Davidson County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Davidson County: 2.
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. Nov 16, 2011Tornado$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado with a nearly continuous damage path of approximately 12.5 miles was found about 5 miles east of Linwood in Davidson County to about 10 miles northwest of Asheboro in Randolph County. Damage along the path was found to be EF-1 to EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita tornado rating scale, with wind speeds between 90 and 135 mph. ||At approximately 6:05 pm EST, the initial tornado touchdown was in the form of snapped and uprooted trees along NC Highway 47, near the Parks Road Intersection. The first occurrence of structural damage was to single family homes in the nearby Silver Ridge Subdivision, off of Allred Road. Roofs were lifted off multiple homes and mostly exterior walls…

2. Mar 6, 2014Ice Storm, Davidson$6.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   One quarter to one half of an inch of ice from freezing rain resulted in widespread downed trees and power-lines. Additionally, snowfall of 1 to 2 inches fell across the county.

3. Sep 17, 2018Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall of 4 to 6 inches caused widespread flooding across the county. Combined with additional rainfall upstream, the rainfall caused flooding along Abbotts Creek from High Point to Lexington and along the Yadkin River. Numerous other creeks and streams came out of their banks and flooded roads, causing damage. Flooding damaged approximately 579 structures throughout the county, destroying 1 and resulting in over $1.5 million in property damage and likely $5 million or more in crop damage. Numerous roads were flooded all throughout the county and The Thomasville Fire Department had to make a swift water rescue on Randolph Street near Carolina Avenue after the driver of a…

4. Oct 29, 2020Tropical Storm, Davidson$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

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

5. Mar 28, 2010Tornado$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF1 tornado exited Rowan County, crossing the Yadkin River and entered into Davidson County. Numerous hardwood trees were either sheared off or uprooted in a wooded area south of Seven Oaks Drive. A carport was ripped from a brick home on Seven Oaks Drive. Two out buildings were also destroyed. The tornado tracked northeast across an open field before it damaged a vacant steel framed flea market building. The tornado glanced the southeastern corner of the main flea market building, tearing it away from the remainder of the building. Debris from the metal building was found approximately one mile downstream from the site. Sections of sheet metal from the building were found…

6. May 3, 2003Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A buisness near Highway 8 and 47 was damaged by baseball sized hail.

7. Feb 25, 2011Strong Wind, Davidson$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds with gusts to 45-50 mph in the Triad resulted in a number of power outages and downed trees.

8. Apr 5, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$950,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread trees and power lines were blown down across the entire county. Falling trees caused substantial damage to many homes, vehicles and outbuildings throughout the county. Extensive structural damage was also caused by strong winds.

9. Mar 28, 2010Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A EF-1 tornado touched down in a wooded area south of Chestnut Street Extension where it caused extensive tree damage. The tornado proceeded northeast|across across Chestnut Street Extension where it caused minor damage to a single family residence when it ripped away the attached carport. The tornado tracked|then tracked through a wooded area before it hit the Valley Mobile Home Park located|off Sink Lake Road. Approximately 20 mobile homes were completely destroyed or damaged so severe that they can no longer be occupied. One of the destroyed mobile homes and a full size SUV was uplifted and displaced into an adjacent lake. |There were four occupants inside the mobile home but…

10. Sep 30, 2022Tropical Storm, Davidson$750,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Frequent wind gusts of 35 to 55 mph resulted in scattered to numerous trees and power lines down across Davidson County, including some on homes. Numerous customers lost power in Davidson County as a result of the tropical storm force wind gusts.

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 29, 1952

All-time low

−6°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

80°F2 times, most recently Jun 12, 2026

Coldest day

17°FJan 30, 1966

Wettest day

6.57 inOct 15, 1954

Snowiest day

12.5 inFeb 18, 1979

Hottest year

1953mean 63.1°F

Coldest year

1981mean 56.9°F

Wettest year

202064.16 in

Driest year

200127.33 in

Snowiest season

31.5 in1959-60

Station Lexington (USC00314970), 760 ft elevation, 3.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1902 to August 31, 2026; 93.7% 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 USC00314970.
• 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.