Vance County

Every recorded tornado

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

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

2. Oct 11, 2018Tropical Storm, Vance$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. An apartment complex in Henderson was evacuated when a gas line was damaged from a downed tree.

3. Feb 25, 2015Winter Storm, Vance$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.

4. Sep 27, 2024Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down over a large private building near Technology Ln and Poplar Creek Rd east of Oxford. The tornado ripped off the roof of the building and moved two HVAC units. The tornado crossed over Interstate 85 and into the Vance and Granville community college campus, breaking and snapping some soft and hardwood trees. The tornado then lifted just north of the community college, however roof debris from the private building was found lofted into a residential tree north of US Highway 158.

5. Aug 15, 2002Lightning$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A lightning strike resulted in a fire in a manufacturing plant.

6. May 9, 2003Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trees were downed and a marina was damaged between Townsville and the Nutbush recreational area at Kerr Lake. Golfball sized hail was also reported.

7. Sep 18, 2003Hurricane (Typhoon), Vance$369,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Isabel made landfall along the Outer Banks just north of Cape Lookout around 1 pm on September 18, 2003. The eye of the storm tracked northeast passing over eastern Halifax County. Winds gusts to near Hurricane force were recorded over Halifax county. Many locations across the Coastal Plain and even back into the Triangle received wind gusts between 50 to 70 mph late in the afternoon until early evening. Many trees were uprooted falling on vehicles and homes all across the area. One person was killed in Franklin county when their vehicle struck a downed tree. Up to 6 inches of rain fell across Edgecombe, Halifax and Wilson counties resulting in flooding of several roads.

8. Mar 6, 2014Ice Storm, Vance$250,000
   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 1 to 2 inches fell across the county.

9. Oct 8, 2016Strong Wind, Vance$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Frequent wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph resulted in numerous trees down across Vance County, including on homes, cars, and power lines. Numerous customers lost power in Vance County as a result of the strong winds.

10. Feb 12, 2021Winter Storm, Vance$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    One-quarter to one-half of an inch of ice from freezing rain downed numerous trees across the county, causing numerous power outages.

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

106°FJul 21, 1926

All-time low

−8°FJan 28, 1940

Warmest night

86°FJul 9, 1930

Coldest day

10°F2 times, most recently Feb 13, 1899

Wettest day

7.50 inNov 29, 1934

Snowiest day

22.5 inJan 28, 1922

Hottest year

1921mean 62.9°F

Coldest year

1988mean 55.4°F

Wettest year

202069.28 in

Driest year

196826.86 in

Snowiest season

32.0 in1935-36

Station Henderson 2 Nnw (USC00313969), 480 ft elevation, 1.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 91.9% 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 USC00313969.
• 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.