PlainHazard

Virginia drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 96 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 850 drought records in Virginia from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 42 a year since 2000. The costliest was the July 1, 1999 drought ($147 million in 2025 dollars). Virginia ranks 27th of 51 states and territories by count and 30th of 50 per square mile.

Drought in Virginia, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
8501996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
42average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$470Mas filed
Busiest year
1999232 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in Virginia?

Virginia averages about 42 drought records a year since 2000, 27th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 1999 (232). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Virginia records 215 drought records since 1996, 30th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466
  11. 30. Virginia 215

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Virginia have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Clarke County leads Virginia: 12 days with a drought record since 1996, 68.2 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Pittsylvania County has the most drought records (27 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Clarke County 68.2 (12)
  2. King George County 66.8 (12)
  3. Grayson County 58.9 (26)
  4. Greene County 57.7 (9)
  5. Henry County 57.5 (22)
  6. Pulaski County 56.3 (18)
  7. Bland County 55.9 (20)
  8. Smyth County 55.4 (25)
  9. Carroll County 52.7 (25)
  10. Roanoke County 51.9 (13)
  11. Dickenson County 51.4 (17)
  12. Appomattox County 50.9 (17)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in Virginia?

Virginia's drought records by month. The busiest month is August (121 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 34 · Feb 15 · Mar 12 · Apr 33 · May 52 · Jun 89 · Jul 87 · Aug 121 · Sep 94 · Oct 120 · Nov 120 · Dec 73 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The costliest drought records in Virginia

Virginia: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
1999-07-01 DroughtAugusta County · forecast zone Augusta / Staunton / Waynesborro One storm episode: 8 records in 8 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $147M
1997-09-01 DroughtNorthampton County · forecast zone Northampton One storm episode: 20 records in 20 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $115M
1999-08-01 DroughtOrange County · forecast zone Orange One storm episode: 10 records in 10 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $74M
2007-09-01 DroughtMontgomery County · forecast zone Montgomery One storm episode: 17 records in 17 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $49M
1998-10-01 DroughtCumberland County · forecast zone Cumberland One storm episode: 20 records in 20 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $32M
1998-10-01 DroughtPittsylvania County · forecast zone Pittsylvania One storm episode: 27 records in 27 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $14M
2019-10-01 DroughtBedford County · forecast zone Bedford One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $11M
2007-07-10 DroughtSmyth County · forecast zone Smyth One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $9.4M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in Virginia?

Virginia's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: Virginia and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeVirginiaUnited StatesVirginia's share
1996-994185,6007.5%
2000s24418,5711.3%
2010s1231,4410.0%
2020-2617630,1470.6%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in Virginia

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-01 DroughtWythe County · forecast zone Wythe 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtTazewell County · forecast zone Tazewell 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtSmyth County · forecast zone Smyth 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtRockbridge County and 2 more · forecast zone Rockbridge 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtRoanoke County and 2 more · forecast zone Roanoke 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtPulaski County and Radford (city) · forecast zone Pulaski 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtPittsylvania County and Danville (city) · forecast zone Pittsylvania 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtPatrick County · forecast zone Patrick 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtMontgomery County · forecast zone Montgomery 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtHenry County and Martinsville (city) · forecast zone Henry 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtHalifax County · forecast zone Halifax 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtGrayson County · forecast zone Grayson 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in Virginia

FEMA has declared 2 disasters in Virginia for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on July 23, 1977.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1977-07-23EM-3046Drought62
1976-10-15EM-3018Drought38

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Next