Anson County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Anson County: 0.
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.

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

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.

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 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 17, 2018Flood$5.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall of 6 to 8 inches caused widespread flooding across the county. Combined with additional rainfall upstream, the rainfall caused all-time record major flooding along the Rocky River near Norwood. Flooding damaged approximately 24 structures throughout the county, resulting in over $5.6 million in property damage and and at least $30 million in crop damage. Numerous roads were flooded all throughout the county. The Rocky River overflowed the Highway 52 bridge and reached the base of the Plank Road bridge.

2. Apr 13, 2020Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado with maximum winds of 110 mph touched down approximately 5 miles south of the initial tornado. While not continuous, the tornado caused a well defined path of extensive tree damage through heavily wooded areas beginning near McClendon Road and continued northeast for approximately 9 miles, before finally dissipating near Pitt Road. Downed trees damaged numerous homes, of which at least 6 to 7 homes were destroyed. Numerous outbuildings and vehicles were also severely damaged or destroyed. Several turkey houses in the area also sustained significant damage.

3. Oct 29, 2020Strong Wind, Anson$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts of 40 to 55 mph resulted in scattered to numerous trees and power lines down across Anson County, including some on homes. Numerous customers lost power in Anson County as a result of the strong winds.

4. Sep 30, 2022Tropical Storm, Anson$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

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

5. Apr 13, 2020Tornado$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-2 tornado with maximum winds of 125 mph briefly touched down along Diggs Road, just north of North Carolina Highway 145, one mile northeast of Morven. The tornado destroyed 2 of 4 chicken houses at this location. The tornado also lifted a mobile home from its foundation and rotated the home 180 degrees.

6. Sep 15, 2018Tropical Storm, Anson$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts of 30 to 50 mph resulted in numerous trees down across Anson County, including on homes, cars, power lines and damage to structures. Numerous customers lost power in Anson County as a result of the tropical storm force winds.

7. Mar 31, 2022Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down approximately one mile southeast of Burnsville in Anson County and tore a tin roof off of an agriculture out building. The tornado continued on a path to the northeast and and damaged or destroyed several chicken barns and remained on the ground most of the time until moving into southern Stanly County. Additional damage occurred 1.5 miles east-northeast of Burnsville, in Anson County. At approximately 12:27 PM EST damage there consisted of a brick home that was shifted off of its foundation, several exterior walls that were blown out, and more than half of the roof was removed. Damage at this location was rated an EF-2 with wind speeds of 120 mph.

8. Oct 8, 2016Strong Wind, Anson$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph resulted in numerous trees down across Anson County, including on homes, cars, and power lines. Numerous customers lost power in Anson County as a result of the strong winds.

9. Jun 26, 2010Lightning$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning strike burned a home to the ground off of Sneedsboro Road one mile east of United States Highway 52.

10. Feb 7, 2020Strong Wind, Anson$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous trees and power lines were reported down across the county.

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°F2 times, most recently Aug 21, 1983

All-time low

−10°FFeb 14, 1899

Warmest night

80°FJul 15, 1937

Coldest day

14°FFeb 13, 1899

Wettest day

7.72 inOct 11, 1990

Snowiest day

13.0 inJan 25, 2000

Hottest year

1921mean 63.2°F

Coldest year

1901mean 57.3°F

Wettest year

190869.07 in

Driest year

202528.32 in

Snowiest season

27.5 in1935-36

Station Monroe 2 Se (USC00315771), 540 ft elevation, 23.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1896 to October 23, 2026; 96.6% 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 USC00315771.
• 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.