NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Locust Grove, VA
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
30 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Locust Grove, Virginia since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Zeta in 2020. Since 1950, 69 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 3
- Tropical storms
- 27
- Tornadoes
- 69
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Locust Grove
The strongest storm to pass near Locust Grove was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 94 mph winds when its centre passed 33 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Hazel in 1954, whose centre came within 4 miles. The record near Locust Grove begins with an unnamed storm in 1876; the most recent system was Zeta in 2020, a tropical storm 27 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 5 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 30 systems, 5 have come since 2000. Locust Grove has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 33% of the 364 Virginia cities on this site. The strongest of the 69 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on September 24, 2001; its path came within 20 miles. Of the 69, 2 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 47 have come since 2000. September has had the most tornadoes, 24. The most recent tornado was on August 8, 2024. Locust Grove has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 72% of the 364 Virginia cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 36 times since 1995, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Of the 364 Virginia cities, 61% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Locust Grove.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Locust Grove
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 27 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 65 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2008 | HannaSep 6 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2006 | ErnestoSep 2 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 2003 | IsabelSep 19 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1955 | DianeAug 18 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1955 | ConnieAug 13 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1954 | HazelOct 15 | 4 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (54 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1945 | Unnamed 1945 stormSep 18 | 34 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1944 | Unnamed 1944 stormAug 2 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1943 | Unnamed 1943 stormOct 1 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 19 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 23 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (66 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 2 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormSep 20 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1928 | Unnamed 1928 stormAug 12 | 59 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 14 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 12 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormOct 31 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormSep 30 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (72 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 23 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 13 | 21 mi | Category 1 (76 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormSep 11 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1885 | Unnamed 1885 stormOct 13 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 33 mi | Category 1 (94 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1876 | Unnamed 1876 stormSep 18 | 23 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Locust Grove: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Locust Grove
By decade
- 2020s3
- 2010s11
- 2000s33(2 EF3+)
- 1990s13(1 EF3+)
- 1980s2
- 1970s4
- 1960s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 24, 2001 | F4 | 20 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Sep 17, 2004 | F3 | 13 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Oct 18, 1990 | F3 | 8 mi | 3.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 19, 2019 | EF2 | 21 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 8, 2008 | EF2 | 14 mi | 3.42 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 17, 2004 | F2 | 8 mi | 7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 17, 2004 | F2 | 20 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 8, 2004 | F2 | 14 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 13, 1983 | F2 | 9 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Aug 17, 1965 | F2 | 19 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 1962 | F2 | 2 mi | 22.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 8, 2024 | EF1 | 15 mi | 6.92 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 69, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Locust Grove
The Storm Prediction Center has 36 hail reports within 10 miles of Locust Grove since 1995, made on 21 separate days. Of these, 26 were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on June 3, 2009. The most recent report is from June 16, 2023. June has the most reports, 17.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Locust Grove
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Fredericksburg Sewage, VA, 18 miles east of Locust Grove at 60 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 46°F and 25°F. July is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.5 inches; the year adds up to 43.4 inches over 76 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 54% of the year's precipitation (23.4 of 43.4 inches); the other six months are drier. Highs reach 90°F on about 41 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 101 nights a year. Snowfall averages 11.3 inches a year, most of it in February. That 43.4 inches is more than at 24 of the 109 Virginia stations used on this site (22%). Rhoadesville, 7 miles west, has its own station (Piedmont Rsch Stn, VA): 43.8 inches a year, 0.4 more than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 89°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 46 | 25 | 2.7 | 6 | 3.7 |
| Feb | 49 | 27 | 2.5 | 5 | 5.2 |
| Mar | 57 | 34 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Apr | 69 | 44 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| May | 76 | 53 | 4.2 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 84 | 63 | 3.9 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 89 | 68 | 4.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 87 | 66 | 3.0 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 80 | 59 | 4.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 70 | 46 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 59 | 35 | 3.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 50 | 28 | 3.2 | 6 | 2.3 |
| Year | 68 | 46 | 43.4 | 76 | 11.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Fredericksburg Sewage, VA (60 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Locust Grove
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 209 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Locust Grove: 151 thunderstorm wind reports, 43 floods and 15 flash floods. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $1.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on July 29, 2023. Of the 364 Virginia cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 137 have had fewer than Locust Grove.
June 6, 2002: thunderstorm wind in Locust Grove — 1 injured, $200,000 damage.
NWS: “Numerous trees and power lines were downed onto roads and houses. One person was injured when a tree fell onto their Lake of the Woods home.”
June 6, 2002: thunderstorm wind 3 miles from the centre of Locust Grove — 1 injured, $125,000 damage.
NWS: “High winds knocked down numerous trees in the Lake Wilderness community and across Spotsylvania National Military Park. One tree fell onto a pickup truck and injured the driver.”
July 29, 2023: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Locust Grove — $1.0 million damage.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Locust Grove's ZIP code 22508 have filed 15 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1996, and were paid $181,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 20% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 183 Virginia cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 26 have fewer than Locust Grove.
Orange County, which includes Locust Grove, has been named in 22 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 severe storms, 5 hurricanes, 4 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm, on March 11, 2022. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Orange County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for hurricanes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for tornadoes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $11.1 million a year, the 47th highest of 133 Virginia counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $5.4 million (49%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Locust Grove
- Rhoadesville, VA7 mi
- Unionville, VA10 mi
- Spotsylvania, VA11 mi
- Remington, VA14 mi
- Fredericksburg, VA15 mi
- Culpeper, VA15 mi
- Bealeton, VA16 mi
- Partlow, VA18 mi
- Orange, VA18 mi
- Midland, VA18 mi
- Stafford, VA21 mi
- Rixeyville, VA22 mi
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