THE WEATHER BEAT · NOV 3
Virginia and West Virginia's wettest days on record: Hot Springs took 8.3 inches on November 5, 1985
On November 4 and 5, 1985, ten gauges in Virginia and West Virginia logged their wettest day in our NOAA archive, led by 8.3 inches at Hot Springs.
Key points
- On November 4 and 5, 1985, ten gauges across Virginia and West Virginia each logged their wettest day on record in our archive. The biggest was 8.3 inches at Hot Springs, Virginia.
- Covington, Virginia, measured 8.0 inches on November 4. Roanoke measured 6.6 inches the same day.
- The figures come from our archive of NOAA daily station reports. The records run from the Roanoke Valley to the Allegheny headwaters of West Virginia.
Two days in early November 1985 hold a cluster of records in the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia. On November 4, the gauge at Covington, Virginia, collected 8.0 inches in a day, and Roanoke's airport gauge collected 6.6 inches. On November 5, the gauge at Hot Springs, Virginia, collected 8.3 inches. Each of these is the wettest day in that gauge's history in our archive.
The West Virginia gauges tell the same story. Elkins measured 5.0 inches on November 4, and Gassaway 4.3 inches. A day later Hillsboro's gauge at Gathright Dam logged 6.6 inches, Clarksburg 5.0, Cass 5.0 and Burnsville 4.5. Some of these gauges have run for well over a century. Burnsville Lake's span starts in 1888, and Hot Springs reaches back to 1893. A record that stands over spans that long was a very wet day by any measure.
The records are two days wide. The first group landed on November 4 and the second on November 5. Our archive does not name the event or give a cause, and this story does not either. All the archive says is that the same two days set the wettest-day mark at ten gauges in two states.
| Date | Town | Gauge | Record | Record with us |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 4, 1985 | Covington VA | Covington Fltr Plt | 8.0 in, wettest day | 1960 to 2026 |
| Nov 4, 1985 | Roanoke VA | Roanoke-Blacksburg Rgnl Ap | 6.6 in, wettest day | 1948 to 2025 |
| Nov 4, 1985 | Elkins WV | Elkins-Randolph Co Ap | 5.0 in, wettest day | 1926 to 2025 |
| Nov 4, 1985 | Gassaway WV | Gassaway | 4.3 in, wettest day | 1918 to 2026 |
| Nov 5, 1985 | Hot Springs VA | Hot Springs | 8.3 in, wettest day | 1893 to 2026 |
| Nov 5, 1985 | Hillsboro WV | Gathright Dam | 6.6 in, wettest day | 1980 to 2026 |
| Nov 5, 1985 | New Castle VA | New Castle | 5.6 in, wettest day | 1998 to 2026 |
| Nov 5, 1985 | Clarksburg WV | Clarksburg 1 | 5.0 in, wettest day | 1922 to 2026 |
| Nov 5, 1985 | Cass WV | Snowshoe | 5.0 in, wettest day | 1975 to 2026 |
| Nov 5, 1985 | Burnsville WV | Burnsville Lake | 4.5 in, wettest day | 1888 to 2026 |
*Source: myweatherrock's archive of NOAA daily station records (GHCN-Daily), stations USC00442044, USW00013741, USW00013729, USC00463361, USC00444128, USC00443310, USC00446012, USC00461677, USC00468308 and USC00461282.*
Look at the Record column, then compare the gauges from top to bottom. Which one has the longest span behind its number, and does that make its record more or less surprising than the shorter-lived ones?
This is a look back at a historic weather day, not emergency information. For current conditions and warnings see weather.gov and your local officials.
The rock's live forecast for the places in this story
More from the Weather Beat
More from the Journal
Follow the Journal: RSS · get it by email