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Suffolk city, Virginia severe weather history spans 297 recorded events between 1959 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 51.2% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,798 nationally and #46 in Virginia.
297
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
212
Direct injuries
$37.3M
Property damage
The record
What the Suffolk city, Virginia severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Suffolk city, Virginia severe weather history averages 4.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 87 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 12 events fall before 1990 and 285 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $35.5M 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 Suffolk city
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 152 | 0 | $481K | 63 | 1962–2026 |
| Hail | 45 | 0 | $4K | 2.5 | 1983–2025 |
| Heavy Rain | 38 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 30 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1999–2025 |
| Tornado | 22 | 0 | $35.5M | F3 | 1959–2021 |
| Lightning | 5 | 0 | $29K | 0 | 1998–2023 |
| Flood | 4 | 0 | $1.4M | 0 | 2011–2020 |
| Waterspout | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–1997 |
Decade by decade
Suffolk city, Virginia severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
22 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-04-28 | EF3 | 0 | 200 | 24.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1981-03-30 | EF2 | 1 | 1 | 21.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 2020-08-04 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 21.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2020-12-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2020-12-24 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2019-05-11 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2017-03-31 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 12.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2004-06-25 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2001-06-01 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1995-11-11 | EF1 | 0 | 1 | 0.8 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Suffolk city
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 2008 | Tornado | LUMMIS | 0 | 200 | $30.0M |
| Jul 4, 1967 | Tornado | 0 | 5 | $25K | |
| Aug 8, 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | WILES CORNER | 0 | 2 | $10K |
| Aug 1, 1999 | Lightning | SUFFOLK | 0 | 2 | $10K |
| May 16, 2010 | Lightning | ELWOOD | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Jul 17, 2009 | Lightning | KINGS FORK | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Nov 12, 1995 | Tornado | Suffolk | 0 | 1 | $100K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A tornado touched down with damage first noted about 2 miles northeast of Lummis. The tornado crossed Route 58, downing trees as it moved northeast. The tornado strengthened just south of the intersection of Route 10 AND Route 58, where it damaged several homes and an elementary school as well as downing numerous trees. The intense tornado crossed Route 58 again and then Route 10 before hitting the Freedom Plaza shopping center where it destroyed a strip mall and tossed around numerous cars. One car was impaled into a building adjacent to the strip mall. ||Thereafter, the tornado moved into 2 subdivisions east and northeast of Obici Hospital. Many homes were damaged with at least a dozen completely destroyed. The tornado then continued into Driver where it damaged a number of homes and businesses and downed numeroud trees.||The tornado then appeared to lift just north of Driver, although amateur video and pictures suggested that the tornado maintained close contact with the ground as it tracked northeast across northern portions of Portsmouth to the Norfolk Naval Air Station.
A damage survey conducted by the NWS Wakefield office found a path of storm damage consistent with an EF1 tornado. The damage began near the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge near the Virginia/North Carolina border, and ended just south of Everets Road in the northern City of Suffolk. The tornado caused significant damage to at least 8 buildings in downtown Suffolk. The tornado then moved north and crossed Lake Mead where it uprooted or snapped numerous trees before lifting, as it approached the Isle of Wight County line.
The tornado touched down just east of Main Street in downtown Suffolk and quickly moved off to the east intersecting Route 58 twice before heading into the Great Dismal Swamp after moving through the Wilson Pines area. Along the path of the storm, numerous trees were snapped off or uprooted. At least 14 homes and 6 business were damaged with shingles torn off roofs, windows blown in, an air conditioner ripped from a roof, and at least one home had the roof impaled by a tree.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
98,796
Population (ACS)
$347K
Median home value
19
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 23, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Apr 2, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Sep 11, 2018 | Hurricane | HURRICANE FLORENCE | EM |
| Nov 2, 2016 | Hurricane | HURRICANE MATTHEW | DR |
| Oct 29, 2012 | Hurricane | HURRICANE SANDY | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Suffolk city, Virginia?
297 events are on record between 1959 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths and $37.3M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Suffolk city?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 152 recorded events — 51.2% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Suffolk city?
22 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 20 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Suffolk city?
19 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Suffolk city, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Suffolk city compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Suffolk city as relatively low risk, placing it in the 60 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Suffolk city, 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
- Staunton city 60
- Virginia Beach city 458
- Waynesboro city 52
- Salem city 76
- Roanoke city 176
- Williamsburg city 85
Cite this page
“Suffolk city, Virginia.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/virginia/suffolk-city/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.