Georgetown County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Georgetown County: 6.
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.

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. Oct 8, 2016Hurricane (Typhoon), Coastal Georgetown$34.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Matthew moved up the eastern seaboard, bringing very heavy rain and strong winds. Rainfall amounts were less in Georgetown county than most of the region, averaging over five inches. There were isolated areas in the north portion of the county near eight inches. A peak wind of 75 mph was recorded in the town of Georgetown. Wind gusts to hurricane strength and flooded ground caused widespread tree and power line damage. There was moderate river flooding near the Black River and the Pee Dee River. Portions of downtown Georgetown were flooded. Numerous road closures were reported. Some evacuations were necessary in parts of the county. Storm surge caused major erosion at…

2. Oct 8, 2016Hurricane (Typhoon), Inland Georgetown$34.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Matthew moved up the eastern seaboard, bringing very heavy rain and strong winds. Rainfall amounts were less in Georgetown county than most of the region, averaging over five inches. There were isolated areas in the north portion of the county near eight inches. A peak wind of 75 mph was recorded in the town of Georgetown. Wind gusts to hurricane strength and flooded ground caused widespread tree and power line damage. There was moderate river flooding near the Black River and the Pee Dee River. Portions of downtown Georgetown were flooded. Numerous road closures were reported. Some evacuations were necessary in parts of the county. Georgetown County Emergency Management…

3. Aug 14, 2004Hurricane (Typhoon), Georgetown$2.5 million
4. Oct 6, 2005Heavy Rain$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The remnants of Tropical Storm Tammy, in conjunction with a weak upper level disturbance in the Caribbean set up an unusually long and sustained fetch of tropical moisture over the area. The heaviest rain occurred from about 20 miles from the coast, where between 6 and 8 inches fell over a two day period on average, with isolated amounts over 12 inches were observed near the city of Georgetown. Some residents in Georgetown county said the flooding was the worst they had ever experienced. Many roads were under water and impassable. Much of the damage was due to the cost of repairing roads that were completely washed out. Several homes had several feet of water in them on Highmarket…

5. Sep 18, 2000Flash Flood$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon passed over Georgetown county. Based on spotter reports and radar estimates, over 8 inches of rain fell in a short period of time in the town of Georgetown. Numerous streets were reported flooded by emergency managers, and newspaper accounts illustrated standing water in excess of 2-3 feet in many areas. Many motorists had to abandon their cars due to the rising water, with many automobiles sustaining water damage. Numerous homes also sustained flood damage, particularly along Hawkins Street. Most businesses were forced to close for the day along Front and Fraser Streets, an area that was particularly hard hit with flooding. Only one injury…

6. Oct 11, 2002Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado touched down with strong F2 damage near the corner of Merriman and Emanuel Roads, destroying 5 manufactured homes, a car and 2 houses before continuing NE with scattered F1 damage...described as major to a total of 28 structures and minor to 78 more...including homes, businesses, churches and also trees as it traveled a mile through residential streets. The tornado continued another 0.25 mile with F0 damage to trees before moving out over marshland. Eight people were hospitalized for minor injuries, where they were treated and released.

7. Oct 4, 2015Flash Flood$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Portions of Highway 17, 17A, 521 and 701 were closed due to flood waters. The water was reportedly up to 5 feet deep in portions of Georgetown. There were reports of flooded homes and businesses. A nursing home was being evacuated due to severe flooding. Numerous vehicles were stranded in the flood waters and the occupants had to be rescued and brought to safety.

8. Jun 22, 2008Lightning$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck the roof of a house on Bear Creek Loop and started a fire. The fire burned for about two hours and the house was a total loss. A woman inside the single-story dwelling was showering when the lightning struck. She described being jolted across the room by the lightning strike. Medical personnel examined her and stated she was not hurt.

9. Jun 10, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Six homes were rendered unlivable, power lines littered roadways, trees blocked trees and smashed through homes.

10. Oct 5, 2015Flash Flood$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    North Poplar Avenue was reportedly flooded and numerous homes and other structures were inundated with flood waters.

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

103°F3 times, most recently Jul 19, 1986

All-time low

4°F2 times, most recently Dec 25, 1989

Warmest night

84°FSep 5, 1983

Coldest day

26°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

14.71 inSep 16, 1999

Snowiest day

5.8 inDec 23, 1989

Hottest year

2004mean 66.5°F

Coldest year

1958mean 62.2°F

Wettest year

197177.76 in

Driest year

201131.17 in

Snowiest season

11.3 in1989-90

Station Brookgreen Gardens (USC00381093), 20 ft elevation, 9.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1957 to September 30, 2026; 91.5% 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 USC00381093.
• 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.