Bennington County, Vermont severe weather history spans 307 recorded events between 1955 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 59.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,747 nationally and #7 in Vermont.
307
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$4.2M
Property damage
The record
What the Bennington County, Vermont severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Bennington County, Vermont severe weather history averages 4.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 84 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 40 events fall before 1990 and 267 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 $1.4M 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 Bennington County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 184 | 0 | $391K | 87 | 1955–2025 |
| Hail | 55 | 0 | $21K | 3.25 | 1960–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 29 | 0 | $1.4M | 0 | 1996–2023 |
| Flood | 25 | 0 | $630K | 0 | 2007–2023 |
| Tornado | 6 | 0 | $860K | F2 | 1955–2003 |
| Lightning | 5 | 0 | $921K | 0 | 2000–2021 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2010 |
| Debris Flow | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2019–2019 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2018–2018 |
Decade by decade
Bennington County, Vermont 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: 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998-05-31 | EF3 | 0 | 68 | 30.5 mi | Crossed in |
| 1969-05-29 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1955-03-22 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2003-07-21 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 25.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2002-06-05 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1960-06-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Bennington County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 17, 2000 | Lightning | BENNINGTON | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| May 29, 1969 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $25K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Lightning struck the Green Mountain Christian Center on Harwood Hill Road in Bennington at around 20:55 EST, causing severe damage. One firefighter suffered heat exhaustion while trying to extinguish the blaze, and was sent to the hospital for examination. He was given fluids and then released.||The estimated damages to the church were around $750,000.
The combination of heavy rainfall and the Batten Kill River overflowing its banks resulted in some areas of flooding in the Town of Manchester. A water rescue was conducted on Natural Form Way as workers were surrounded by about two feet of water. The Manchester Variety Store at the corner of Depot Street and Richville Road was flooded as well as several homes on Green Mountain Road. In addition, portions of Green Mountain Road were washed out into a field off Richville Road.
The Town of Manchester suffered major impact from flash flooding. Bently Hill Road and Rootville Road were destroyed. Bromley Brook Road and West Road were damaged. Portions of Union Street were washed out with the ditch needing repair. Flooding was also observed on Richville Road at Union Street to Carlen Street. The Batten Kill River spilled over its banks along Sunderland Hill Road and Route 7A in Manchester, Sunderland and Arlington, turning fields and pastures into lakes. Damage also occurred to some railroads and residential buildings in the area.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
37,269
Population (ACS)
$280K
Median home value
21
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 8, 2024 | Tropical Storm | TROPICAL DEPRESSION DEBBY | EM |
| Jul 14, 2023 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
| Jul 10, 2023 | Flood | FLOODING | EM |
| Sep 29, 2021 | Flood | SEVERE STORM AND FLOODING | DR |
| Aug 22, 2021 | Hurricane | TROPICAL STORM HENRI | EM |
| Apr 8, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Bennington County, Vermont?
307 events are on record between 1955 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $4.2M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Bennington County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 184 recorded events — 59.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Bennington County?
6 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 5 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Bennington County?
21 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Bennington County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Bennington County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Bennington County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 52 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Bennington County, Vermont 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
- Addison County 383
- Caledonia County 300
- Chittenden County 530
- Essex County 135
- Franklin County 260
- Grand Isle County 95
Cite this page
“Bennington County, Vermont.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/vermont/bennington-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.