Guilford County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Guilford County: 1.
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. Apr 15, 2018Tornado$65.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado initially touched down on the north side of I-40 near |where Willow Road crosses I-40. Damage at this point consisted of |snapped trees and was consistent with 90 mph wind speeds, or EF-1 on |the Enhanced Fujita Scale. | |The tornado remained on the ground as it traveled north toward |Peeler Elementary School. Numerous homes in this area were damaged |along with substantial tree damage. The tornado wind speeds at this |location were estimated to be approximately 100 mph. | |The tornado continued traveling north and reached a peak intensity |and maximum path width in the Hampton Community and near Hampton |Elementary School. At this school a large portion of the roof…

2. Sep 17, 2018Flood$14.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall of 6 to 8 inches caused widespread flooding across the county, which caused moderate flooding along North Buffalo and South Buffalo Creeks, as well as other creeks and streams throughout the county. Flooding damaged approximately 119 structures throughout the county, destroying 7 and resulting in over $14.63 million in property damage. Numerous roads were closed due to flooding. Numerous homes and businesses were flooded as well. While final losses on crops are not yet tallied, estimates around $5 million or more are possible.

3. Mar 28, 2010Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado initially touched down as an EF1 with winds around 100 mph near Old Plank Road in southwest Guilford County. It was in this area where the Apple Tree Academy sustained significant damage and two vehicles including a small bus were|rolled 50 yards across the street. From this point the tornado continued northeast|across Highway 311. ||The next area to experience damage was just north of Highway 311 and south of Old Mill Road along Langdale, Imperial and Impala Drives. Tornado damage in this area continued to indicate EF1 winds with numerous trees down along with a number of home with roof and siding damage. The tornado intensified to an EF2 as it crossed Old Mill Road…

4. Mar 6, 2014Ice Storm, Guilford$8.1 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 4 to 7 inches fell across northern portions of the county.

5. May 8, 2008Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado, originally an EF-0, initially touched down just north of Squire Davis Park near the intersection of Sandy Ridge Road and Johnson Street. From there the tornado tracked northeast and intensified to EF-1 intensity as it approached the Farmers Market and Interstate 40. The tornado overturned several cars and tractor trailers as it crossed Interstate 40. A roof was blown off of an office building just north of the interstate as the tornado continued to intensify.||As the tornado moved further northeast into an industrial complex, it further strengthened to EF-2 with winds estimated around 130 mph based on damage to warehouses. Numerous warehouses along Little Santee Road,…

6. Jun 3, 2009Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous streets were closed in downtown Greensboro with as many as 50 to 100 water rescues performed, mainly from stalled out vehicles. Multiple buildings were flooded, with at least 10 to 15 on the UNC-Greenbsoro Campus alone. In addition, as many as two dozen businesses and government buildings were also flooded. One fatality occurred when a woman lost control of a moped and went into a creek. A police officer rescued the woman, only to have her jump back into the creek in an attempt to recover her moped.

7. Jun 12, 2010Lightning$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a large fuel tank at the Colonial Pipeline gasoline tank farm resulting in a large fire destroying the tank and resulting in the closure of Interstate 40 for four hours. The tank contained 840,000 gallons of gasoline at the time of the fire.

8. Oct 11, 2018Tropical Storm, Guilford$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm wind gusts caused significant damage to homes and other structures across the county. A total of 321 homes were damaged from fallen trees, with seven destroyed, 88 being classified as having major damage, 121 seeing minor damage and the rest listed as ���affected.��� At the peak of the storm, the total peak outages were around 130,000 customers.

9. Oct 29, 2020Tropical Storm, Guilford$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 Guilford County, including some on homes. Numerous customers lost power in Guilford County as a result of the tropical storm force winds.

10. Feb 25, 2011Strong Wind, Guilford$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.

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

103°FAug 18, 1988

All-time low

−8°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

80°FAug 9, 2007

Coldest day

13°FJan 30, 1966

Wettest day

7.46 inSep 24, 1947

Snowiest day

14.3 inDec 17, 1930

Hottest year

2007mean 61.5°F

Coldest year

1963mean 56.2°F

Wettest year

201864.11 in

Driest year

194127.74 in

Snowiest season

31.7 in1959-60

Station Greensboro Airport (USW00013723), 902 ft elevation, 5.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1928 to October 25, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00013723.
• 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.