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Westmoreland County, Virginia severe weather history spans 213 recorded events between 1960 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 55.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,366 nationally and #75 in Virginia.
213
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$1.7M
Property damage
The record
What the Westmoreland County, Virginia severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Westmoreland County, Virginia severe weather history averages 3.3 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 61 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 10 events fall before 1990 and 203 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $1.2M 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 Westmoreland County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 119 | 0 | $356K | 80 | 1960–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 30 | 0 | $195K | 0 | 1999–2025 |
| Hail | 27 | 0 | $0 | 2 | 1960–2017 |
| Heavy Rain | 24 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2024 |
| Tornado | 7 | 0 | $1.2M | F0 | 1975–2021 |
| Flood | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2011–2018 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $5K | 0 | 2003–2003 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2013–2013 |
Decade by decade
Westmoreland County, Virginia severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
7 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 6 touched down inside it and 1 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-02-24 | EF3 | 0 | 25 | 30.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 1975-07-17 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-05-28 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2014-02-21 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 1999-04-04 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1996-06-24 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1996-07-12 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Tornado re-intensified as it moved from Richmond county into Westmoreland county, crossing Kings Highway (Route 3) west of Naomi Grove as a high end EF1 tornado. Tornadic winds increased to 100 mph, severely damaging two homes and destroying a mobile home along Kings Highway. The tornado continued to Cople Highway near Mount Holly, severely damaging numerous homes. After crossing Nomini Creek, the tornado crossed Bushfield Road damaging several homes. The tornado then continued northeast along Mount Holly Road, uprooting and snapping trees before moving into the Potomac River.
A microburst downed a vintage barn and numerous trees around Nomini Grove and Lyells. A large tree fell on the corner of a packing shed and a large tree limb punched through an attic and into a bedroom ceiling of a residence. Another large tree limb fell next to a house and ripped away a gutter and knocked over an oil tank off its stand. Fence posts were wrenched loose at Red Oak Nursery and at least eight rows of grapevines full of fruit went down.
A short-lived EF-0 tornado occurred in a rural wooded area near the Richmond/Westmoreland county line just north northeast of Foneswood. Numerous trees were downed or snapped off. The tornado was embedded in a larger area of straight line wind damage that extended from Essex county near Chance northeast to the Stratford Harbour area in northern Westmoreland county.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
18,826
Population (ACS)
$270K
Median home value
25
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 |
| Dec 18, 2018 | Hurricane | TROPICAL STORM MICHAEL | DR |
| Sep 11, 2018 | Hurricane | HURRICANE FLORENCE | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Westmoreland County, Virginia?
213 events are on record between 1960 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $1.7M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Westmoreland County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 119 recorded events — 55.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Westmoreland County?
7 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 Westmoreland County?
25 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Westmoreland County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Westmoreland County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Westmoreland County as very low risk, placing it in the 37 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Westmoreland 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
- Washington County 299
- Wise County 222
- Wythe County 266
- Warren County 310
- York County 237
- Tazewell County 391
Cite this page
“Westmoreland County, Virginia.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/virginia/westmoreland-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.