Person County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jul 1, 2012Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail to the size of golf balls completely destroyed 300 acres of tobacco, with other surrounding areas experiencing a 30 to 50 percent loss.

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

3. Mar 6, 2014Ice Storm, Person$534,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One quarter of an inch of ice from freezing rain resulted in widespread downed trees and power-lines. Additionally, snowfall of 4 to 7 inches fell across the county.

4. Jul 6, 2025Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several roads were flooded in southern Person County, with multiple roads closed.

5. Oct 11, 2018Tropical Storm, Person$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm wind gusts downed numerous trees, caused widespread power outages and produced a variety of damage to homes throughout the county.

6. Feb 25, 2015Winter Storm, Person$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snowfall/sleet amounts of 7 to 9 inches fell across the county. The heavy wet snow caused extensive power outages from falling trees and power lines.

7. Apr 16, 2011Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado initially touched down 4 miles north northwest of Roxboro on 3922 Chub Lake Road near a golf course in Person County as an EF0. The tornado strengthened to an EF1 as it passed near the Bethel Hill Charter School and then strengthened to an EF2 as it crossed 220 North Point Drive. The tornado continued intermittently as an EF2 with intermittent EF1 damage until it crossed the Virginia state line. The roof of the Bethel Hill Charter School was ripped off. Two homes were destroyed in Person County with minor damage to 10 additional homes. Two schools, including Bethel Hill Charter School sustained moderate damage. There was also 2 reported injuries.

8. Mar 28, 2010Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado initially touched down as a EF0 with wind speeds rated 70 to 80 mph along Fire Tower Road near Moores Mill Road in extreme southwest Person County. The tornado then moved northeast crossing Helena-Moriah Road. Numerous trees were sheared off a quarter to halfway up. ||The tornado continued to move northeast where it struck a subdivision off Stoney Mountain Road. Several trees were twisted off and uprooted. Two modular homes sustained damage when trees fell on them. The worst damage occurred as the tornado moved northeast across Medford Oakley Road. Numerous Pines and Hardwoods were snapped off and uprooted. A modular home was also moved off its foundation. The tornado…

9. Sep 6, 2008Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flood waters washed away three large steal culverts causing a section of Rolling Hills Road between Charlie Carr Road and Yarborough Road to collapse.

10. Apr 8, 2000Lightning$110,000

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

104°F2 times, most recently Jul 3, 2026

All-time low

−9°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

84°FAug 27, 1909

Coldest day

10°FJan 11, 1982

Wettest day

6.78 inSep 6, 1996

Snowiest day

16.0 inJan 24, 1940

Hottest year

2024mean 63.4°F

Coldest year

1992mean 55.1°F

Wettest year

201869.64 in

Driest year

194128.37 in

Snowiest season

27.6 in1965-66

Station Roxboro 7 Ese (USC00317516), 710 ft elevation, 5.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 11, 2026; 89.0% 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 USC00317516.
• 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.