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Rockingham County, Virginia severe weather history spans 521 recorded events between 1952 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 52.8% of all recorded events. It ranks #803 nationally and #15 in Virginia.
521
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
3
Direct injuries
$15.2M
Property damage
The record
What the Rockingham County, Virginia severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Rockingham County, Virginia severe weather history averages 7.1 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 227 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 26 events fall before 1990 and 495 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Rockingham County, Virginia record is lightning, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is flash flood, with $12.6M 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 Rockingham County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 275 | 0 | $1.2M | 70 | 1961–2025 |
| Flood | 75 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2006–2025 |
| Hail | 72 | 0 | $6K | 2.5 | 1962–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 57 | 0 | $12.6M | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 16 | 0 | $150K | 0 | 1999–2003 |
| Lightning | 12 | 1 | $482K | 0 | 1996–2003 |
| Tornado | 10 | 0 | $720K | F2 | 1952–2019 |
| Wildfire | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2002 |
| Dense Fog | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2014–2014 |
Decade by decade
Rockingham County, Virginia severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
10 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-04-28 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 33.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1960-08-06 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1952-04-05 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 4.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-04-28 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2011-04-28 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1996-06-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1979-10-02 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1975-08-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2019-10-31 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2008-08-02 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Rockingham County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 14, 1996 | Lightning | HARRISONBURG | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 14, 2000 | Lightning | COUNTYWIDE | 0 | 3 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The north fork of the Shenandoah River at Cootes Store rose 8 feet in 4 hours. Rapid flooding on Runion Creek and Fulks Run damaged a significant amount of private property, forced 20 evacuations, closed numerous roads, and trapped several people in their homes. Several trees, telphone poles, and power lines were downed along these waterways.
An empty detached semi trailer overturned, the roof was peeled off of an outbuilding causing a partial collapse, and numerous trees blew down in the vicinity of VA-257 Ottobine Road, VA-737 Cannery Woods Drive, and VA-738 Dry River Road.
A tornado touched down along Osceola Springs Road causing tree damage. The tornado proceeded to Boyer Road uprooting and snapping several trees. The tornado also caused structural damage to two homes by lifting their roofs. Two barn roofs were damaged and a metal shed was knocked down. A livestock trailer was also moved several feet.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
85,600
Population (ACS)
$313K
Median home value
21
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 23, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Apr 4, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 2, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Sep 11, 2018 | Hurricane | HURRICANE FLORENCE | EM |
| Oct 29, 2012 | Hurricane | HURRICANE SANDY | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Rockingham County, Virginia?
521 events are on record between 1952 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $15.2M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Rockingham County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 275 recorded events — 52.8% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Rockingham County?
10 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 10 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Rockingham County?
21 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Rockingham County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Rockingham County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Rockingham County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 75 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Rockingham 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
- Rockbridge County 360
- Russell County 193
- Roanoke County 457
- Scott County 228
- Richmond County 265
- Shenandoah County 492
Cite this page
“Rockingham County, Virginia.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/virginia/rockingham-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.