Wythe County Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
The chance of earthquake damage in Wythe County is about the same as Virginia average and is lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Wythe County is lower than Virginia average and is much lower than the national average.
Earthquake Index, #22
| Wythe County | 0.37 |
| Virginia | 0.20 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #1
| Wythe County | 0.0000 |
| Virginia | 0.0000 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #115
| Wythe County | 23.84 |
| Virginia | 88.66 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 13,005 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Wythe County were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 3 | Cold: | 83 | Dense Fog: | 4 | Drought: | 96 |
| Dust Storm: | 0 | Flood: | 1,743 | Hail: | 3,677 | Heat: | 38 | Heavy Snow: | 361 |
| High Surf: | 0 | Hurricane: | 12 | Ice Storm: | 69 | Landslide: | 2 | Strong Wind: | 225 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 5,865 | Tropical Storm: | 7 | Wildfire: | 29 | Winter Storm: | 148 | Winter Weather: | 145 |
| Other: | 498 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Wythe County.
Historical Earthquake Events
A total of 3 historical earthquake events that had recorded magnitudes of 3.5 or above found in or near Wythe County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Depth (km) | Latitude | Longitude |
| 34.7 | 1969-11-20 | 4.3 | N/A | 37.4 | -81 |
| 32.9 | 1968-03-08 | 3.9 | N/A | 37 | -80.5 |
| 49.3 | 1974-05-30 | 3.6 | 8 | 37.38 | -80.42 |
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 9 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Wythe County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 25.4 | 2009-05-08 | 2 | 36°33'N / 81°02'W | 36°32'N / 80°57'W | 5.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 6 | 200K | 0K | Alleghany |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: A low end EF-2 tornado touched down on Osee Road and was intermittently on the ground approximately 5 miles moving east-southeast, finally lifting between Old Barrett Road and Glade Valley Road. A single wide mobile home was destroyed on Osee Road, causing four injuries. Along the track, cement silos were collapsed, 5 other homes were damaged, and several other structures were heavily damaged. Two people received minor injuries when struck by debris after winds blew out windows in their home. Monetary damages are estimates. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A thunderstorm complex over Kentucky and Tennessee moved east into the area during the evening of May 8th. The storm environment was such that storms would have rotation due to strong wind shear, and a low level boundary in place. Supercells developed over southeast Kentucky and moved southeast into far southwest Virginia and into northwest North Carolina during the late evening of May 8th. One storm produced an EF-2 tornado in Northern Alleghany County, with another brief EF-1 tornado touching down just south of the EF-2 track. | |||||||||||
| 32.6 | 1977-08-21 | 2 | 36°44'N / 80°32'W | 1.00 Mile | 30 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Carroll | |
| 34.4 | 1965-04-12 | 2 | 37°24'N / 81°06'W | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Mercer | |||
| 35.8 | 1975-01-25 | 2 | 36°47'N / 81°44'W | 36°48'N / 81°42'W | 1.90 Miles | 30 Yards | 0 | 2 | 25K | 0 | Smyth |
| 37.7 | 1975-01-25 | 2 | 36°47'N / 81°46'W | 36°47'N / 81°44'W | 1.30 Miles | 30 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Washington |
| 39.1 | 1974-04-04 | 3 | 36°52'N / 81°49'W | 36°53'N / 81°46'W | 3.00 Miles | 177 Yards | 0 | 3 | 250K | 0 | Smyth |
| 43.3 | 1974-04-04 | 3 | 36°51'N / 81°55'W | 36°52'N / 81°49'W | 5.40 Miles | 177 Yards | 1 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Washington |
| 43.9 | 1965-04-08 | 2 | 37°30'N / 80°49'W | 0.50 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Summers | |
| 47.8 | 2009-05-08 | 2 | 36°56'N / 81°57'W | 1.00 Mile | 250 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Russell | |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: A tornado touched down about eight miles east-northeast of Lebanon, Virginia with maximum wind speeds of 125 miles an hour. The path length was 1.1 mile and maximum width was 250 yards. Approximately 100 trees were snapped and uprooted along the tornado path. In addition...a well constructed wooden barn was completely destroyed and while a home incurred moderate damage. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A highly organized mesoscale convective vorticity maximum with strong low to mid tropospheric flow coupled with moderate instability resulted in the development of discrete supercellular thunderstorms. These storms produced a long-lived tornado across Northeast Tennessee late in the afternoon and another long duration tornado across Southwest Virginia later in the evening. | |||||||||||
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.