Virginia extreme cold
Every recorded extreme cold record since 1996 · 114 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 1,789 extreme cold records in Virginia from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 62 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the April 7, 2007 cold/wind chill in Pulaski County: 1 death and $21,000 in damage in 2025 dollars. Virginia ranks 12th of 51 states and territories by count and 11th of 50 per square mile.
Extreme cold in Virginia, 1996 to 2026
Cold 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
- 1,7891996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 62average
- Deaths
- 30 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $47Mas filed
- Busiest year
- 2016217 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 extreme cold records common in Virginia?
Virginia averages about 62 extreme cold records a year since 2000, 12th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2016 (217). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Virginia records 453 extreme cold records since 1996, 11th of 50 states and territories by that measure.
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 extreme cold records?
Per square mile, Greene County leads Virginia: 71 days with a extreme cold record since 1996, 455.3 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Highland County has the most cold records (166 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).
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 the cold season in Virginia?
43% of its extreme cold records since 1996 fell in March and April. The busiest month is April (656 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 289 · Feb 120 · Mar 110 · Apr 656 · May 99 · Jun 0 · Jul 0 · Aug 0 · Sep 4 · Oct 292 · Nov 103 · Dec 116 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest extreme cold records in Virginia?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-04-07 | Cold/Wind ChillPulaski County · forecast zone Pulaski A woman lost control of her vehicle on black ice. The vehicle struck an embankment and overturned. The lone occupant died in the accident. | 1 | 0 | $21K | |
| 1996-02-03 | Cold/Wind ChillGiles County · forecast zone Giles Bitterly cold air overspread southwest,west-central and south-central Virginia on the 3rd and continued until the 6th. Several daily low temperature records were established. At Lynchburg Regional Airport, the low on the morning of the 5th was 10 degrees below zero; tying the all-time record low. A Giles County man ... | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 2000-01-27 | Extreme Cold/Wind ChillFairfax County · forecast zone Fairfax High pressure was located directly over the Mid-Atlantic region between the 27th and 29th. The combination of clear skies, calm winds, and a snowpack led to extremely cold temperatures . On the 27th, a 59-year-old woman was found dead in the parking lot of a shopping center in Fairfax, and apparent victim of ... | 1 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest extreme cold records in Virginia
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997-04-10 | Frost/FreezeFrederick County · forecast zone Frederick One storm episode: 13 records in 13 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $32M | |
| 2007-04-09 | Frost/FreezeBotetourt County · forecast zone Botetourt One storm episode: 9 records in 9 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $11M | |
| 2026-04-21 | Frost/FreezeNew Kent County · forecast zone New Kent One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $1.0M | |
| 1997-04-10 | Cold/Wind ChillAmherst County · forecast zone Amherst | 0 | 0 | $368K | |
| 1997-04-09 | Cold/Wind ChillAmherst County · forecast zone Amherst | 0 | 0 | $368K | |
| 2007-04-07 | Cold/Wind ChillPulaski County · forecast zone Pulaski | 1 | 0 | $21K |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are extreme cold 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.
| Decade | Virginia | United States | Virginia's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 127 | 5,539 | 2.3% |
| 2000s | 495 | 14,792 | 3.3% |
| 2010s | 800 | 18,162 | 4.4% |
| 2020-26 | 367 | 15,329 | 2.4% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent extreme cold records in Virginia
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-21 | Frost/FreezeNew Kent County · forecast zone New Kent | 0 | 0 | $500K | |
| 2026-04-20 | Frost/FreezeLouisa County · forecast zone Western Louisa | 0 | 0 | $500K | |
| 2026-02-08 | Extreme Cold/Wind ChillAccomack County · forecast zone Accomack | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-07 | Cold/Wind ChillNelson County · forecast zone Nelson | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-07 | Cold/Wind ChillFauquier County · forecast zone Southern Fauquier | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-07 | Cold/Wind ChillKing George County · forecast zone King George | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-07 | Cold/Wind ChillSpotsylvania County and Fredericksburg (city) · forecast zone Spotsylvania | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-07 | Cold/Wind ChillStafford County · forecast zone Stafford | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-07 | Cold/Wind ChillCulpeper County · forecast zone Culpeper | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-07 | Cold/Wind ChillOrange County · forecast zone Orange | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-07 | Cold/Wind ChillRappahannock County · forecast zone Rappahannock | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-07 | Cold/Wind ChillMadison County · forecast zone Madison | 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 extreme cold records in Virginia
FEMA has declared 1 disaster in Virginia for extreme cold, counting its incident type and declarations that name freez in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); one was a major disaster, the latest on January 26, 1977.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977-01-26 | DR-525 | Ice Conditions | 39 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Greene County: the county's whole recordThe Virginia county with the most extreme cold records per square mile
- Extreme cold across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in VirginiaTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
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- Floods in Virginia8,165 records