Spartanburg

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.

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 Spartanburg County, the county that contains Spartanburg.

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 Spartanburg County, the county that contains Spartanburg.

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 Spartanburg County, the county that contains Spartanburg.

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 Spartanburg 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. Sep 27, 2024Tropical Storm, Northern Spartanburg$25.0 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 70 mph occurred, with occasional gusts of 80 mph. Four fatalities were attributed to falling trees.

2. Dec 4, 2002Ice Storm, Spartanburg$12.0 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. Feb 6, 2020Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS storm survey found the path of an EF1 tornado that began in the west Spartanburg/Clevedale area, near the intersection of Willis Rd and Harvest Brook Way. Damage was primarily limited to downed trees in this residential area, although one tree fell on and damaged a home. Structural damage increased as the tornado moved through the Westgate Mall and Dorman Center areas near the Highway 29/I-26 intersection, with business signs being damaged and roof damage occurring to several homes and apartment buildings just east of Westgate Mall. This same neighborhood was impacted by another EF1 tornado in October 2017. The tornado strengthened as it moved east of this area, along West…

4. Sep 27, 2024Tropical Storm, Southern Spartanburg$10.0 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 70 mph occurred, with occasional gusts of 80 mph.

5. Aug 20, 1999Hail$9.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multicell thunderstorms developed across the Upstate during the afternoon, with a few evolving into long-lived supercells. Damaging straightline winds moved a barn off it's foundation and destroyed some metal buildings near Walhalla. Dime to ping-pong ball size hail was reported from near Stumphouse Mountain to Walhalla as well. Various reports of hail ranging in size from dimes to quarters were reported from Oconee and Anderson counties, into Laurens and Greenville counties. Two supercells developed in western Greenville county and moved east-southeast across Spartanburg county. These severe thunderstorms produced large swaths of golf ball to grapefruit size hail. Numerous cars…

6. Jun 14, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large manufacturing building under construction (about 90 percent complete) near the highway 11/I-26 intersection collapsed due to strong winds. Some construction equipment was heavily damaged or destroyed by the collapsing building. Large tree limbs were also blown down nearby.

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

   Public reported up to golf ball size hail from the west side of Spartanburg to the area around Spartanburg Regional Hospital.

8. Aug 14, 1998Flash Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A flash flood developed rapidly late in the evening following 4 to 5 inches of rainfall in a short time. The flash flood affected several creeks from the city of Spartanburg southward to Roebuck, Walnut Grove, and Pauline. The most damage may have occurred along Timms Creek and Lawson Fork Creek. Several roads were washed out, several people required rescue from their homes, a country club experienced severe damage, and a restaurant was destroyed. Most of the severe flooding was in the first 2 hours.

9. Jan 2, 1999Ice Storm, Spartanburg$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A shallow cold arctic airmass in place ahead of a developing storm system in the southern Plains set the stage for a significant ice storm for most of the Upstate during the evening of the 2nd. Patchy sleet began during the late morning and became more widespread and heavier during the afternoon - mixing at times with freezing rain. Sleet accumulated to nearly one inch across the foothills before changing to freezing rain in the early evening. Freezing rain continued through the evening, heavy at times and accumulated to damaging levels. Downed trees and power lines caused widespread power outages, totalling 160,000 across the Upstate. Much of the damage to homes was due to ice…

10. Aug 10, 2005Flash Flood$1.5 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Flash flooding developed along several creeks in the Boiling Springs area, including Shoally Creek. A pond also overflowed. Water entered 10-15 homes in a new subdivision.

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

107°FJul 1, 2012

All-time low

−6°FJan 30, 1966

Warmest night

79°FJul 24, 2010

Coldest day

20°FJan 30, 1966

Wettest day

9.32 inAug 26, 1995

Snowiest day

12.0 inJan 7, 1988

Hottest year

2016mean 63.4°F

Coldest year

1976mean 58.1°F

Wettest year

202073.70 in

Driest year

200731.08 in

Snowiest season

17.1 in1971-72

Station Greer (USW00003870), 1,069 ft elevation, 17.2 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1962 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 Spartanburg 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 USW00003870.
• 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.