PlainHazard

West Virginia drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 55 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 922 drought records in West Virginia from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 66 a year since 2000. The costliest was the August 1, 1999 drought ($12.4 million in 2025 dollars). West Virginia ranks 25th of 51 states and territories by count and 13th of 50 per square mile.

Drought in West 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
9221996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
66average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$23Mas filed
Busiest year
1999263 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 West Virginia?

West Virginia averages about 66 drought records a year since 2000, 25th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 1999 (263). Per 10,000 square miles of land, West Virginia records 384 drought records since 1996, 13th 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. 13. West Virginia 384

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 West Virginia have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Pleasants County leads West Virginia: 17 days with a drought record since 1996, 130.6 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Fayette County has the most drought records (32 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. Pleasants County 130.6 (17)
  2. Taylor County 104.2 (18)
  3. Cabell County 74.7 (21)
  4. Wirt County 68.8 (16)
  5. Putnam County 66.5 (23)
  6. Tyler County 66.3 (17)
  7. Ohio County 66.1 (7)
  8. Calhoun County 64.5 (18)
  9. Jefferson County 62.1 (13)
  10. Clay County 58.5 (20)
  11. Gilmer County 53.2 (18)
  12. Doddridge County 53.2 (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 West Virginia?

43% of its drought records since 1996 fell in September and October. The busiest month is September (216 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 0 · Feb 34 · Mar 0 · Apr 45 · May 67 · Jun 76 · Jul 68 · Aug 128 · Sep 216 · Oct 180 · Nov 98 · Dec 10 (records).

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

The costliest drought records in West Virginia

West Virginia: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
1999-08-01 DroughtMineral County · forecast zone Mineral 0 0 $12M
1997-07-01 DroughtBerkeley County · forecast zone Berkeley One storm episode: 7 records in 7 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $6.9M
2019-10-01 DroughtMonroe County · forecast zone Monroe One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $3.5M

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 West Virginia?

West 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: West Virginia and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeWest VirginiaUnited StatesWest Virginia's share
1996-993425,6006.1%
2000s15918,5710.9%
2010s431,4410.0%
2020-2641730,1471.4%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in West Virginia

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-01 DroughtMercer County · forecast zone Mercer 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtMonroe County · forecast zone Monroe 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtSummers County · forecast zone Summers 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtGreenbrier County · forecast zone Western Greenbrier 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtGreenbrier County · forecast zone Eastern Greenbrier 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtWyoming County · forecast zone Wyoming 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtWayne County · forecast zone Wayne 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtWebster County · forecast zone Southeast Webster 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtRaleigh County · forecast zone Southeast Raleigh 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtNicholas County · forecast zone Southeast Nicholas 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtFayette County · forecast zone Southeast Fayette 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtRoane County · forecast zone Roane 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 West Virginia

FEMA has declared 2 disasters in West 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 August 24, 1977.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1977-08-24EM-3051Drought9
1977-01-19EM-3021Drought12

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

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