McDuffie County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within McDuffie County: 3.
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.

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.

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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, Mcduffie$16.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant tree and power line damage observed through the entire county. Falling trees and wind caused substantial structural damage across the county. At least 461 homes sustained some level of damage including 51 destroyed and 93 with major damage. Many roads were closed and power outages were widespread. Max winds at Thomson-McDuffie Airport were 31 kts sustained (36 mph) and gusts to 52 kts (60 mph) before the observation was lost. Minimum recorded mean sea level pressure at Thomson-McDuffie Airport was 977.0 mb. A mesonet site south of Dearing observed a gust to 61 mph. NWS storm survey team estimated max wind gusts around 80-90 mph. Four fatalities occurred in the county.…

2. Apr 22, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$2.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   GEMA reports numerous trees down in Thompson.

3. Apr 10, 2009Tornado$72,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dispatch reported trees down, some on vehicles, on Moose Club road. NWS damage survey also found and minor damage to several homes.

4. Jul 27, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$24,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sheriff reported trees down in Thomson, one was on a car that did moderate damage to it.

5. Apr 5, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$24,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sheriff reported numerous trees and powerlines down across McDuffie County.

6. Feb 24, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sheriff reported numerous trees down across southern McDuffie county.

7. Jan 24, 2010Flash Flood$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sheriff reported flooding at apartment complex with up to a foot of water in several apartments.

8. Jun 15, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$18,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sheriff reported trees and powerlines down county wide.

9. Oct 13, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   WRDW reported a tree down on a mobile home near Thomson.

10. Jul 1, 2012Hail$15,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Half dollar size hail shredded leaves and left several dents on cars.

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

−4°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

77°F4 times, most recently Aug 17, 2010

Coldest day

21°FJan 28, 1986

Wettest day

9.50 inOct 12, 1990

Snowiest day

9.0 inFeb 10, 1973

Hottest year

2021mean 64.9°F

Coldest year

1980mean 59.1°F

Wettest year

196475.36 in

Driest year

199932.33 in

Snowiest season

10.0 in1972-73

Station Appling 2 Nw (USC00090311), 396 ft elevation, 10.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1961 to July 31, 2026; 90.4% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00090311.
• 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.