Highland County, Virginia
County storm and disaster record · FIPS 51091 · population 2,232 · 415 sq mi
NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 767 records for Highland County, Virginia from 1950 through June 30, 2026, on 518 days; the most frequent are winter storm records (401 records). 657 of them are forecast-zone records, which the National Weather Service files once per zone: a county covered by several zones receives each one, so a single storm can add several records on the same day. The deadliest single record is the September 6, 1996 flash flood: 1 death and $2.0 million in damage in 2025 dollars. FEMA has issued 22 declarations naming the county since 1977, 20 of them for natural hazards; the latest for a natural hazard was “Severe Winter Storm” on January 23, 2026.
The record, 1950 to 2026
Storm records filed for the county each year (2026 to June 30, 2026). Before 1996 NOAA recorded only tornadoes (from 1950), thunderstorm wind and hail (from 1955).
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $100,000
- $100,000 or more
- $1 million or more
- $10 million or more, or a death
- $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- 1955: wind and hail recorded from 1955
- 1996: all 48 event types from 1996
- Storm records
- 767on 518 days, 1950 to June 30, 2026
- Deaths recorded
- 10 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $16Mas filed (scale steps before 1993)
- Tornadoes
- 1strongest unrated
- FEMA declarations
- 22latest 2026
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026 (file revision 20260918); damage converted to 2025 dollars with the BLS CPI-U. Search the record at NCEI. BLS consumer price index.
What hazards hit Highland County most?
The most frequent records are winter storm records: 401 since 1996. 54% of its winter storm records since 1996 fell in January and February. The rank column places the county among Virginia's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.
| Hazard | Records | Days | First, last | Killed | Injured | Damage | Rank in state |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter storms | 401 | 281 | 1996-2026 | 0 | 0 | $118K | 7 of 96 |
| Extreme cold | 166 | 103 | 1997-2026 | 0 | 0 | $92K | 4 of 96 |
| Severe thunderstorm wind | 45 | 36 | 1974-2025 | 0 | 0 | $414K | 96 of 96 |
| High wind and dust storms | 43 | 33 | 1996-2025 | 0 | 0 | $804K | 31 of 96 |
| Fog, smoke and funnel clouds | 34 | 24 | 2006-2021 | 0 | 0 | – | 22 of 96 |
| Floods | 29 | 20 | 1996-2025 | 1 | 0 | $2.3M | 82 of 96 |
| Hail | 25 | 17 | 1998-2023 | 0 | 0 | – | 90 of 96 |
| Heavy rain | 9 | 9 | 1999-2003 | 0 | 0 | – | 60 of 96 |
| Drought | 6 | 6 | 1999-1999 | 0 | 0 | $12M | 49 of 96 |
| Heat | 6 | 6 | 1998-2000 | 0 | 0 | – | 45 of 96 |
| Lightning | 2 | 2 | 1996-2000 | 0 | 0 | $19K | 61 of 96 |
| Tornadoes | 1 | 1 | 1959-1959 | 0 | 0 | $25K | 89 of 96 |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.
How many tornadoes has Highland County had?
NOAA records 1 tornado in Highland County from 1959 to 1959, with 0 deaths and 0 injuries recorded in the county. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.
Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 1 tornado whose track touched Highland County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 1, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.
Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Virginia.
Every tornado record filed for Highland County (1)
| Date | Place | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959-04-28 | Highland County | 0 | 0 | $3K step |
A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.
When was the last damaging storm in Highland County?
The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the May 30, 2025 thunderstorm wind ($2,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-16 | Winter WeatherHighland County · forecast zone Western Highland | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-03-02 | Winter WeatherHighland County · forecast zone Eastern Highland | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-03-02 | Winter WeatherHighland County · forecast zone Western Highland | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-24 | Winter WeatherHighland County · forecast zone Western Highland | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-22 | Winter WeatherHighland County · forecast zone Eastern Highland | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-22 | Winter StormHighland County · forecast zone Western Highland | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-07 | Extreme Cold/Wind ChillHighland County · forecast zone Eastern Highland | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-07 | Extreme Cold/Wind ChillHighland County · forecast zone Western Highland | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-06 | Winter WeatherHighland County · forecast zone Western Highland | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-01 | Extreme Cold/Wind ChillHighland County · forecast zone Eastern Highland | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-01 | Extreme Cold/Wind ChillHighland County · forecast zone Western Highland | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-01-24 | Winter StormHighland County · forecast zone Eastern Highland | 0 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.
The deadliest and costliest records
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-09-06 | Flash FloodCountywide, Highland County *** Narrative for flash floods associated with "Fran" follow the Loudoun Co entry, start time 1100EST *** | 1 | 0 | $2.0M |
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999-08-01 | DroughtHighland County · forecast zone Highland | 0 | 0 | $12M | |
| 1996-09-06 | High WindHighland County · forecast zone Highland | 0 | 0 | $517K | |
| 2020-04-08 | Thunderstorm WindMonterey, Highland County | 65 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $114K |
| 2025-05-17 | Thunderstorm WindMonterey, Highland County | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $2K |
| 2025-05-30 | Thunderstorm WindMonterey, Highland County | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $2K |
Before 1993 NOAA filed damage by category, not amount, so the list above starts in 1993. The highest category filed here before then (entered as $3K, in the dollars of the day) holds: April 28, 1959 (tornado, Highland County).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.
