Cumberland County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 16, 2011Tornado$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado exited Hoke County and continued to move northeast crossing into Cumberland County, just north of NC Highway 401. EF0 damage continued near the Clifdale community, where the damage was more sporadic across Bones Creek and Stewarts Creek. Strong tornado damage then occurred in and near the Beaver Creek community along Reilly Road and Yadkin Road west of Fayetteville. Damage was mostly EF1 and EF2, but was briefly EF3 damage, with wind speeds near 140 mph, causing major damage to a business and some dwellings along Yadkin Road. EF0 and EF1 damage was then observed across Simmons Army Airfield, along Andrews Road and across from the Pine Forest High School. The Goodyear…

2. Oct 9, 2016Flood$62.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall of 12 to 15 inches caused widespread flash flooding across the county. The heavy rains caused at least 8 dams to breach in Cumberland County. Additional rainfall upstream resulted in major flooding at both the Little River at Manchester and Cape Fear at Fayetteville. Flooding damaged approximately 4,050 structures throughout the county, resulting in $62.1 million in property damage and and at least $20 million in crop damage. There was more than 700 swift water rescues in Cumberland County alone. The flooding resulted in 2 direct fatalities. A 81 year old female was found dead inside her vehicle in the 100 block of Rhodes Pond Road. After flood waters receded,…

3. Sep 17, 2018Flood$35.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall of 15 to 20 inches caused widespread flooding across the county. Additional rainfall upstream resulted in all-time record major flooding along the Little River at Manchester and major flooding along the Cape Fear River at Fayetteville. Flooding damaged approximately 1,052 structures throughout the county, resulting in $35.3 million in property damage and and at least $30 million in crop damage. The Star Lite Motel along the Little River was partially washed away into the river. The Cape Fear River reached the base of both the Person Street and Grove Street bridges at its crest. Numerous roads were closed due to flooding and much of East Fayetteville was…

4. May 26, 2003Flash Flood$2.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A dam on Hope Mills Lake broke.Several homes and buisnesses were damaged, and part of Lakeview Road and a bridge were washed out.

5. Oct 29, 2020Strong Wind, Cumberland$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts of 40 to 56 mph resulted in scattered to numerous trees and power lines down across Cumberland County, including some on homes. Numerous customers lost power in Cumberland County as a result of the strong winds.

6. Dec 11, 2008Heavy Rain$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A man ran off the road and into a ditch which was full of water. The vehicle was carried downstream and the man had to be rescued.

7. Sep 13, 2018Tropical Storm, Cumberland$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph resulted in numerous trees down across Cumberland County, including on homes, cars, power lines and damage to structures. Numerous customers lost power in Cumberland County as a result of the tropical storm force winds.|A husband and wife died (indirect) in a house fire. The couple was using candles and lanterns, due to a loss of power.

8. Oct 8, 2016High Wind, Cumberland$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph resulted in numerous trees down across Cumberland County, including on homes, cars, power lines and damage to structures. Numerous customers lost power in Cumberland County as a result of the high winds.

9. Jul 1, 2012Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail up to the size of tennis balls fell at Stewart Nissan, causing damage to nearly all 300 cars parked at the dealership. Some rear and front windows were shattered along with lots of dented cars.

10. Sep 29, 2016Flash Flood$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    A large breach in Long Valley Farm Lake Dam near Carvers Creek State Park was reported. Water was reported surging into Jumping Run Creek and surrounding roads.

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 22, 1932

All-time low

−5°FFeb 14, 1899

Warmest night

84°F2 times, most recently Jun 22, 1928

Coldest day

17°FFeb 13, 1899

Wettest day

8.13 inOct 9, 2016

Snowiest day

24.0 inMar 2, 1927

Hottest year

1942mean 65.3°F

Coldest year

1963mean 57.9°F

Wettest year

193668.70 in

Driest year

200731.79 in

Snowiest season

28.0 in1926-27

Station Fayetteville (pwc) (USC00313017), 96 ft elevation, 4.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1899 to October 27, 2026; 93.8% 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 USC00313017.
• 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.