NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit New Castle, 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
10 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of New Castle, Virginia since 1851, 1 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Zeta in 2020. Since 1950, 11 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 1
- Tropical storms
- 9
- Tornadoes
- 11
- EF3 or stronger
- 0
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for New Castle
The strongest storm to pass near New Castle was an unnamed storm in 1896, a Category 1 hurricane with 76 mph winds when its centre passed 71 miles away. The record near New Castle begins with an unnamed storm in 1878; the most recent system was Zeta in 2020, a tropical storm 37 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1890s, with 2 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 10 systems, one has come since 2000. Of the 364 Virginia cities on this site, 74% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than New Castle. The highest rating among the 11 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 5 times; the most recent, on June 22, 1990, came within 18 miles. Of the 11, none had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 5 have come since 2000. April and June have had the most tornadoes, 3 each. The most recent tornado was on May 26, 2024. Of the 364 Virginia cities, 93% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than New Castle. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 24 times since 1996, with stones up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size). Of the 364 Virginia cities, 81% have more hail reports within 10 miles than New Castle.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near New Castle
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 5 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1934 | Unnamed 1934 stormJun 18 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 51 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 12 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1896 | Unnamed 1896 stormSep 30 | 71 mi | Category 1 (76 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (68 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormSep 13 | 29 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in New Castle: 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 New Castle
By decade
- 2020s2
- 2010s1
- 2000s2
- 1990s1
- 1970s3
- 1950s2
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 22, 1990 | F2 | 18 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 11, 1976 | F2 | 19 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 24, 1975 | F2 | 25 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 4, 1974 | F2 | 16 mi | 6.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 17, 1953 | F2 | 23 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 26, 2024 | EF1 | 17 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 15, 2018 | EF1 | 7 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 4, 2003 | F1 | 16 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 11, 1955 | F1 | 22 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 1, 2020 | EF0 | 12 mi | 1.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 3, 2008 | EF0 | 21 mi | 1.62 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 11 of 11, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in New Castle
The Storm Prediction Center has 24 hail reports within 10 miles of New Castle since 1996, made on 19 separate days. Of these, 10 were 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1.75 inches (golf ball size), fell on April 28, 2002. The most recent report is from April 8, 2019. June has the most reports, 7.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in New Castle
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Roanoke 8 N, VA, 15 miles southeast of New Castle at 1,157 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 46°F and 25°F. June is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.7 inches; the year adds up to 45.7 inches over 81 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 53% of the year's precipitation (24.2 of 45.7 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 10 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (4); a normal September there has highs of 79°F and 4.3 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 28 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 98 nights a year. Snowfall averages 11.4 inches a year, most of it in February. That 45.7 inches is more than at 53 of the 109 Virginia stations used on this site (49%). Salem, 16 miles south, has its own station (Roanoke Regional Airport, VA): 43.0 inches a year, 2.7 less than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 46 | 25 | 3.3 | 6 | 2.8 |
| Feb | 49 | 27 | 2.7 | 5 | 4.8 |
| Mar | 58 | 33 | 3.8 | 7 | 1.0 |
| Apr | 68 | 42 | 4.0 | 8 | 0.1 |
| May | 76 | 51 | 4.4 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 82 | 60 | 5.2 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 86 | 64 | 4.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 85 | 63 | 3.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 79 | 56 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 69 | 45 | 3.2 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 58 | 34 | 3.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 49 | 29 | 3.3 | 7 | 2.7 |
| Year | 67 | 44 | 45.7 | 81 | 11.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Roanoke 8 N, VA (1,157 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 New Castle
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 64 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of New Castle: 46 thunderstorm wind reports, 7 flash floods, 7 floods and 4 heavy rain events. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on May 9, 2003. May has had the most flash floods, 4 of 7. Of the 364 Virginia cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 30 have had fewer than New Castle.
June 29, 2012: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of New Castle — $778,000 damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds downed thousands of trees and many power lines. A few barns were damaged, and a porch was destroyed along Route 42.”
June 29, 2012: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of New Castle — $600,000 damage.
May 20, 2020: heavy rain event 4 miles from the centre of New Castle — $127,000 damage.
NWS: “77 inches ending at 700 AM EST on the 22nd which was a record for the month of May and 9th highest for any 2-day period. 12 inches, the highest ever for May and 4th highest for any 3-day period.”
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 New Castle's ZIP code 24127 have filed 89 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1982, and were paid $1.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Tropical Storm Ivan in 2004: 34 claims (38% of all) and $742,000. 43% 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, 127 have fewer than New Castle.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm Ivan2004 | 34 | $742,000 |
Craig County, which includes New Castle, has been named in 26 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 18 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 severe storms, 5 hurricanes, 5 snowstorms, 3 floods). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms and Flooding, on April 4, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Craig County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $2.8 million a year, the 126th highest of 133 Virginia counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.5 million (89%), 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 New Castle
- Daleville, VA16 mi
- Troutville, VA16 mi
- Salem, VA16 mi
- Fincastle, VA17 mi
- Roanoke, VA19 mi
- Elliston, VA20 mi
- Covington, VA20 mi
- Eagle Rock, VA23 mi
- Blue Ridge, VA23 mi
- Ronceverte, WV23 mi
- Blacksburg, VA23 mi
- Vinton, VA24 mi
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