Sampson County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Sampson County: 14.
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.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 16, 2011Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado exited Cumberland County and moved into Sampson County, just southwest of Roseboro. The tornado tracked northeast along NC Highway 24, between Roseboro and Clinton. Cyclic damage between EF1 to EF2 was observed with the most extensive damage observed between Bonnetsville Road and Clinton, including Bass Lake Road and Dixie Road. The tornado continued northeast, crossing Highways 421 and 701 on the north side of Clinton. A roof was completely blown off of a home on Isaac Weeks Road. As the tornado moved farther northeast, the tornado was mostly of Ef1 strength damage to homes were minor, with outbuildings and power poles bent or blown down. The tornado weakened and…

2. Sep 17, 2018Flood$8.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall of 15 to 20 inches caused widespread flooding across the county. Additional significant rainfall upstream caused all-time record major flooding along the Black River near Tomahawk. Flooding damaged approximately 233 structures throughout the county, destroying 19 and resulting in approximately $8.2 million in property damage and at least $30 million in crop damage. Numerous roads were flooded all throughout the county.

3. May 28, 2020Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Multiple roads were reported washout across central Sampson County, including near Highway 24 and Summerhill Road, Curtis Ivey Road and Summerhill Road, Six Runs Church Road and Old Warsaw Road, and the 5000 block of Dave Bright Road.

4. Oct 9, 2016Flood$4.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rainfall of 10 to 14 inches caused widespread flash flooding across the county. Additional rainfall upstream caused all-time record major flooding along the Black River near Tomahawk. Flooding damaged approximately 657 structures throughout the county, resulting in $4.1 million in property damage and and at least $25 million in crop damage. Numerous roads were flooded all througout the county. U.S. 701 was flooded going into both Newton Grove and Garland, and N.C. 24 was flooded between Turkey and Clinton. N.C. 24 was closed at the county line in Autryville, with water flowing over the bridge. Bonnetsville Road, between Salemburg and The Avenue was washed out.…

5. May 29, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large, 5 mile, north to south swath of straight line wind damage occurred across |northern Sampson County North Carolina. All damage observed was consistently west to east oriented, unambiguously indicating that damage resulted from straight line winds. ||At approximately 10:40 PM EDT, a macroburst occurred northeast of Salemburg, destroying numerous turkey houses near the intersection of Tyndall Bridge Road and High House Road east of Highway 242. Tin roofs of the turkey houses were scattered downwind, and approximately 16,000 turkeys were killed. Winds near the center of |this damage were estimated at 80-90 mph. Damaging winds progressed eastward toward and beyond U.S. 421,…

6. May 23, 2017Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   At approximately 4:38 PM EDT, a tornado touched down just west of |highway 24 on the west side of Autryville, where it produced tree |damage as well as destroying one mobile home and taking the roof off |of another near Mills Street and East Clinton Street. The tornado |then briefly lifted before descending again near the Autryville |Volunteer Fire Department, which was severely damaged as the garage doors |blew in, and ripped a large portion of roof off. Two of their fire engines and one fire truck were covered in rubble. The tornado lifted then touched down again on the northeast side of Autryville, near Johnson Tanner Lane, where several homes were |damaged. The tornado lifted…

7. Jan 3, 2022Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-1 tornado briefly touched down around 2 miles south-southwest of Newton Grove.|It was the ground for less than one minute before dissipating. The tornado resulted in substantial roof and structural damage to two hog barns.

8. Sep 13, 2018Tropical Storm, Sampson$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph resulted in numerous trees down across Sampson County, including on homes, cars, power lines and damage to structures. Numerous customers lost power in Sampson County as a result of the tropical storm force winds. A 73 year male died(indirect)from his COPD, due to he was without power for his oxygen concentrator. Another death(indirect)occurred when a 62 year old male collapsed after assisting an evacuee to safety.

9. Sep 5, 2019Tropical Storm, Sampson$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts of 35 to 55 mph resulted in scattered to numerous trees and power lines down across Sampson County, including some on homes. Numerous customers lost power in Sampson County as a result of the tropical storm force winds.

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

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°FAug 22, 1983

All-time low

−2°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Aug 9, 2007

Coldest day

18°FDec 24, 1989

Wettest day

10.50 inSep 15, 2018

Snowiest day

10.0 inDec 24, 1989

Hottest year

1990mean 63.8°F

Coldest year

1988mean 59.5°F

Wettest year

201870.31 in

Driest year

202232.76 in

Snowiest season

16.0 in1979-80

Station Clinton 2 Ne (USC00311881), 158 ft elevation, 6.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1971 to October 26, 2026; 95.2% 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 USC00311881.
• 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.