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Gallia County, Ohio severe weather history spans 322 recorded events between 1968 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 40.1% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,651 nationally and #65 in Ohio.
322
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
21
Direct injuries
$18.4M
Property damage
The record
What the Gallia County, Ohio severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Gallia County, Ohio severe weather history averages 5.6 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 102 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 20 events fall before 1990 and 302 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Gallia County, Ohio record is flood, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $9.2M in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Gallia County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 129 | 0 | $3.1M | 70 | 1976–2026 |
| Hail | 82 | 0 | $1.1M | 2.75 | 1968–2023 |
| Flood | 52 | 1 | $238K | 0 | 2007–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 42 | 0 | $4.8M | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Tornado | 8 | 0 | $9.2M | F5 | 1968–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 6 | 1 | $15K | 0 | 1999–2011 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2003–2021 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2015–2015 |
Decade by decade
Gallia County, Ohio severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
8 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 6 touched down inside it and 2 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968-04-23 | EF5 | 7 | 93 | 34.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2002-05-08 | EF2 | 0 | 3 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2000-06-15 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-04-02 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1996-05-04 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1989-06-12 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1980-06-02 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 11.5 mi | Crossed in |
| 1998-06-02 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Gallia County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 13, 2020 | Flood | THURMAN | 1 | 0 | $5K |
| Mar 20, 2008 | Heavy Rain | EWINGTON | 1 | 0 | $5K |
| Apr 23, 1968 | Tornado | 0 | 17 | $250K | |
| May 8, 2002 | Tornado | ADAMSVILLE | 0 | 3 | $3.5M |
| May 26, 2015 | Lightning | NORTHUP | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Multiple roads were closed across the county due to flooding, including State Route 325, State Route 233, and State Route 141. On the evening of the 14th, a 73 year old man drowned in the flood waters at the intersection of State Route 141 and German Ridge Road. The man drove his car into the high water and was overcome by the rushing water.
A man drowned along a swollen Racoon Creek and a low spot along Route 325 near the village of Vinton. Otherwise, county officials reported no flooding. ||According to a state report, the driver drove partially into water covering the road, but then backed out. This was at night. The driver then pulled into a nearby driveway and asked the property owner if he thought he could make it through the water. The property owner told the driver that if he could see the edge lines, he should be okay. The driver then proceeded to drive into the water, where his pickup truck was caught by the current and swept downstream. The driver was able to get out of his truck. The property owner ran over to try to help, offering a long stick to the driver, telling him to swim toward it. The driver was unable to make it. His body was recovered a few hours later.
A warm frontal boundary interacted with a complex of showers and thunderstorms to form a tornado on the southern flank of the precipitation. Touchdown was along Adamsville Road near Route 35. The roof was ripped off a home, 2 mobile homes were destroyed, along with a pole barn. The tornado then struck both rest areas on Route 35. The rest building on the north side of the highway was severely damaged. At least 2 tractor trailers were flipped over, while others parked in the lot, were damaged. Another mobile home near the rest stop was destroyed. Proceeding just east to Dewey Road, the tornado wiped a modular home off its foundation. A trailer was destroyed at the corner of Kerr and Viney Roads. Down Kerr Road, a home had its roof removed and a mobile home was moved off its foundation. On Fairview Road, another mobile home was damaged. What was amazing and fortunate, in just about all the cases, no one was home when the tornado struck. Three people were injured at the rest stop.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
29,068
Population (ACS)
$156K
Median home value
17
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Apr 8, 2019 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND LANDSLIDES | DR |
| Apr 17, 2018 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
| Aug 20, 2012 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR |
| Jun 30, 2012 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Gallia County, Ohio?
322 events are on record between 1968 and 2026, causing 2 direct deaths and $18.4M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Gallia County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 129 recorded events — 40.1% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Gallia County?
8 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 6 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Gallia County?
17 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Gallia County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Gallia County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Gallia County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 48 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Gallia County, Ohio severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Fulton County 256
- Geauga County 428
- Franklin County 1,024
- Greene County 577
- Fayette County 291
- Guernsey County 406
Cite this page
“Gallia County, Ohio.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/ohio/gallia-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.