Wilkes County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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 (87).

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. Sep 27, 2024Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Wilkes County 911 Dispatch Center received several reports of water flowing several inches deep across roads and bridges throughout the western half of the county as rounds of heavy rain continue to pass across the area. With seven to ten inches of rain occurring on the 26th, creeks are already swollen and soils are saturated. Even brief periods of heavy rain have resulted in rivers rapidly flowing out of their banks and roads becoming flooded and impassible. A swift water rescue was required for two occupants of a vehicle trapped in flood waters along Roaring River Road near Tyson Feed Mill. Cub Creek was also observed rising out of its banks Friday morning, covering nearly…

2. May 26, 2009Flash Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Moravian Creek flooded and closed Germantown Road near Moravian Falls, and School Street in Wilkesboro. Twenty-seven people were evacuated from their homes along Moravian Creek, near Germantown Road, and six mobile homes were destroyed. Wilkesboro Community College received damage from the flooding of Moravian Creek. The grounds were heavily damaged, as was several buildings. The flooded creek eventually led to the collapse of a 150 foot long, 20 foot wide section of U.S. Highway 421 East exit ramp lane in Wilkesboro, which occurred during the early morning of May 27th. Monetary damages include this road collapse.

3. Oct 23, 2017Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down in Wilkesboro at 411 PM EST near the intersection of East Main and Salem Streets. It would move north for over eight miles before lifting at Yellow Banks Road west of Hays at 420 PM EST. Multiple structures in Wilkesboro received significant damage. The following morning, Duke Energy which supplies power to much of the County indicated that over 23,000 customers were still without power. There was one injury, which resulted from a tree falling on a one-story home which caused a resident to be hit in the head by debris. Dozens of trees and power poles were reported down. The tornado max width was 275 yards and maintained EF1 (86-110 MPH) strength through much…

4. Sep 5, 2011Tornado$850,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down just south of the intersection of Longbottom Road and Green Street Mountain Resort Road. From here, it tracked north into Stone Mountain State Park where it destroyed 14 outbuildings, damaged three homes, and uprooted a large oak tree. Damage values are estimated.

5. Apr 17, 1998Flash Flood$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms produced flash flooding and damaging winds in north-central and northwest North Carolina during the early morning hours on the 17th.Heavy rainfall resulted in the flooding of Moravian, Cub and Mill Creeks in the southern portion of Wilkes County. Numerous roads were washed out, damaged,or flooded. In Wilkesboro, over a dozen businesses were damaged by flood waters. Road damage was estimated at $500,000.Thunderstorm winds knocked down trees and power lines five miles northwest of Stoneville and knocked down a large tree in King.

6. Sep 27, 2024High Wind, Wilkes$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees were downed across the county by high winds associated with the remnants of Hurricane Helene, which caused dozens of road closures and power outages. By the peak of the winds Friday afternoon, around 23,6000 customers were reported without power. Downed trees caused damage to at least one home, on Maywood Avenue. One fatality was confirmed when a man died from injuries sustained after removing fallen trees.

7. Oct 29, 2020Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extensive flooding took place along Cub Creek during the late morning and afternoon hours as two to three inches of rain fell across the basin with the passage of Tropical Storm Zeta, most of it within a one hour period, on top of an additional one to two inches that fell during the previous evening for a total of nearly five inches in 24 hours. Virtually all of Cub Creek Park was flooded, and the bridge on South Bridge Street that crosses the creek was completely over-topped by the flooded creek. Elsewhere, the dam of a 3.5 acre pond collapsed at around 1:40 pm EST, sending flood water that washed out at 20 foot section of Woodfield Way just downstream. Concern for the bridge on…

8. Jun 15, 2001Lightning$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck the C&L Manufacturing company, starting a fire that destroyed the building, equipment and inventory.

9. Feb 1, 1996Ice Storm, Wilkes$300,000
10. Dec 1, 2006High Wind, Wilkes$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Two roofs destroyed. The roof of Multi-Solutions on State Route 115 was torn away by high winds, along with roofing from Harold's Restaurant. Debris landed in the parking lot, damaging two cars, a van, a pickup truck and a sport/utility vehicle.

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

102°F2 times, most recently Jun 8, 1999

All-time low

−9°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

75°FJul 13, 2011

Coldest day

15°F2 times, most recently Jan 9, 1970

Wettest day

8.55 inJun 20, 1967

Snowiest day

20.0 inDec 17, 1930

Hottest year

2007mean 60.0°F

Coldest year

1978mean 53.1°F

Wettest year

202079.59 in

Driest year

193032.50 in

Snowiest season

35.7 in1965-66

Station N Wilkesboro (USC00316256), 1,120 ft elevation, 2.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1955 to October 27, 2026; 97.7% 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 USC00316256.
• 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.