Tornado in West Virginia
Every tornado event the National Weather Service has filed in West Virginia, year by year, with the most significant episodes. A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
The most significant on the map
The most significant tornado episodes in West Virginia.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 191
- Deaths
- 3
- Injuries
- 122
- Damage
- $46 million
Every year
The most significant
Ranked by deaths, injuries, damage and size together.
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in West Virginia, June 23 to 24, 2016Multiple rounds of convection resulted in wind damage and flooding. Flash flooding on small streams turned into river flooding. A historic and record setting flood occurred along portions of the Elk and Gauley Rivers in central West Virginia.
- Tornado and Hail in West Virginia, April 9, 1991
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in West Virginia, April 4, 1974
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in West Virginia, September 16, 2010A cold front, in tandem with strong mid and upper level forcing, produced a severe weather outbreak in southeast Ohio into extreme western West Virginia during the late afternoon and evening of Thursday the 16th.
- Tornadoes and Flooding in West Virginia, April 2 to 7, 2024A strong area of low pressure tracking through the Ohio Valley caused multiple rounds of thunderstorms across the state of West Virginia on April 2nd and 3rd.
- Tornadoes and Hail in West Virginia, June 3, 1980
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in West Virginia, March 2 to 3, 2012A deepening low pressure system was lifting northeast out of central Illinois around midday on Friday, the 2nd. It reached southern Michigan by evening. By late afternoon its associated warm front had pulled north into central Ohio and into central West Virginia near Charleston.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in West Virginia, April 8, 1965
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in West Virginia, October 1, 1986
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in West Virginia, July 10, 2003A potent squall line developed during the early afternoon across central Ohio, on southwest to central Kentucky. This was along a prefrontal surface boundary, and well out ahead of a strong cold front.
- Tornadoes and Hail in West Virginia, June 16, 1982
- Tornado in West Virginia, June 2, 1998An F2 tornado passed southeast through southern Fayette County PA, the northeast tip of Preston County WV, and into northwest Garrett County MD. The total length of the tornado as it passed across these three counties was 12 miles.
- Tornadoes and Hail in West Virginia, June 2, 1998The combination of an upper-level disturbance, increasing atmospheric shear, and ample instability set the stage for a major severe weather episode across portions of eastern West Virginia during the late afternoon and evening.
- Tornadoes in West Virginia, September 17, 2004An F1 tornado touched down in western Jefferson County. The tornado produced intermittent damage on a 2 mile stretch. Home owners reported moderate roof and siding damage and several large, healthy trees felled.
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in West Virginia, August 22, 1970
- Tornado in West Virginia, June 20, 1977
- Tornadoes and Hail in West Virginia, June 2, 1998The rotating supercell that formed in southeast Ohio cut a path southeast, up the Kanawha River Valley. The most damage was from large hail hitting the urban areas, especially the Kanawha City section of Charleston.
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in West Virginia, July 28, 1981
- Tornado and Flooding in West Virginia, January 8 to 11, 1998Rare January dew points, in the upper 50s and lower 60s on the 8th, along with strong winds aloft, helped trigger severe weather. The rains from the past few days were heavier in Ohio, and eventually caused minor river flooding along the mainstem of the Ohio River.
- Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in West Virginia, June 22, 1990
- Tornado in West Virginia, November 16, 1989
- Tornado in West Virginia, August 1, 2022Remnants of a mesoscale convective system created a few supercells in eastern Ohio that advanced into northern West Virginia/western Pennsylvania. Two tornadoes spun up from a single supercell.
- Tornado and Hail in West Virginia, October 7, 2014A strong wind flow existed in the lower atmosphere, well ahead of a surface cold front. Clusters of fast moving showers and thunderstorms raced across northeast Kentucky and into southern West Virginia during the late afternoon and evening hours.
- Tornado in West Virginia, March 7, 1956
- Tornado and Hail in West Virginia, June 21, 1981
More
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24.