Knightdale

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Wake County, the county that contains Knightdale.

Claims by ZIP code

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).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Wake County, the county that contains Knightdale.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Wake County, the county that contains Knightdale.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Landslides mapped in Wake County.

Mapped by NC GS (12).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 16, 2011Tornado$115 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado exited Chatham County and entered southwest Wake County as an EF0. There was multiple tree and roof damage along Avent Ferry Road, southwest of Holly Springs. The tornado intensified to an EF1 with winds of 86 mph as it reached Fire Station Number Two and the Holly Glenn Subdivision before crossing highway 55 and tracking through the Remington subdivision. The tornado continued to track northeastward and caused extensive tree damage and damage to numerous homes, mainly from fallen trees along Pierce Olive, Ten-Ten, Penny Road, and Yates Mill Pond roads, as wind speeds increased to around 100 mph. The tornado crossed Tryon Road, between Lake Wheeler Road and the Raleigh…

2. May 13, 2019Hail$95.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A supercell thunderstorm tracked across portions of southern Wake County into central Johnston County. The thunderstorm produced hail ranging from golf ball size to baseball size hail. The hail caused extensive damage to homes, cars, buildings and businesses in its path. Several car dealerships has substantial damage done to cars on their lots and many homeowners had broken winds and significant roof and siding damage.

3. Oct 8, 2016Flash Flood$65.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall of 7 to 10 inches caused widespread flash flooding across the county. Roads all throughout the county were closed due to flooding. Numerous homes and businesses were flooded as well, with numerous water rescues from people trapped in homes and vehicles. Flooding damaged approximately 2503 structures throughout the county, resulting in $65.5 million in property damage.

4. Sep 1, 2017Hail$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to 2.75 inches in diameter fell along a swath from 2 miles west-southwest of Fuquay-Varina to 3 miles north of Angier. Multiple trees were also blown down along the swath. Damage estimates have been estimated.

5. Sep 17, 2018Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall of 8 to 10 inches caused widespread flooding across the county, which caused flooding along the creeks and other tributaries of the Neuse River Basin. Water being held in both Lake Jordan and Falls Lake resulted in flooding along the lake perimeters. Flooding caused over $20 million in crop damages. Numerous streets and roads were flooded. Final property damage estimates are still be tallied, but estimates of $5 to $10 million or more are possible.

6. May 13, 2019Hail$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two inch diameter hail damaged cars, shingles and broke windows a couple miles southeast of Williams Crossroads.

7. Apr 15, 1996Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The second is a series of three tornadoes began about 100 yards to the SE of where the first tornado began (off Hwy 64 in Wendell). The storm was initially less than 25 yards wide asit moved NNE and twisted trees and blew shingles off several houses. About one half mile from the initial touchdown, the storm widened to 50 yards as it approached the town of Zebulon. Trees were downed and the roof was blown off a brick home near the railroad tracks. Another home and a manufactured home were damaged as the storm crossed a street and moved up a hill. The storm then preceded over and down the hill into a mobile home park. Damage was extensive to all the trailers in the park that were…

8. Aug 12, 2014Flash Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple businesses had to be evacuated from the 1600-1800 block of Capital Boulevard. As many as 71 people had to be rescued and evacuated from businesses in this area. In addition, at the nearby intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Old Louisburg Road cars were reported flooded and stuck in the flood waters. Another car was reported stranded in the flood waters nearby at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Hodges Street. Monetary damages were estimated to be around 2-3 million dollars.

9. Oct 29, 2020Strong Wind, Wake$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts of 40 to 56 mph resulted in scattered to numerous trees and power lines down across Wake County, including some on homes. Numerous customers lost power in Wake County as a result of the strong winds.

10. Sep 13, 2018Tropical Storm, Wake$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Frequent wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph resulted in numerous trees down across Wake County, including on homes, cars, power lines and damage to structures. Numerous customers lost power in Wake County as a result of the tropical storm force winds.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

106°FJul 5, 2024

All-time low

−9°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

80°F2 times, most recently Jul 18, 2025

Coldest day

17°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Wettest day

6.45 inOct 8, 2016

Snowiest day

17.9 inJan 25, 2000

Hottest year

2024mean 64.4°F

Coldest year

1969mean 57.0°F

Wettest year

201860.29 in

Driest year

197633.71 in

Snowiest season

25.8 in1999-00

Station Raleigh Airport (USW00013722), 395 ft elevation, 17.4 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1944 to October 27, 2026; 100.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Wake County.

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).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00013722.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.