Hampshire County, West Virginia severe weather history spans 329 recorded events between 1986 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 59.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,611 nationally and #15 in West Virginia.
329
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
6
Direct injuries
$2.0M
Property damage
The record
What the Hampshire County, West Virginia severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Hampshire County, West Virginia severe weather history averages 8.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 108 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 3 events fall before 1990 and 326 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is thunderstorm wind, 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 Hampshire County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 197 | 0 | $1.2M | 89 | 1986–2025 |
| Hail | 48 | 0 | $10K | 2.75 | 1991–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 35 | 0 | $416K | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Flood | 32 | 0 | $3K | 0 | 2007–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 9 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1999–2004 |
| Tornado | 4 | 0 | $420K | F1 | 1998–2022 |
| Lightning | 3 | 0 | $3K | 0 | 2003–2024 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2008–2008 |
Decade by decade
Hampshire County, West Virginia severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
4 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998-06-02 | EF2 | 0 | 5 | 15.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1998-06-02 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2022-07-12 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2022-07-12 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Hampshire County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 3, 1998 | Tornado | JUNCTION | 0 | 5 | $100K |
| Sep 2, 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Romney | 0 | 1 | $50K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A powerful storm tracked across southern Hampshire County on July 12th, 2022, producing a 23-mile long by 9-mile wide swath of extensive tree and property damage. The vast majority of this damage was associated with a macroburst as a bowing storm and associated rear-inflow jet tracked across the county. Winds within this 9-mile wide swath were estimated to be between 60 and 105 MPH.||The storm progressed out of the North River Valley and crossed another range of mountains before progressing into the Cacapon River Valley. Here, numerous trees were snapped and uprooted in Yellow Spring, Capon Lake, and Capon Springs.
A brief tornado caused damage at a farm on Arnold Farm Lane. Several snapped trees were noted in a tree-line a couple hundred yards to the west of the farm. An open-faced barn was destroyed; as this occurred, the roof of the barn was projected into the top of a silo, severely damaging the silo. A portion of a roof on another barn was dislodged, and the roof on the farmhouse was peeled up (but not removed).
A powerful storm tracked across southern Hampshire County on July 12th, 2022, producing a 23-mile long by 9-mile wide swath of extensive tree and property damage. The vast majority of this damage was associated with a macroburst as a bowing storm and associated rear-inflow jet tracked across the county. Winds within this 9-mile wide swath were estimated to be between 60 and 105 MPH.||Within Hampshire County, sporadic tree damage was noted as far west as Purgitsville, but more appreciable damage began in the vicinity of the South Branch of the Potomac River several miles to the south of Romney, West Virginia. Significant tree damage associated with the bowing portion of the storm extended south of Arnold Farm Lane along CR-8 South Branch River Road and CR-6 Trough Road for about four miles. Within this stretch of damage, entire corn fields were leveled just to the south of Trough View Road. Dozens of trees were blown down in this area, as well. Wind gusts were estimated to be as high as 70 MPH in this section of the county.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
23,465
Population (ACS)
$219K
Median home value
19
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 24, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Apr 3, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jul 12, 2018 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
| Oct 29, 2012 | Hurricane | HURRICANE SANDY | EM |
| Jun 30, 2012 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Hampshire County, West Virginia?
329 events are on record between 1986 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $2.0M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Hampshire County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 197 recorded events — 59.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Hampshire County?
4 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 2 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Hampshire County?
19 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Hampshire County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Hampshire County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Hampshire County as very low risk, placing it in the 38 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Hampshire County, West 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
- Greenbrier County 475
- Hancock County 232
- Grant County 206
- Hardy County 233
- Gilmer County 166
- Harrison County 446
Cite this page
“Hampshire County, West Virginia.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/west-virginia/hampshire-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.