Randolph County

Every recorded tornado

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

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$21.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall of 8 to 10 inches caused widespread flooding across the county. Additional rainfall upstream caused moderate flooding along the Deep River near Ramseur. Significant flooding also ocurred all along the Deep River and Uwharrie River and their tributaries. Flooding damaged approximately 286 structures throughout the county, destroying 12 and resulting in over $21.07 million in property damage. Numerous roads were closed due to flooding. Numerous homes and businesses were flooded as well. While final losses on crops are not yet tallied, estimates around $10 million or more are possible.

2. Mar 6, 2014Ice Storm, Randolph$3.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   One quarter to one half of an inch of ice from freezing rain resulted in widespread downed trees and power-lines.

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

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

5. Feb 25, 2015Winter Storm, Randolph$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snowfall/sleet amounts of 5 to 8 inches fell across the county. The heavy wet snow caused extensive power outages from falling trees and power lines.

6. Nov 16, 2011Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado then crossed into western Randolph County at approximately 6:23 pm EST. Numerous homes in the Welborne Ridge Court subdivision were damaged. Damage here was mostly to roofs and siding. A travel trailer inside the mobile home park was flipped over and a nearby pickup truck was blown between 50 and 75 feet. A wooden outbuilding was also destroyed. Damage within the subdivision was consistent with EF-1 tornado intensity.||The last observed tornado damage and end point of the tornado track was to a barn on Finch Farm Road. Damage to the barn was consistent with that of the nearby Welborne Ridge Court Subdivision.||In total, more than a dozen structures were damaged in…

7. Oct 11, 2018Tropical Storm, Randolph$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm wind gusts downed more than 400 trees, caused widespread power outages, and produced a variety of damage to approximately 39 homes across the county. At the peak of the storm, the total peak outages were around 30,000 customers.

8. Jun 13, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were approximately 100 to 150 trees blown down across the county, with many of the downed trees falling onto power-lines resulting in major power outages throughout the county.

9. Feb 6, 2020Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 100 mph touched down just west of State Route 2442. An unoccupied large chicken house was completely destroyed, with debris carried over a half mile away and lofted sufficiently to produce a tornado debris signature on the KRAX WSR-88D radar. In addition, a large farm outbuilding was shifted and twisted off of it's foundation. A detached four bay garage had the doors blown in and subsequently collapsed. The tornado then crossed State Route 2442 and caused substantial tree damage and then lifted.

10. Jan 17, 2013Strong Wind, Randolph$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Emergency manager reports 3 trees down around the county, mainly due to a combination of frequent 35 mph wind gusts combined with rain soaked ground.

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

105°FAug 18, 1988

All-time low

−8°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

81°FJul 18, 2026

Coldest day

17°FJan 19, 1994

Wettest day

9.50 inAug 16, 1949

Snowiest day

24.0 inMar 2, 1927

Hottest year

1998mean 63.2°F

Coldest year

1996mean 57.3°F

Wettest year

201874.67 in

Driest year

193327.90 in

Snowiest season

31.5 in1926-27

Station Asheboro 2 W (USC00310286), 870 ft elevation, 4.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1926 to October 12, 2026; 97.9% 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 USC00310286.
• 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.