Cherokee County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Dec 4, 2002Ice Storm, Cherokee$9.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain began across upstate South Carolina during the early afternoon of the 4th, and had spread into the eastern piedmont by mid afternoon. Resultant damage due to ice accumulation began during the mid-to-late afternoon. The intensity of the freezing rain increased after midnight, and by dawn on the 5th, devastating ice accumulations of 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches were observed, with the hardest hit areas being along the I-85 corridor, from Anderson, to Greenville-Spartanburg, to Gaffney. Hundreds of thousands lost power, and the outages lasted for as long as 2 weeks in some areas.

2. Sep 27, 2024Tropical Storm, Cherokee$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thousands of trees were blown down, with dozens of trees down on homes, vehicles, and power lines. Frequent gusts up to 70 mph occurred, with occasional gusts of 80 mph.

3. Jan 2, 1999Ice Storm, Cherokee$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A shallow cold arctic airmass in place ahead of a developing storm system in the southern Plains set the stage for a significant ice storm for most of the Upstate during the evening of the 2nd. Patchy sleet began during the late morning and became more widespread and heavier during the afternoon - mixing at times with freezing rain. Sleet accumulated to nearly one inch across the foothills before changing to freezing rain in the early evening. Freezing rain continued through the evening, heavy at times and accumulated to damaging levels. Downed trees and power lines caused widespread power outages, totalling 160,000 across the Upstate. Much of the damage to homes was due to ice…

4. Jun 24, 2001Lightning$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning blew a transformer at a manufacturing plant, shutting it down for more than 24 hours and keeping 1000 employees off the job.

5. Jul 10, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency manager reported multiple trees blown down throughout Gaffney. Multiple trees were blown down on homes, with two homes destroyed, one on Broad St and the other on Mill St. Several occupants of these homes were briefly trapped.

6. Apr 16, 2007High Wind, Cherokee$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   After an intense, but relatively brief high wind event affected the mountains and foothills on the evening of the 15th, another widespread damaging high wind event developed during the day of the 16th. However, this particular event included much of the piedmont. Thousands of trees fell across the area, resulting in widespread power outages. Numerous trees fell on roads, homes, and vehicles. A 90-year-old man in Walhalla, SC was killed when a tree fell on and crushed the outbuilding he was in.

7. Oct 7, 2005Flood, Cherokee$375,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding first developed near the Spartanburg county line, when Cowpens-Pacolet Rd flooded. By early evening, flooding became quite serious, with swift water rescues becoming necessary in several areas. Several cars became stranded in flood water on Soapstone Rd near Thicketty. At least 4 bridges were washed out. By mid-evening, a total of 25 roads were closed in the western part of the county, including Fairview Rd, Green River Rd, Champion Rd, and Potter Rd. Some roads were covered with as much as 4.5 feet of water. By late evening, Thicketty Watershed Lake between Gaffney and Cowpens overflowed, sending water into 4 or 5 homes, forcing evacuations. Western portions of the…

8. Oct 23, 2017Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS storm survey found the path of a strong tornado that touched down near the intersection of Farmington Rd and Meadowview Rd, with damage initially confined to downed trees. The tornado moved north/northeast to the|intersection of Fairview Rd and Highway 11, where two homes sustained EF2 damage, with much of the roofs of both homes removed. The tornado appeared to weaken northeast of this location, with damage confined mainly to minor structural damage and downed trees and power lines until it reached the area near the intersection of Furnace Mill Rd and Robb School Rd. A frame home slid off its foundation on W Diesel Dr, resulting in virtual destruction of the home. The path of…

9. May 2, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. Part of a roof was blown off a house in Blacksburg. A roof was blown off a building in Gaffney.

10. Dec 15, 2005Ice Storm, Cherokee$100,000

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

107°FJul 30, 1952

All-time low

−11°FJan 31, 1966

Warmest night

78°F4 times, most recently Jul 12, 1992

Coldest day

16°FJan 8, 1988

Wettest day

5.82 inAug 11, 1928

Snowiest day

15.0 inFeb 17, 1969

Hottest year

1939mean 62.8°F

Coldest year

1963mean 55.7°F

Wettest year

199570.55 in

Driest year

200724.56 in

Snowiest season

27.3 in1959-60

Station Shelby 2 Nw (USC00317845), 820 ft elevation, 16.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 97.3% 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 USC00317845.
• 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.