Rock Hill

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 York County, the county that contains Rock Hill.

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 York County, the county that contains Rock Hill.

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 York County, the county that contains Rock Hill.

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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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 York 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. Apr 20, 2024Hail$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple sources reported an almost continuous swath of very large hail ranging from 2-inch diameter up to baseball size from the city of York through the city of Rock Hill. Intense downbursts producing wind gusts as high as 90 mph resulted in areas of wind-driven hail that produced extensive damage to structures and vehicles. The largest hail and most intense damage was in the city of Rock Hill, especially just south of the city center. Extensive roof damage, blown out windows, and facade/siding damage shredded by very large hail resulted in more than a dozen structures being considered a total loss. Hundreds of other structures experienced at least minor damage. Thousands of…

2. Dec 4, 2002Ice Storm, York$9.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain began across upstate South Carolina during the early afternoon of the 4th, and had spread into the eastern piedmont by mid afternoon. Resultant damage due to ice accumulation began during the mid-to-late afternoon. The intensity of the freezing rain increased after midnight, and by dawn on the 5th, devastating ice accumulations of 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches were observed, with the hardest hit areas being along the I-85 corridor, from Anderson, to Greenville-Spartanburg, to Gaffney. Hundreds of thousands lost power, and the outages lasted for as long as 2 weeks in some areas.

3. May 23, 2014Hail$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   National Severe Storms Lab relayed multiple public reports of up to golf ball size hail on the north side of Rock Hill.

4. Sep 27, 2024Tropical Storm, York$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thousands of trees were blown down, with dozens of trees down on homes, vehicles, and power lines. Frequent gusts up to 60 mph occurred, with occasional gusts of 70 mph.

5. Feb 26, 2004Heavy Snow, York$1.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy snow began to fall across much of the Upstate during the late morning. Although snowfall intensity decreased dramatically during the early-to-middle portion of the afternoon, heavy snow redeveloped during the late afternoon, and continued into the evening and overnight hours. Scattered thunderstorms contributed to intense snowfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour from time to time, especially in the eastern piedmont, where total snowfall of 12-22 inches occurred, with the axis of heaviest snowfall extending from Rock Hill northeast to the North Carolina border. Thousands of people were stranded on I-77 during the early afternoon, and some required rescue. The weight of this…

6. Nov 16, 2011Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado that touched down near Lowrys in extreme northern Chester County moved into York County southeast of McConnells, just east of Darby Rd. The damage path was non-continuous for the first three miles of its track across York County, although open farmland made it difficult to determine if the tornado was in constant contact with the ground in this area. Damage was generally confined to scattered downed trees. Damage intensified as the tornado approached the Williamson Rd area, near its intersection with Erby Rd, where tree damage became more concentrated. The tornado became very strong and increased in size as it approached and crossed highway 324 in the Ogden Community,…

7. May 23, 2014Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   National Severe Storms Lab relayed multiple public reports, corroborated by spotters and law enforcement, of up to golf ball size hail with a second severe thunderstorm that tracked from the city of York, across the north side of Rock Hill to near Tega Kay and Ft Mill.

8. Apr 20, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Within a larger swath of wind damage, an especially intense downburst producing wind gusts of around 90 mph developed over the city of Rock Hill. Mostly minor structural damage due solely to wind occurred to hundreds of structures, mainly just south of the city center. Wind-driven very large hail further exacerbated the damage (see York County large hail entry for more info).

9. Apr 20, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS storm survey found a virtually continuous path of downburst damage from the city of York, southeast across the city of Rock Hill, across the Catawba community to the Lancaster County border. Widespread trees and power lines were blow down along this path. Numerous homes experienced mostly minor structural damage.

10. May 3, 2021Tornado$350,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Nws storm survey found the path of a weak tornado along Highway 55 in far western York County. The tornado touched down in an open field just east of Clark Fork, before moving east northeast through a cluster of outbuildings at a farm site. One of these was completely destroyed, and two others severely damaged. 4000 turkeys housed here were killed. Two other buildings lost metal roof panels, and roof debris was carried along the path of the tornado. The only damage along the remainder of the path was numerous snapped and/or uprooted trees and downed limbs. The tornado lifted about one half mile west of the intersection of Highway 55 and Enon Church Rd.

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

108°FJul 12, 1930

All-time low

−4°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

86°FJul 25, 1998

Coldest day

19°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

6.21 inMay 1, 2016

Snowiest day

12.0 inJan 7, 1988

Hottest year

1998mean 64.5°F

Coldest year

1917mean 58.3°F

Wettest year

195969.49 in

Driest year

200727.01 in

Snowiest season

26.0 in1935-36

Station Winthrop University (USC00389350), 650 ft elevation, 1.0 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1899 to August 14, 2026; 93.8% 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 York 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 USC00389350.
• 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.