Washington County, New York severe weather history spans 773 recorded events between 1957 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 72.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #318 nationally and #13 in New York.
773
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
8
Direct injuries
$43.6M
Property damage
The record
What the Washington County, New York severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Washington County, New York severe weather history averages 11.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2020s, with 290 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 47 events fall before 1990 and 726 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is flash flood, with $22.5M in reported property damage. In total, 9 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Washington County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 561 | 0 | $3.3M | 87 | 1957–2025 |
| Hail | 69 | 0 | $221K | 2 | 1973–2024 |
| Flood | 63 | 0 | $16.2M | 0 | 2006–2023 |
| Flash Flood | 62 | 0 | $22.5M | 0 | 1996–2024 |
| Lightning | 9 | 0 | $461K | 0 | 1996–2021 |
| Tornado | 5 | 0 | $853K | F2 | 1972–2020 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2011–2021 |
| Debris Flow | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2021–2021 |
| Wildfire | 1 | 0 | $95K | 0 | 2001–2001 |
Decade by decade
Washington County, New York severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
6 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 6 touched down inside it and 0 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-08-10 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1994-08-21 | EF1 | 0 | 1 | 1.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1992-08-04 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-07-08 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1972-07-25 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1961-07-21 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Washington County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 19, 1990 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 4 | $0 | |
| Jul 12, 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | FT MILLER | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 29, 2003 | Lightning | SOUTH ARGYLE | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jun 12, 1996 | Lightning | KINGSBURY | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Aug 21, 1994 | Tornado | Fort Miller | 0 | 1 | $500K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The Hadlock Pond was breached washing out roads and destroying homes below the dam. It has been estimated that there was $5,000,000 of damage. This flash flood occurred under a clear sky and was not related to the weather, but was due to insidious disintegration of the dam structure over an extended period of time.
Isolated severe thunderstorms moved across parts of eastern New York ahead of a cold front on the 21st of August. An F1 tornado skipped 3 times along a 1.2 mile path in Fort Miller where it downed a 60 foot high concrete silo, tore sheet metal from two barns, removed part of the slate roof of a house, toppled a camper trailer and blew windows out of two houses. One man was slightly injured receiving minor cuts from flying glass. In Marathon and Messengerville severe thunderstorm winds downed trees. In Edwardsville lightning was believed to be responsible for a barn fire during an early morning thunderstorm which totally destroyed the storage barn.
Lightning struck a home on Fourth Street in Hudson Falls at approximately 1745 LST. The lightning is believed to have struck a cable antenna on the roof, which consequently started a fire and then spread.||The fire caused extensive damage to the house.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
60,522
Population (ACS)
$196K
Median home value
16
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Oct 28, 2012 | Hurricane | HURRICANE SANDY | EM |
| Aug 31, 2011 | Hurricane | HURRICANE IRENE | DR |
| Mar 4, 2009 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR |
| Dec 18, 2008 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Washington County, New York?
773 events are on record between 1957 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $43.6M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Washington County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 561 recorded events — 72.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Washington County?
6 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 Washington County?
16 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Washington County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Washington County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Washington County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 57 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Washington County, New York 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
- Warren County 462
- Wayne County 354
- Ulster County 941
- Westchester County 738
- Tompkins County 420
- Wyoming County 263
Cite this page
“Washington County, New York.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/new-york/washington-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.