Columbia

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 Richland County, the county that contains Columbia.

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 Richland County, the county that contains Columbia.

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 Richland County, the county that contains Columbia.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 27, 2024Tropical Storm, Richland$17.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many trees and power lines down throughout the county. Some roads were closed. Sections of the county were without power. Falling trees caused damage to structures across the county, particularly in the northwest portion of the county. At least 250 homes sustained some level of damage including 18 destroyed and 94 with major damage. Maximum wind recorded at McEntire Air National Guard Base (KMMT) was 31 knots sustained (36 mph) with a max gust of 46 knots (53 mph). A mesonet site located in Columbia at Laurens and Lady streets measured a max gust of 55 mph. A woman was killed when a tree fell on her mobile home. Areas of flooding with many gages throughout the county measuring 2…

2. Oct 4, 2015Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flooding along Gills Creek through Devine Street...Fort Jackson Blvd...Wildcat Road and Garners Ferry Road area. Numerous water rescues and buildings flooded. One building partially collapsed. The stream gage along Gills Creek was destroyed. Peak stage along Gills Creek determined by USGS from high water marks to be 19.6 feet. Flood Stage is 6.7 feet. 2 Fatalities occurred in this area. One fatality occurred at Gills Creek and Devine Street. The second fatality occurred at Kilbourne Road and Gills Creek. The roadway was flooded due to upstream dam failures and heavy rainfall.

3. Oct 4, 2015Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   SC Highway Patrol reports Kilbourne Road at Ft.Jackson Blvd closed due to flooding.

4. Oct 4, 2015Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   SC Highway Patrol reports Spring Valley Road at Two Notch Road closed due to flooding.

5. Oct 4, 2015Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   SC Highway Patrol reports Grampian Hills Road at Two Notch Road closed due to flooding.

6. Jun 12, 2006Lightning$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a tree and ran through the ground into the home starting a fire in the home in the Woodcreek Farms Subdivision.

7. Aug 1, 2016Heavy Rain$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Richland County Emergency Services automated rain gauge in MLK Park reported 3.46 inches of rain in 44 minutes from 7:15 PM to 7:59 PM EST.

8. Oct 8, 2016High Wind, Richland$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Law Enforcement, Department of Transportation and Media reported numerous trees and power lines down througout the county. City officials closed at least 35 different streets and roads throughout the City of Columbia. Up to 15 homes received damage from falling trees and limbs. Reports indicated damage was heaviest in Forest Acres, Columbia, Fort Jackson and Eastover communities.

9. Oct 4, 2015Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   SC Highway Patrol reports Pine Belt Road at Carter Street closed due to flooding.

10. Oct 4, 2015Flash Flood$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    NWS employee reports Piney Woods Road flooded.

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

109°F2 times, most recently Jun 30, 2012

All-time low

−1°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

82°FAug 4, 2011

Coldest day

23°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

6.87 inOct 4, 2015

Snowiest day

12.3 inFeb 10, 1973

Hottest year

2017mean 67.3°F

Coldest year

1967mean 61.1°F

Wettest year

196470.53 in

Driest year

195427.38 in

Snowiest season

18.2 in1972-73

Station Columbia (USW00013883), 345 ft elevation, 13.7 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1948 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 Richland 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 USW00013883.
• 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.
• 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.