Is it getting more frequent?
Records per decade for Highland County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).
| Hazard | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020-26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter storms | – | – | – | – | 20 | 58 | 189 z | 134 |
| Extreme cold | – | – | – | – | 2 | 17 | 95 z | 52 |
| Severe thunderstorm wind | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 18 |
| High wind and dust storms | – | – | – | – | 3 | 20 | 13 | 7 |
| Fog, smoke and funnel clouds | – | – | – | – | 0 | 5 | 25 z | 4 |
| Floods | – | – | – | – | 8 | 5 | 6 | 10 |
Winter storms in the 2010s: 189 records against 58 in the decade before, 189 of them forecast-zone records. Extreme cold in the 2010s: 95 records against 17 in the decade before, 95 of them forecast-zone records. Fog, smoke and funnel clouds in the 2010s: 25 records against 5 in the decade before, 25 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Highland County days with a record above.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).
What time of year?
54% of its winter storm records since 1996 fell in January and February. The two busiest months are in violet.
The values, month by month
Jan 176 · Feb 132 · Mar 86 · Apr 61 · May 57 · Jun 27 · Jul 21 · Aug 21 · Sep 13 · Oct 29 · Nov 31 · Dec 113 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.
Federal disaster declarations for Highland County
FEMA's register lists 22 declarations that include Highland County: 15 major disasters, 7 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (6) and snowstorm (5).
| Declared | Number | Type | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-23 | EM-3631 | Winter Storm | Severe Winter Storm |
| 2020-04-02 | DR-4512 | Biological | Covid-19 Pandemic |
| 2020-03-13 | EM-3448 | Biological | Covid-19 |
| 2018-09-11 | EM-3403 | Hurricane | Hurricane Florence |
| 2016-03-07 | DR-4262 | Snowstorm | Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm |
| 2012-11-26 | DR-4092 | Hurricane | Hurricane Sandy |
| 2012-10-29 | EM-3359 | Hurricane | Hurricane Sandy |
| 2012-07-27 | DR-4072 | Severe Storm | Severe Storms and Straight-Line Winds |
| 2010-04-27 | DR-1905 | Snowstorm | Severe Winter Storms and Snowstorms |
| 2010-02-16 | DR-1874 | Snowstorm | Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm |
| 2006-07-13 | DR-1655 | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding |
| 2005-09-12 | EM-3240 | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina Evacuation |
| 2003-09-18 | DR-1491 | Hurricane | Hurricane Isabel |
| 2003-03-27 | DR-1458 | Severe Storm | Severe Winter Storm, Record/Near Record Snowfall, Heavy Rain,Floodind, and Mudslide |
| 2000-02-28 | DR-1318 | Severe Storm | Severe Winter Storms |
| 1996-09-06 | DR-1135 | Hurricane | Hurricane Fran and Associated Severe Storm Cond |
| 1996-01-27 | DR-1098 | Flood | Flooding, High Winds, and Wind Driven Rain |
| 1996-01-13 | DR-1086 | Snowstorm | Blizzard of 96 (Severe Snow Storm) |
| 1994-04-11 | DR-1021 | Severe Storm | Severe Winter Ice Storm |
| 1993-03-25 | EM-3112 | Snowstorm | Severe Winter Storm |
| 1985-11-09 | DR-755 | Flood | Severe Storms & Flooding |
| 1977-07-23 | EM-3046 | Drought | Drought |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.
How many floods has Highland County had?
NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 29 flood or flash flood records for Highland County from 1996 to 2025, on 20 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Highland County ranks 2523rd of 2,942 U.S. counties.
| Storm | Began | Records | Deaths in the county |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Fran | 1996-09-06 | 1 | 1 |
The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $55,000 on 6 claims filed in Highland County; the most in one year was 3 in 2003. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.
The values, year by year
1996: 2 · 2003: 3 · 2011: 1; the other years: 0.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.
FEMA's modeled risk for Highland County
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Highland County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $2.2 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.
| Hazard | Risk rating | Expected annual loss | Modeled frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Relatively Low | $15K | 1 a year (modeled) |
| Drought | Relatively Low | $294K | 3.9 modeled event-days a year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | $283K | 7.5 a year (modeled) |
| Avalanche | Very Low | $2K | once in about 100 years (modeled) |
| Hurricane | Very Low | $34K | once in about 51 years (modeled) |
| Lightning | Very Low | $50K | 40 a year (modeled) |
| Earthquake | Very Low | $13K | once in about 1,361 years (modeled) |
| Wildfire | Very Low | $4K | once in about 824 years (modeled) |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.
Counties that share a border with Highland County
Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.
Next
- Tornadoes in VirginiaEvery Virginia tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
- Winter storms in VirginiaThe state's winter storm records, by county, year and month
- The Virginia recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
- FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Highland CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
- Download Highland County's FEMA declarations (CSV)22 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis