Roanoke County, Virginia severe weather history spans 457 recorded events between 1953 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 46.2% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,032 nationally and #24 in Virginia.
457
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$10.7M
Property damage
The record
What the Roanoke County, Virginia severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Roanoke County, Virginia severe weather history averages 6.3 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 182 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 34 events fall before 1990 and 423 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 $3.1M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Roanoke County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 211 | 0 | $2.8M | 80 | 1955–2025 |
| Hail | 138 | 0 | $1.3M | 3 | 1959–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 56 | 0 | $3.1M | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Flood | 26 | 0 | $12K | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 16 | 0 | $764K | 0 | 2013–2023 |
| Lightning | 7 | 0 | $103K | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Tornado | 3 | 0 | $2.6M | F2 | 1953–2003 |
Decade by decade
Roanoke County, Virginia severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
2 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953-05-17 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2003-08-04 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 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
Numerous reports of quarter to golf ball-sized hail were received from trained spotters and the public across the city of Roanoke and surrounding areas just outside of the city on the northwest, west, and southwest sides. Quarter-sized hail was observed at the Glen Cove Elementary School northwest of Roanoke with golf ball-sized hail also observed nearby, quarter-sized hail was observed on Green Ridge Road northwest of Roanoke, golf ball-sized hail on Peters Creek Road near the Roanoke Woodrum Field Airport, and quarter-sized hail was observed on Pine Court Road southwest of Roanoke. These were the hail reports observed outside the independent City of Roanoke. Several hail reports were also observed within the City of Roanoke as well, and those are addressed in a separate entry. One car dealership in Roanoke reported 200 cars receiving $4000 to $5000 of damage each from this hail.
The entire roof blew off of a twelve unit, three story apartment building on Highland Farms Road. The exposed third floor apartments received significant water damage due to the ongoing thunderstorm. Water soaked into second story apartments. Damage values are estimated.
Multiple reports of flash flooding in Roanoke County. Most of the reports were between 230 and 500 PM EST. Several roads were closed or damaged and at least 20 homes partially flooded. Garst Mill Park was flooded to a depth of several feet. The main cause of flooding was from Mudlick Creek which rose approximately 10 feet in elevation to an estimated flow of 2400 cubic feet per second per a post-flood survey. The survey indicated that the flood was approximately a 10-year recurrence interval (0.1 annual exceedance probability).
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
97,023
Population (ACS)
$286K
Median home value
23
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 23, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Oct 1, 2024 | Tropical Storm | TROPICAL STORM HELENE | 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 Roanoke County, Virginia?
457 events are on record between 1953 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $10.7M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Roanoke County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 211 recorded events — 46.2% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Roanoke County?
2 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 Roanoke County?
23 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Roanoke County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Roanoke County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Roanoke County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 52 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Roanoke 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
- Richmond County 265
- Rockbridge County 360
- Rappahannock County 274
- Rockingham County 521
- Pulaski County 335
- Russell County 193
Cite this page
“Roanoke County, Virginia.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/virginia/roanoke-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.