Lee County

Every recorded tornado

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

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NC GS (2).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 16, 2011Tornado$57.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado exited Moore County and proceeded to strengthen to an EF1 as it moved into Lee County along Wildlife Road. The tornado blew a single wide trailer off its foundation, while also damaging the home home next door. The tornado continued to intensify to EF3 intensity along Lemon Springs Road striking the St. Andrews Subdivision. One fatality occurred when a tree fell onto a vehicle along Lemon Springs Road, crushing the driver. Numerous homes were completely destroyed and several two story homes had their upper floors removed. Wind speeds were estimated at 140 mph with a path length of over one quarter mile. Additional homes were blown off their foundations on Cemetery…

2. Sep 17, 2018Flood$5.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall of 10 to 15 inches caused widespread flash flooding across the county. Additional heavy rainfall upstream caused moderate flooding along the Deep River near Moncure. Flooding damaged approximately 210 structures throughout the county, destroying 13 and resulting in over $5.4 million in property damage and over $20 million in crop damage. Numerous streets and roads were reported flooded.

3. Jul 6, 2025Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado touched down at the Raleigh Executive Jetport 7.5 miles northeast of Sanford in Lee County, North Carolina. Several hangers had damage to wall panels and doors. Several aircraft were damaged. Minor damage to the taxiway occurred. The tornado briefly lifted before touching back down near its end point, and resulted in minor damage to several mobile homes and several trees that were snapped and uprooted.

4. Sep 13, 2018Tropical Storm, Lee$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

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

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

6. Oct 8, 2016Flash Flood$535,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread heavy rainfall of 6 to 8 inches caused flash flooding on several roads across the county. Flooding damaged approximately 36 structures throughout the county, resulting in $535 thousand in property damage.

7. Oct 29, 2020Strong Wind, Lee$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

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

8. Jul 22, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$215,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An isolated severe thunderstorm produced a downbrust and considerable rainfall near Sandford. T he county Emergency Manager reported that 2 storage buildings were destroyed, 3 mobile homes sustained heavy damage due to falling trees, and a single engine airplane was turned upside down at the local airport. There were numerous trees downed in the same area.

9. Jul 17, 2005Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a home in Sanford as storms passed just north of town. The lightning strike initiated a fire in the crawl space which consumed the home. No one was in the house at the time of the fire.

10. Apr 13, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Trees were reported down on homes in Sanford. One child was injured.

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

−3°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

87°FAug 2, 2006

Coldest day

19°F3 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Wettest day

7.65 inOct 8, 2016

Snowiest day

10.5 inFeb 18, 1979

Hottest year

1990mean 63.2°F

Coldest year

1988mean 57.7°F

Wettest year

201865.86 in

Driest year

201232.30 in

Snowiest season

17.6 in1979-80

Station Sanford 8 Ne (USC00317656), 262 ft elevation, 9.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1972 to September 30, 2026; 97.3% 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 USC00317656.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.