Harnett County

Every recorded tornado

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

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$16.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado exited Cumberland County and entered Harnett County just south of Dunn. EF1 damage was common in the Dunn area, with areas of EF2 damage with wind speeds up to 130 mph. Mobile homes were completely wiped off of their foundations and trees were debarked. A second fatality occurred here when a 42 year-old Hispanic male died from injuries suffered from the tornado. The victim���s body was found lying on a concrete slab, thrown from a mobile home that was destroyed. Several other residents in the mobile home park were injured, including one that was ejected from a trailer and impaled with an object, with another person trapped underneath debris. In total, 200 homes…

2. Oct 9, 2016Flood$9.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall of 8 to 12 inches caused widespread flash flooding across the county. Additional heavy rainfall upstream caused moderate flooding along the Cape River Basin. Flooding damaged approximately 744 structures throughout the county, resulting in $9.1 million in property damage. Numerous streets and roads were reported flooded, including Interstate 95 near Dunn, with several washouts reported on secondary roads. The flooding resulted in 1 direct fatality. A 74 year old man died when he drove past a barricade near Carolina Drive and was swept away into a flooded creek.

3. Sep 17, 2018Flood$7.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall of 10 to 15 inches caused widespread flooding across the county. Additional heavy rainfall upstream caused moderate flooding along the Cape River Basin. The river reached the patio of the Mermaid Point restaurant at its initial crest. Flooding damaged approximately 285 structures throughout the county, destroying 10 and resulting in over $7.58 million in property damage. Crop damages were at least $20 million. Numerous streets and roads were flooded, some sustaining structural damage.

4. Sep 1, 2017Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to 2.75 inches fell across northern Harnett County. Property damage values have been estimated.

5. Sep 13, 2018Tropical Storm, Harnett$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph resulted in numerous trees down across Harnett County, including on homes, cars, power lines and damage to structures. Numerous customers lost power in Harnett County as a result of the tropical storm force winds.

6. Oct 29, 2020Strong Wind, Harnett$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

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

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

8. Sep 5, 2019Tropical Storm, Harnett$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

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

9. Aug 3, 2020Tropical Storm, Harnett$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts of 30 to 45 mph resulted in scattered trees and power lines down across Harnett County, including some on homes. Numerous customers lost power in Harnett County as a result of the tropical storm force winds.

10. Jan 3, 2022Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An EF-0 tornado briefly touched down two miles southwest of Coats, North Carolina.|It was the ground for about two minutes before dissipating. The tornado resulted in roof, window, and siding damage to several homes. In addition, about a dozen trees were either snapped or uprooted, at least two fences were blown over, and at least two |outbuildings or sheds were destroyed or rolled over.

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

108°FAug 22, 1983

All-time low

−4°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Aug 13, 2021

Coldest day

18°FJan 20, 1994

Wettest day

7.40 inSep 16, 1999

Snowiest day

7.0 in2 times, most recently Dec 26, 2010

Hottest year

2024mean 64.4°F

Coldest year

1976mean 58.1°F

Wettest year

201874.49 in

Driest year

198632.39 in

Station Dunn 4 Nw (USC00312500), 200 ft elevation, 10.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1962 to May 17, 2026; 93.3% 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 USC00312500.
• 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.