Chatham County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 17, 2018Flood$6.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall of 10 to 15 inches caused widespread flooding across the county. Additional rainfall upstream caused major flooding along the Deep River near Moncure and along the Haw River near Bynum. Flooding damaged approximately 107 structures throughout the county, destroying 3, resulting in approximately $6.33 million in property damage and and at least $20 million in crop damage. Numerous roads were closed due to flooding. Numerous homes and businesses were flooded as well.

2. Jul 6, 2025Flash Flood$1.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Over 80 roads across the county were flooded, with multiple stalled cars, and nearly 33 water rescues across Chatham County, including one at the location near Siler City.

3. Sep 13, 2018Tropical Storm, Chatham$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

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

4. Sep 30, 2022Tropical Storm, Chatham$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 Chatham County, including some on homes. Numerous customers lost power in Chatham County as a result of the tropical storm force wind gusts.

5. Feb 25, 2015Winter Storm, Chatham$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snowfall/sleet amounts of 3 to 6 inches fell across the county. The heavy wet snow caused widespread power outages from falling trees and power lines. At the peak of the storm, over 8,000 customers were without power in the county.

6. Oct 11, 2018Tropical Storm, Chatham$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm wind gusts downed more than 300 trees, caused widespread power outages, and produced a variety of damage to approximately 23 structures across the county. At the peak of the storm, the total peak outages were around 17,000 customers.

7. Oct 29, 2020Strong Wind, Chatham$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

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

8. May 20, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency management reported 4 homes were damaged by falling trees in and to the north of Pittsboro. Numerous trees were blown down in a corridor from Pittsboro north and east to Ferrington. Several cars were damaged by falling trees with one person trapped in a vehicle just north of Pittsboro on NC Highway 87. Wind speeds were estimated to be near 70 mph.

9. Apr 19, 2019Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado briefly touched down in the Siler City area. Damage consisted of numerous snapped and uprooted trees, downed power poles and power lines, and damage to the roof covering of several homes. Monetary damages were estimated.

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

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

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 Jul 19, 1902

All-time low

−8°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

80°F2 times, most recently Jul 20, 1946

Coldest day

8°FFeb 13, 1899

Wettest day

8.00 inJul 7, 2025

Snowiest day

12.0 in2 times, most recently Dec 17, 1930

Hottest year

1921mean 63.9°F

Coldest year

1978mean 55.4°F

Wettest year

192967.92 in

Driest year

194130.19 in

Snowiest season

21.3 in1979-80

Station Chapel Hill 2 W (USC00311677), 500 ft elevation, 12.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1891 to October 27, 2026; 96.7% 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 USC00311677.
• 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.