Bladen County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Bladen County: 5.
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.

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

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NC GS (3).

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 5, 1996High Wind, Bladen$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Following nearly 8 inches of rain fallen in 12 hours,the decaying eye of Hurricane Fran skirted eastern Bladen County thursday evening with winds gusting 80 mph. Forty homes were destroyed, 467 damaged. Bladenboro business district was 4 ft deep in rainwater flooding. There was one death, a heart attack during peak of storm, with rescue efforts blocked by many trees across road. Power was out for days to 95% of the county, more than 2000 homes. Radio tower for WGQR radio was downed.

2. Sep 15, 1999Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains from Hurricane Floyd accumulated around 20 inches and caused the worst flooding in county history. High water closed many roads including U.S. 701 and N.C. 210, 41, 53 and 87...isolating much of the area and inundating low-lying areas. The Kelly-Rowan area was affected first, and gradually more than 300 structures were flooded across the county. The Bladenboro business district had waist-deep water that affected 10 businesses and many residences. About 50% of the crops were lost, and hog waste contributed to pollution.

3. Apr 16, 2011Tornado$3.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service Storm Survey Team found evidence of a strong tornado in Bladen County, North Carolina. The damage was rated up to an EF2. The maximum wind speed was estimated up to 120 mph. The path length was just over 13 miles. The maximum path width was 440 yards. The tornado first touched down at 458 pm EDT in downtown Bladenboro at the intersection of Seaboard Street and Highway 242. A gas station had its asphalt roof entirely ripped off and tossed into the aluminum awning over the pumps, damaging the awning. A small industrial building also had its asphalt roof entirely removed and tossed 30 yards downwind. The tornado then came entirely to the ground decimating a…

4. Jan 26, 2004Ice Storm, Bladen$2.5 million
5. Jan 25, 2004Ice Storm, Bladen$1.0 million
6. Oct 8, 2016Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A portion of Main Street in Bladenboro was impassable due to flooding. Several adjacent roadways and numerous structures were impacted by the flood waters.

7. Oct 8, 2016Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Highway 41 was flooded and impassable between U.S. 701 and Highway 210. Adjacent roadways and numerous structures were also impacted by the flood waters as Colly Creek over flowed its banks.

8. Apr 16, 2011Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service Storm Survey Team found evidence of a strong tornado in northern Bladen County, near Ammon, North Carolina. The damage was rated up to an EF2. The maximum wind speed was estimated up to 130 mph. The path length was one and a half miles in Bladen County. However, the tornado remained on the ground as it moved into southeast Cumberland County. The maximum path width was 200 yards. The tornado first touched down southwest of Old Fayetteville Road and severely impacted Foxfire Nursery in northern Bladen County. The tornado completely destroyed four large hog houses and significantly damaged two others. More than one hundred hogs were killed by the tornado.…

9. Oct 8, 2016Flash Flood$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Highway 87 was closed due to flooding between Highway 20 and the town of Tar Heel. Adjacent roadways and structures were impacted by the flood waters.

10. Jun 18, 2011Wildfire, Bladen$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Lightning sparked a wildfire near the intersection of NC Hwy 53 and Simmons Road, in the Live Oak community in Bladen County. Against the backdrop of an ongoing severe drought and 100 degree heat, strong and erratic winds caused the fire to cross containment lines on June 20-21. The fire destroyed three homes and eleven outbuildings. The fire spread to all or parts of several bays containing dense vegetation and organic soil. Evacuations were ordered on two occasions, but all residents were able to return home. The fire grew to 5600 acres and continued to burn into July.

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 Jun 27, 1954

All-time low

−1°FFeb 2, 2026

Warmest night

80°FAug 9, 2007

Coldest day

27°F2 times, most recently Jan 29, 2014

Wettest day

12.53 inOct 8, 2016

Hottest year

2015mean 65.4°F

Coldest year

2000mean 61.6°F

Wettest year

202064.77 in

Driest year

200722.75 in

Station Lumberton Regional Airport (USW00013776), 121 ft elevation, 23.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 91.7% 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 USW00013776.
• 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.