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Spotsylvania County, Virginia severe weather history spans 483 recorded events between 1973 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 66.0% of all recorded events. It ranks #937 nationally and #20 in Virginia.
483
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
17
Direct injuries
$3.4M
Property damage
The record
What the Spotsylvania County, Virginia severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Spotsylvania County, Virginia severe weather history averages 9.3 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 226 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 10 events fall before 1990 and 473 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Spotsylvania County, Virginia record is thunderstorm wind, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is thunderstorm wind, with $2.6M 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 Spotsylvania County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 319 | 1 | $2.6M | 78 | 1973–2025 |
| Hail | 76 | 0 | $3K | 3 | 1990–2023 |
| Flood | 31 | 0 | $10K | 0 | 2006–2022 |
| Flash Flood | 29 | 0 | $71K | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Tornado | 12 | 0 | $512K | F1 | 1995–2013 |
| Lightning | 8 | 0 | $121K | 0 | 1996–2003 |
| Heavy Rain | 7 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2003 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2021–2021 |
Decade by decade
Spotsylvania County, Virginia severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
13 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962-08-09 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 22.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 1999-04-09 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1999-07-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 18.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1998-02-17 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1995-10-27 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1994-07-27 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2013-06-13 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 6.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2013-06-13 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 2.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2006-05-11 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2006-05-11 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Spotsylvania County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25, 1990 | Thunderstorm Wind | 1 | 3 | $0 | |
| Jul 8, 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | CONCORD HGTS | 0 | 7 | $0 |
| May 6, 1989 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 3 | $0 | |
| Jun 6, 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | WILDERNESS CORNER | 0 | 1 | $125K |
| Jun 24, 1996 | Lightning | WILDERNESS | 0 | 1 | $10K |
| May 5, 1996 | Lightning | PARTLOW | 0 | 1 | $5K |
| Jul 11, 1990 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Hundreds of trees blew down near Alsop. Trees blew down on VA-612 Catharpin Road near VA-613 Brock Road. Hundreds of trees snapped on northbound VA-613 Brock Road in the vicinity of VA-624 Piney Branch Road. Numerous trees blew down near the intersection of VA-613 Brock Road and VA-627 Gordon Road.
Numerous trees and large branches were blown down in Massaponax. Nine houses in the Lees Park neighborhood sustained damage (including the partial collapse of a second floor exterior wall) when debris from a nearby home under construction was lofted by winds in the 5000 block of Holley Oak Lane.
The third in a series of strong cold fronts interacting with unstable tropical air masses produced a broken line of mesocyclonic showers and thunderstorms. One intense cell deposited a strong F1 tornado in extreme southeastern Spotsylvania County just southeast of Partlow. Seven homes received minor damage, in the form of trimming, shingles, and siding; another was moved off it's foundation. In addition, eight sheds were destroyed, with projectiles from the sheds shattering a minivan window and penetrating to the interior wall of one home. Other property damage included a flipped camper and destruction of an unoccupied mobile home. Hundreds of trees were snapped or uprooted along the path, most in a densely wooded area near the end of the track.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
146,603
Population (ACS)
$405K
Median home value
19
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 23, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Mar 11, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR |
| Apr 2, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Sep 11, 2018 | Hurricane | HURRICANE FLORENCE | EM |
| Mar 7, 2016 | Snowstorm | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Spotsylvania County, Virginia?
483 events are on record between 1973 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $3.4M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Spotsylvania County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 319 recorded events — 66.0% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Spotsylvania County?
13 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 11 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Spotsylvania County?
19 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Spotsylvania County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Spotsylvania County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Spotsylvania County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 53 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Spotsylvania County, Virginia 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
- Southampton County 287
- Stafford County 460
- Smyth County 285
- Surry County 181
- Shenandoah County 492
- Sussex County 243
Cite this page
“Spotsylvania County, Virginia.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/virginia/spotsylvania-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.