Kershaw County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Sep 27, 2024Tropical Storm, Kershaw$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many trees and power lines down. Some roads closed. Sections of the county were without power. Falling trees damaged numerous structures across the county. At least 154 homes sustained some level of damage including 1 destroyed and 19 with major damage. Camden Woodward Field (KCDN) measured a max gust of 31 knots (36 mph) before the site stopped reporting. Areas of minor flooding, especially in the southwestern portion of the county with maximum measured 3.79 inches from a CoCoRaHS gage south of Lugoff near the Richland County line.

2. Oct 8, 2016High Wind, Kershaw$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   County officials reported 55 streets closed due to blockages from downed trees and power lines in the following communities: Antioch, Bethune, Rembert, Camden, Cassat, Lugoff, Elgin, Mt. Pisgah and Westville. Portions of Interstae 20 were blocked due to trees and debris on the roadway. Duke Energy and County Officials confirmed approximately 5,000 homes were without power.

3. Mar 17, 2012Lightning$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a home in the Haigs creek subdivision outside of Elgin completely destroying the large home. Fire Chief Gene Faulkenberry estimated damage at $400k.

4. Jul 23, 1997Tornado$225,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F2 tornado produced winds to 135 mph. Numerous trees were down. Two homes had major damage and three had minor damage. One mobile home was destroyed and three others had minor damage. One person was injured.

5. Jul 17, 2013Lightning$180,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   EM reported 9 homes were struck by lightning and damaged.

6. Apr 9, 2011Hail$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sheriff dispatch reported from golfball to baseball size in Camden. Reportes of several vehicles damaged along with trees down.

7. Apr 9, 2011Hail$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Storm chaser reported 2 inch hail in Camden.

8. Aug 12, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several mobile homes sustained moderate to severe damage in a strong microburst. Several trees and powerlines were down.

9. Jul 9, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Fire Dept. reported trees and powerlines down, roof damage to several structures, and some storage buildings destroyed.

10. Apr 19, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$56,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    EM reported trees were down in the Boykin Area. A parked truck was damaged by a tree and another damaged a home.

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

109°F2 times, most recently Jun 30, 2012

All-time low

−1°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

82°FAug 4, 2011

Coldest day

23°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

6.87 inOct 4, 2015

Snowiest day

12.3 inFeb 10, 1973

Hottest year

2017mean 67.3°F

Coldest year

1967mean 61.1°F

Wettest year

196470.53 in

Driest year

195427.38 in

Snowiest season

18.2 in1972-73

Station Columbia (USW00013883), 345 ft elevation, 34.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00013883.
• 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.