Prince Edward County Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
The chance of earthquake damage in Prince Edward County is about the same as Virginia average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Prince Edward County is lower than Virginia average and is much lower than the national average.
Earthquake Index, #42
| Prince Edward County | 0.12 |
| 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
| Prince Edward 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, #78
| Prince Edward County | 59.67 |
| 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 12,354 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Prince Edward 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: | 1 | Cold: | 84 | Dense Fog: | 35 | Drought: | 93 |
| Dust Storm: | 0 | Flood: | 1,500 | Hail: | 2,821 | Heat: | 46 | Heavy Snow: | 272 |
| High Surf: | 1 | Hurricane: | 10 | Ice Storm: | 60 | Landslide: | 3 | Strong Wind: | 289 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 5,814 | Tropical Storm: | 10 | Wildfire: | 19 | Winter Storm: | 198 | Winter Weather: | 285 |
| Other: | 813 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Prince Edward County.
Historical Earthquake Events
A total of 1 historical earthquake event that had a recorded magnitude of 3.5 or above found in or near Prince Edward County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Depth (km) | Latitude | Longitude |
| 45.0 | 1984-08-17 | 4.2 | 8 | 37.87 | -78.32 |
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 19 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Prince Edward County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 12.7 | 1960-09-10 | 2 | 37°19'N / 78°38'W | 1.00 Mile | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Buckingham | |
| 13.1 | 1974-05-12 | 2 | 37°11'N / 78°12'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Nottoway | |||
| 15.8 | 1983-10-13 | 2 | 36°59'N / 78°36'W | 37°03'N / 78°30'W | 5.00 Miles | 30 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Charlotte |
| 26.6 | 1966-11-02 | 2 | 37°05'N / 78°00'W | 37°07'N / 77°57'W | 3.60 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Nottoway |
| 27.2 | 1966-06-16 | 3 | 37°31'N / 78°46'W | 1.00 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Buckingham | |
| 28.7 | 1983-05-22 | 3 | 37°05'N / 77°58'W | 37°05'N / 77°55'W | 2.50 Miles | 37 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Nottoway |
| 30.7 | 1983-05-22 | 3 | 37°05'N / 77°55'W | 37°06'N / 77°53'W | 1.00 Mile | 37 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Dinwiddie |
| 34.0 | 1988-08-29 | 2 | 36°42'N / 78°27'W | 36°46'N / 78°27'W | 4.00 Miles | 3 Yards | 0 | 1 | 2.5M | 0 | Mecklenburg |
| 35.6 | 1993-08-06 | 2 | 36°59'N / 78°08'W | 37°15'N / 77°28'W | 38.00 Miles | 175 Yards | 0 | 0 | 5.0M | 0 | Lunenburg, Nottoway, Dinwiddie And Chesterfield |
| Brief Description: The tornado first touched down 1 mile northeast of Kenbridge in Lunenburg County at 1243 EDT, where roofs were blown off of a briquet plant and a furniture company building. Damage estimates in Lunenburg County were $300,000. The tornado moved northeast into southeast Nottoway County and strengthened. It leveled a barn, some outbuildings and trees on Route 46 near the west edge of Fort Pickett Military Reservation. Damages in Nottoway County were estimated at $100,000. It continued northeast into Dinwiddie County and the Fort Pickett Military Reservation where it did minimal damage. It moved northeast to the town of Ford where the most significant damage in the county occurred. It destroyed a house and a shed and knocked down numerous telephone poles, and large trees. The tornado tracked northeast into the southeast part of Chesterfield County and lifted about 5 miles west of Colonial Heights. | |||||||||||
| 40.3 | 1970-06-21 | 2 | 37°21'N / 77°43'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Chesterfield | |||
| 41.4 | 1966-11-02 | 2 | 36°43'N / 78°02'W | 1.00 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Brunswick | |
| 45.0 | 2002-04-28 | 2 | 37°20'N / 79°17'W | 37°19'N / 79°12'W | 5.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 11 | 3.0M | 0 | Campbell |
| Brief Description: The second tornado continued in Campbell County for about 5 miles before lifting about 5.5 miles west-northwest of Rustburg in Campbell County. This tornado injured 11 people, destroyed 15 homes, three businesses, and a church. The tornado damaged over 200 other homes, six businesses, two churches, 20 recreational vehicles, and several automobiles. Numerous trees were toppled, Some of the trees landed on homes, and two landed on vehicles. Thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening of the 28th produced two tornadoes, damaging winds, and hail up to golfball size. A tornado formed in Bedford City and traveled east one half mile before dissipating. The storm then produced sporatic wind damage for about the next 7.5 miles or from .5 east-southeast of Bedford City to 8 east-southeast of Bedford City, causing mainly damage to trees and power lines. A second tornado developed 8 miles east-southeast of Bedford City in Bedford County and remained on the ground for 10 miles before lifting about 5.5 miles west-northwest of Rustburg in Campbell County. Sporatic wind damage then occurred from 5.5 west-northwest of Rustburg to Rustburg. These winds destroyed several mobile homes, damaged about two dozen other mobile homes and knocked down trees. Many vehicles had windows broken out by hail in New Castle. Thunderstorm winds downed trees onto Route 40 in Keysville, downed trees in Halifax, snapped a power pole in Danville, downed trees in Clover, and downed trees onto Reed Lane in Willis. | |||||||||||
| 45.0 | 1990-05-04 | 3 | 37°19'N / 77°49'W | 37°14'N / 77°25'W | 8.00 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Amelia |
| 45.6 | 1969-03-24 | 3 | 36°38'N / 78°48'W | 0.10 Mile | 20 Yards | 1 | 4 | 25K | 0 | Halifax | |
| 46.2 | 1962-05-08 | 2 | 37°40'N / 77°48'W | 1 | 2 | 0K | 0 | Goochland | |||
| 46.7 | 1959-09-30 | 3 | 37°52'N / 78°18'W | 37°54'N / 78°11'W | 6.50 Miles | 880 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Fluvanna |
| 47.3 | 1962-01-06 | 2 | 36°35'N / 78°44'W | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Halifax | |||
| 47.5 | 1986-10-14 | 3 | 36°47'N / 77°46'W | 36°54'N / 77°40'W | 12.00 Miles | 800 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Brunswick |
| 49.7 | 2010-10-27 | 2 | 36°34'N / 78°52'W | 36°36'N / 78°49'W | 4.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 40K | 0K | Halifax |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: The tornado touched down near Highway 96 in the Mayo Community and continued intermittently on the ground for a mile. It destroyed one barn, blew several roofs off sheds, moved one house off its foundation, and downed hundreds of trees. The tornado then strengthened to EF2 status along a 2 mile continuous path, from Watts Trail through North Fork Church Road to Lowery road. In this path approximately 15 telephone poles were snapped off, thousands of trees were downed, and 3 homes had windows blown out, roofs damaged, or trees falling on them. Numerous barns and outbuildings were also destroyed. the tornado then weakened as it approached Lowery Road before lifting. Near Lowery Road one home was damaged with windows blown out and roof damage. Several large trees were also downed along with 2 barns and 3 outbuildings destroyed. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A strong low pressure system over Minnesota pushed a front across our area. Very strong winds aloft set the stage for damaging wind gusts and tornadoes. Enough instability was present ahead of this front to enhance the severe threat. An area of severe thunderstorms and embedded supercells moved into the Piedmont of Virginia late in the evening of the 26th into early on the 27th. These storms produced areas of wind damage and two tornadoes. | |||||||||||
* 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.