Winston-Salem

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 Forsyth County, the county that contains Winston-Salem.

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 Forsyth County, the county that contains Winston-Salem.

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 Forsyth County, the county that contains Winston-Salem.

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.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Landslides mapped in Forsyth County.

Mapped by NASA (1).

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. May 7, 1998Tornado$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large tornado tore through the Waterford Subdivision of Clemmons in southwest Forsyth county. The initial touchdown was at 630 pm local time. Several homes were completely destroyed, several hundred sustained major roof, wall, and window damage. Tree damage was extensive with debris scattered for miles.

2. May 8, 2008Tornado$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado originated from the same parent supercell that produced the tornado in Davie County which lifted in Forsyth County just across the Yadkin River. This second tornado touched down just southwest of Hampton Road. Three metal barns sustained major damage around the 4800 block of Hampton Road with minor damage to two homes. The tornado continued northeast through wooded farmland before hitting the Bridgepoint Subdivision where the tornado strengthened to EF-3 intensity. Three homes were destroyed and approximately thirty homes sustained moderate damage. There were only two minor injuries in the subdivision.||The tornado continued to track to the northeast across Frye…

3. Oct 29, 2020Tropical Storm, Forsyth$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

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

4. Feb 25, 2011Strong Wind, Forsyth$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds with gusts to 45-50 mph in the Triad resulted in a number of power outages and downed trees.

5. Sep 30, 2022Tropical Storm, Forsyth$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

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

6. Oct 11, 2018Tropical Storm, Forsyth$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm wind gusts downed numerous trees, caused widespread power outages, and produced a variety of damage to homes and structures across the county.

7. Jun 13, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread trees and power-lines were blown down throughout the county. Northwestern portions of the county were the hardest hit. Monetary damages were estimated.

8. Mar 6, 2014Ice Storm, Forsyth$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One quarter of an inch of ice from freezing rain resulted in widespread downed trees and power-lines. Additionally, snowfall of 3 to 5 inches fell across northern portions of the county.

9. Oct 11, 2018Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall of 4 to 6 inches flooded several roads across the county. Several water rescues were also performed throughout the county.

10. Jun 11, 2007Lightning$175,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A two story home in the Tredegar subdivision sustained heavy damage when it was hit by lightning and caught on fire. The entire second floor was damaged.

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

105°FAug 15, 2023

All-time low

−10°FJan 28, 1940

Warmest night

83°FJun 16, 1913

Coldest day

16°F2 times, most recently Feb 17, 1958

Wettest day

6.24 inOct 15, 1954

Snowiest day

18.0 inDec 17, 1930

Hottest year

2019mean 61.4°F

Coldest year

1912mean 55.0°F

Wettest year

202062.07 in

Driest year

191427.09 in

Station Winston Salem Reynolds Airport (USW00093807), 957 ft elevation, 2.9 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1899 to October 25, 2026; 88.4% 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 Forsyth 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 USW00093807.
• 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.