Moore County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 17, 2018Flood$8.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall of 10 to 15 inches caused widespread flooding across the county. Additional rainfall upstream resulted in major flooding along the Flat Creek near Vass. Flooding damaged approximately 418 structures throughout the county, destroying 29 and resulting in approximately $8.34 million in property damage. Crop damage was at least $20 million. Numerous streets and roads were reported flooded.

2. Jul 6, 2025Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Aberdeen Creek flooded parts of North Carolina Highway 5 and US Highway 1 with several roads closed in the area. Damage estimates may have exceeded 5 million, including to roads, bridges, infrastructure, and residential areas.

3. Oct 8, 2016Flash Flood$3.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread heavy rainfall of 4 to 8 inches caused widespread flash flooding across the county. Numerous roads were closed due to flooding. Numerous homes and businesses were flooded as well. Flooding damaged approximately 838 structures throughout the county, resulting in $3.9 million in property damage.

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

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

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

6. Sep 30, 2022Tropical Storm, Moore$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 Moore County, including some on homes. Numerous customers lost power in Moore County as a result of the tropical storm force wind gusts. A 24 year old male died when he car hydroplaned and ran off the road and struck a tree.

7. Aug 19, 2010Lightning$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A Carthage home was completely destroyed when lightning hit a tree right behind the house and branched off into the home.

8. Sep 6, 2008Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several roads were closed around Southern Pines and across Moore County. This included several ramps on and off of Highway 1. Flood waters rose into many yards and storage units. Several vehicles were flooded along with a few recreational vehicles.

9. Apr 19, 2019Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado briefly touched down in the Robbins area of northwest Moore County. Damage consisted of numerous snapped and uprooted trees and subsequent damage to the roofs of several homes that the trees fell on. Based on the damage to the trees, this tornado was rated an ef-1 with maximum wind speeds of 90 to 100 mph.

10. Jul 14, 2004Lightning$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Lightning started a fire at the Sedgemere Horse Farm on Niagara-Carthage Road. A horse barn was completely destroyed.

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 22, 1983

All-time low

−5°F2 times, most recently Jan 22, 1985

Warmest night

80°FJul 26, 1953

Coldest day

14°FFeb 19, 1979

Wettest day

9.15 inJul 20, 1956

Snowiest day

16.0 inJan 25, 2000

Hottest year

1990mean 63.2°F

Coldest year

1963mean 58.5°F

Wettest year

201874.82 in

Driest year

200733.17 in

Snowiest season

19.5 in1999-00

Station Jackson Springs 5 Wnw (USC00314464), 730 ft elevation, 13.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1952 to August 31, 2026; 98.5% 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 USC00314464.
• 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.