low	$146,237
Winter weather	Relatively Low	$102,400
Ice storm	Very Low	$11,466
Wildfire	Very Low	$10,678
Landslide	Very Low	$2,563
Avalanche	Very Low	$46

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles25

Tracks within 50 miles11

Hurricane strength within 50 miles2

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Sandy	2012	55 mi	63 mph
Ernesto	2006	68 mi	46 mph
Isabel	2003	74 mi	58 mph
David	1979	35 mi	46 mph
Connie	1955	69 mi	58 mph
Diane	1955	37 mi	46 mph
Hazel	1954	71 mi	81 mph
Able	1952	43 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1949	52 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1945	84 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1943	58 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1934	24 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1933	55 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1929	84 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1928	28 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	43 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1899	93 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1896	37 mi	69 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1893	65 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1893	44 mi	75 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1893	48 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1885	22 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1878	85 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1878	41 mi	92 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1876	82 mi	69 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

ZIP codes with flood claims

25414 47
25425 32
25443 24
25438 19
25430 11
25410 5

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Jefferson County, WV?

NCEI records 66 hail events in Jefferson County since 1950, in 25 different years; that is about 0.9 recorded events a year. 10 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Jefferson County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 7 tornadoes in Jefferson County since 1950, 1 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Jefferson County?

24 Jan 2026: Severe Winter Storm, a emergency declaration for winter storm. The county appears in 19 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Jefferson County, and how much was paid?

143 NFIP claims since 1978, 119 of them paid, for $1.8M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Jefferson County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Relatively Low" for overall risk, "Relatively Low" for expected annual loss, "Very Low" for social vulnerability and "Relatively Moderate" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Jefferson County compare with the rest of West Virginia?

391.3 recorded events per 100 square miles against 124.4 statewide, and 2.4 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 15.7. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.