Skip to content

NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Warsaw, 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

50 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Warsaw, Virginia since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Elsa in 2021. Since 1950, 59 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
3

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
47

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
59

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
2

no recorded deaths

What the records show for Warsaw

The strongest storm to pass near Warsaw was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 2 hurricane with 96 mph winds when its centre passed 21 miles away. The record near Warsaw begins with an unnamed storm in 1856; the most recent system was Elsa in 2021, a tropical storm 29 miles away. The 1870s and the 1880s were the busiest decades, with 5 systems each. Of the 50 systems, 8 have come since 2000. Warsaw has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 33% of the 364 Virginia cities on this site. The highest rating among the 59 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3 or EF3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on February 24, 2016, came within 5 miles. Of the 59, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 40 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 11. The most recent tornado was on July 1, 2025. Warsaw has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 64% of the 364 Virginia cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 38 times since 1965, with stones up to 2 inches (hen egg size). Of the 364 Virginia cities, 59% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Warsaw.

Compare Warsaw's storm record with another city →

Tropical storms and hurricanes near Warsaw

Tropical systems that passed within 75 miles of Warsaw, Virginia, newest first
YearStormClosestStrength when closestPeak
2021ElsaJul 929 miTropical storm (55 mph)Category 1
2020ZetaOct 2914 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 3
2020IsaiasAug 45 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
2019NestorOct 2064 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2013AndreaJun 848 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
2008HannaSep 69 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 1
2006ErnestoSep 2overheadTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
2004GastonAug 3149 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1999FloydSep 1669 miTropical storm (71 mph)Category 4
1996BerthaJul 1323 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 3
1992DanielleSep 2566 miTropical storm (53 mph)Tropical storm
1983DeanSep 3061 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1971DoriaAug 2858 miTropical storm (69 mph)Tropical storm
1963Unnamed 1963 stormJun 332 miTropical storm (47 mph)Tropical storm
1961Unnamed 1961 stormSep 1462 miTropical storm (54 mph)Tropical storm
1960BrendaJul 3044 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1959CindyJul 1070 miTropical storm (47 mph)Category 1
1955ConnieAug 1326 miTropical storm (67 mph)Category 4
1954HazelOct 1555 miCategory 1 (86 mph)Category 4
1945Unnamed 1945 stormSep 1825 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 4
1944Unnamed 1944 stormOct 2141 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 4
1944Unnamed 1944 stormAug 212 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 1
1943Unnamed 1943 stormOct 131 miTropical storm (55 mph)Tropical storm
1935Unnamed 1935 stormSep 674 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 5
1933Unnamed 1933 stormAug 238 miTropical storm (70 mph)Category 4
1929Unnamed 1929 stormOct 222 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 4
1928Unnamed 1928 stormSep 1940 miTropical storm (59 mph)Category 5
1928Unnamed 1928 stormAug 1211 miTropical storm (49 mph)Category 2
1924Unnamed 1924 stormSep 3056 miCategory 1 (74 mph)Category 1
1916Unnamed 1916 stormMay 1752 miTropical storm (47 mph)Tropical storm
1915Unnamed 1915 stormAug 472 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1904Unnamed 1904 stormSep 1526 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1902Unnamed 1902 stormOct 125 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 2
1902Unnamed 1902 stormJun 1627 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1899Unnamed 1899 stormOct 3121 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 2
1893Unnamed 1893 stormOct 2354 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1889Unnamed 1889 stormSep 2553 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 2
1888Unnamed 1888 stormSep 1110 miTropical storm (40 mph)Tropical storm
1886Unnamed 1886 stormJul 234 miTropical storm (40 mph)Category 2
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 2358 miTropical storm (46 mph)Tropical storm
1882Unnamed 1882 stormSep 1128 miTropical storm (52 mph)Category 3
1878Unnamed 1878 stormOct 2321 miCategory 2 (96 mph)Category 2
1877Unnamed 1877 stormOct 419 miTropical storm (62 mph)Category 3
1876Unnamed 1876 stormSep 1730 miTropical storm (70 mph)Category 3
1874Unnamed 1874 stormSep 2928 miTropical storm (58 mph)Category 1
1872Unnamed 1872 stormOct 2627 miTropical storm (46 mph)Category 1
1863Unnamed 1863 stormSep 1850 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm
1861Unnamed 1861 stormSep 2756 miTropical storm (69 mph)Category 1
1859Unnamed 1859 stormSep 1734 miTropical storm (62 mph)Category 1
1856Unnamed 1856 stormAug 2068 miTropical storm (58 mph)Tropical storm

Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Warsaw: 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 Warsaw

By decade

  • 2020s9
  • 2010s21(1 EF3+)
  • 2000s10
  • 1990s7
  • 1980s4
  • 1970s5
  • 1960s2(1 EF3+)
  • 1950s1
Strongest tornadoes near Warsaw, Virginia
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
Feb 24, 2016EF35 mi30.34 mi0 / 25
Nov 2, 1966F3in town0.1 mi0 / 2
May 3, 2021EF210 mi4.41 mi0 / 0
Aug 4, 2020EF220 mi15.61 mi0 / 5
May 2, 1989F220 mi5 mi0 / 0
Aug 31, 1983F21 mi0.2 mi0 / 0
May 11, 1981F220 mi0.2 mi0 / 0
Apr 25, 1975F211 mi0.1 mi0 / 0
Jul 1, 2025EF121 mi0.98 mi0 / 0
Apr 3, 2024EF19 mi5.78 mi0 / 0
Feb 24, 2016EF121 mi4.01 mi0 / 0
Feb 24, 2016EF113 mi6.06 mi0 / 0

The strongest 12 of 59, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Warsaw

The Storm Prediction Center has 38 hail reports within 10 miles of Warsaw since 1965, made on 30 separate days. Of these, 16 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2 inches (hen egg size), fell on August 26, 2003. The most recent report is from June 16, 2023. June has the most reports, 10.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Weather by month in Warsaw

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Warsaw 2 NW, VA, 2 miles northwest of Warsaw at 140 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 47°F and 29°F. August is the wettest at 5.0 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.6 inches; the year adds up to 45.3 inches over 75 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 57% of the year's precipitation (25.6 of 45.3 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 50 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (20); a normal September there has highs of 80°F and 4.2 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 44 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 77 nights a year. Snowfall averages 11.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 45.3 inches is more than at 45 of the 109 Virginia stations used on this site (41%). Lancaster, 20 miles southeast, has its own station (W Pt 2 NW, VA): 48.1 inches a year, 2.8 more than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 88°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Lewisetta, VA, 16 miles east, averaged 83°F in July and 40°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from July to August. Sea level at the Lewisetta tide gauge, 16 miles from Warsaw, has risen 2.34 ± 0.11 inches per decade from 1970 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 23.4 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 130 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Warsaw 2 NW, VA
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. inDays ≥ 0.1"Snow inWater °F
Jan47293.064.440
Feb50302.653.342
Mar59373.761.449
Apr70463.270.159
May77553.970.068
Jun84644.470.077
Jul88684.770.083
Aug86665.070.082
Sep80604.260.076
Oct70494.060.066
Nov60393.350.155
Dec50323.362.245
Year684845.37511.562

Averages for 1991–2020 at Warsaw 2 NW, VA (140 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Lewisetta, VA, from NOAA Tides & Currents. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.

Virginia weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Warsaw

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 202 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Warsaw: 123 thunderstorm wind reports, 44 heavy rain events, 26 flash floods and 9 floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $395,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on August 6, 2000. June has had the most flash floods, 16 of 26. Of the 364 Virginia cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 224 have had fewer than Warsaw.

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

Richmond County, which includes Warsaw, has been named in 24 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 hurricanes, 3 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, on May 10, 2021. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Richmond County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for hurricanes, coastal flooding and strong wind; Very Low for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $3.9 million a year, the 113th highest of 133 Virginia counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $1.4 million (36%), is from hurricanes.

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 Warsaw