Johnston County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 16, 2011Tornado$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado exited Harnett County and continued northeast into southern Johnston County. The tornado track south of Benson, where it crossed NC Highway 242 and NC Highway 50. Several modular homes were destroyed, and numerous other homes sustained major damage. There was also hundreds of trees that were uprooted or snapped in half. The tornado subsequently crossed Interstate 40 near mile Marker 330 and continued moving northeast to just south of Four Oaks before crossing Interstate 95 near mile marker 90. The tornado lifted just before reaching Smithfield, where little or no damage was observed. Throughout this part of the track there was a broad swath of EF0 damage with embedded…

2. Aug 15, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   More than forty trees were reported down, along with multiple power lines down and several homes damaged due to trees falling on them and the wind around Benson.

3. Oct 9, 2016Flood$24.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall of 9 to 12 inches caused widespread flash flooding across the county. Additional 5 to 6 inches of rainfall upstream caused all-time record major flooding along the Neuse River Basin. Flooding damaged approximately 1,160 structures throughout the county, resulting in $24.7 million in property damage,|and $20 million in crop damage. Numerous streets and roads were reported flooded, causing sinkholes to form, including a large sinkhole at mile marker 334 on Interstate 40. The flooding resulted in 4 direct fatalities. A 19 year old female died when her car was swept away by flood waters into Hannah Creek on Interstate 95 at mile marker 83, near Four Oaks. A 30 year…

4. Sep 30, 2022Tropical Storm, Johnston$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph resulted in scattered to numerous trees and power lines down across Johnston County, including some on homes. Numerous customers lost power in Johnston County as a result of the tropical storm force wind gusts. A 24 year old woman died when she lost control of her car in wet conditions and struck a tree. A 65 year old man died in Johnston County from carbon monoxide poising from a generator that he was running. A 25 year old man died when his car hydroplaned and ran off the road and struck a tree in Johnston County.

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

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

6. Oct 29, 2020Strong Wind, Johnston$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 Johnston County, including some on homes. Numerous customers lost power in Johnston County as a result of the strong winds.

7. May 29, 1996Hail$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Golfball hail damaged crops extensively across northern portions of Johnston county especially around the Kenly area. Numerous vehicles were dented from the front to the back, while others only had the windward side dented. Other vehicles had mirrors and or lights broken. Numerous residents windows were broken including the several at the Kenly police chiefs home. NC-222 was the hardest hit by the storm with severe damage reported straight through the heart of the town. 40 percent of the tobacco crop in the greater Kenly area was destroyed.

8. Jul 12, 2026Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency management reported numerous roads in downtown Smithfield are under 3 to 4 feet of water. Additionally, residences had water entering homes and businesses.

9. Feb 25, 2015Winter Storm, Johnston$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snowfall/sleet amounts of 1 to 3 inches fell across the county. The heavy wet snow caused numerous power outages from falling trees and power lines.

10. Sep 5, 2019Tropical Storm, Johnston$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 Johnston County, including some on homes. Numerous customers lost power in Johnston County as a result of the tropical storm force 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°FAug 18, 1988

All-time low

−10°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

81°F2 times, most recently Jul 18, 1988

Coldest day

13°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

9.90 inAug 28, 1995

Snowiest day

9.0 inDec 11, 1958

Hottest year

2020mean 65.3°F

Coldest year

2014mean 57.3°F

Wettest year

202070.67 in

Driest year

200734.74 in

Snowiest season

15.0 in1978-79

Station Clayton Water Plant (USC00311820), 300 ft elevation, 5.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1955 to October 27, 2026; 93.6% 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 USC00311820.
• 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.