Tornado Risk in King William County, VA
King William County, VA: what NOAA's tornado record says
8 tornado tracks have crossed King William County since 1975 by NOAA's count, roughly one every 9.5 years - the Low band on this site's scale. That is the 24th percentile nationally for tornado frequency. Among 133 Virginia counties in this dataset, King William County ranks 54 for how often a tornado touches down.
The number that matters more than frequency
No violent (EF4-5) tornado has been recorded in King William County in NOAA's 76-year database. Of its 8 recorded tracks, 7 were weak (EF0-1) and 1 significant (EF2-3).
Shelter and safe-room economics
Virginia does not currently have a confirmed state rebate layered on top of FEMA's 75% Hazard Mitigation cost-share, so a King William County homeowner should expect the full national range: $2,890-$13,280, $7,645 typical.
Power after the storm, not just shelter during it
19,232 people live in King William County, and a tornado outbreak's power loss usually reaches far more of Virginia than the tracks themselves touch. A portable battery unit is the faster, no-fuel way to bridge that outage.
What King William County's figure does not tell you
King William County's figure is county-wide, not address-specific. King William County covers about 274 square miles, so a single touch here counts the same as a single touch in a county a fraction of that size. NOAA also documents that older records undercount weaker tornadoes from before Doppler radar became standard. King William County has about 19,232 residents.