Martin County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Martin County: 0.
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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 26, 2011Tropical Storm, Martin$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Across Martin County...winds gusted to tropical storm force resulting in downed trees and power-lines with sporadic power outages. Storm total rainfall ranged from 11 to 14 inches with flooding of roads and low lying areas. Significant damage occurred to structures and crops.

2. Jun 3, 1998Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A line of thunderstorms moved across eastern areas of the state producing widespread large hail. Martin county was especially hard hit where much of the tobacco crop was damaged. In Kinston, car dealers reported over a half million dollars worth of damage to vehicles. On Ocracoke Island, the hail was the largest seen in many generations.

3. Sep 4, 1996Hurricane (Typhoon), Martin$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Fran moved onshore near Cape Fear Thursday evening (9/6) and raced north toward Raleigh cutting a swath of destruction. The Category 3 hurricane destroyed or damaged 90% of the homes in North Topsail Beach. The town hall and police station were destroyed. A 15 foot storm surge cut a 100-foot-wide inlet through thye middle of the island. A Camp Lejeune-based Marine lost his life when he and two others mistakenly drove onto the island at the height of the storm. State Route 1568 was washed out and NC210 was covered with sand. Damage in North Topsail and Onslow County alone exceeds $500 million as 6,688 structures were destroyed or damaged. In Carteret County, Emerald Isle…

4. Jun 15, 2001Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The remnants of Tropical Storm Allison dropped 12 to 16 inches of rain across martin county causing widespread, dangerous flooding. Nearly all primary and secondary roads were closed and flooding reached up to 25 homes causing $200,000 in damage. The worst of the flooding occurred during the early evening hours.

5. Feb 18, 2008Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The last in a series of tornadoes associated with one thunderstorm touched down about 5 miles southeast of Williamston. This tornado then moved northeast into the city of Jamesville before dissipating. The tornado was rated as EF1 and was about 150 yards wide. Southeast of Williamston the tornado was rated as EF0 destroying one out building and a car port. In Jamesville the tornado ripped the roof off a used car dealership flipping it onto cars behind the shop. The tornado damage was rated as EF1 in Jamesville. Damage in Martin county was estimated at 100,000 dollars.

6. Sep 27, 2004Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A house was partially destroyed with a back wall blown out and a porch removed. Four large storage bins were completely destroyed with debris strewn for one quarter mile to the northeast.

7. Jan 7, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roof partially blown off a warehouse. Large tree blown down onto home damaging roof. Numerous trees and powerlines blown down.

8. Nov 15, 2008Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado touched down near the intersection of Alternate Highway 64 and Jenkins Road. The tornado moved northeast about 2 miles before lifting. The tornado was about 50 yards wide and was estimated at EF1 intensity. A chapel and two abandoned mobile homes were severely damaged near Highway 64. Several outbuildings and a greenhouse were severely damaged or destroyed near a farm on Claude Green Road. No injuries were reported.

9. Jul 12, 1996Hurricane (Typhoon), Martin$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Bertha slammed into the North Carolina coastline between Surf City and North Topsail Beach causing severe damage to property, utilities and roads. Hardest hit were agricultural crops which suffered losses in excess of $126 million. Heaviest damage was in Topsail Beach and all of Onslow County up the coast to Emerald Isle in Carteret County. In Onslow alone, 199 structures were destroyed (117 were mobile homes). An 8-10 foot storm surge struck Swansboro and Emerald Isle. Several businesses were flooded. Water flowed through the streets of Belhaven in Beaufort County where the surge was around 7 feet. In New Bern, numerous boats were sunk or damaged at 3 private marinas.…

10. Feb 2, 1996Winter Storm, Martin$40,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An unusual winter storm began with freezing rain on Friday morning, February 2 across Greene, Lenoir, Pitt, Martin, Washington and Beaufort counties. Snow began falling across all of the region Saturday morning with snowfall accumulations of from 2-3 inches except around an inch along immediate coastal areas by Sunday afternoon. Temperatures plunged into the single digits Monday morning and rose only into the low 20s. Police were kept busy over the weekend with many accidents. Numerous house fires occurred when heating appliances malfunctioned or were used improperly. Highway crews finished treating many of the side streets by midweek. Schools were closed until Wednesday or Thursday.

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

101°F11 times, most recently Jul 23, 2011

All-time low

−3°FJan 6, 2018

Warmest night

81°FJul 6, 1977

Coldest day

17°FJan 20, 1994

Wettest day

10.95 inSep 16, 1999

Snowiest day

17.0 inMar 3, 1980

Hottest year

1975mean 63.2°F

Coldest year

1988mean 58.5°F

Wettest year

201671.64 in

Driest year

194132.75 in

Snowiest season

39.5 in1979-80

Station Williamston 1 E (USC00319440), 20 ft elevation, 4.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1952 to October 27, 2026; 98.3% 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 USC00319440.
• 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.