Lancaster County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Lancaster 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 24, 2008High Wind, Lancaster$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lancaster Co. suffered severe wind damage in a number of fire districts on Friday evening, October 24, 2008. High winds started around 16:30 and continued with increasing ferocity past 19:00. The following roads were blocked by trees or trees in combination with power lines: Potter Rd; Hough Rd. to Bear Creek; Doc Garris Rd; Sentry Rd; Baskins Hill Rd; Rocky River Rd (Hwy 522); New Hope Rd; Kickturn Lane; Cedar Creek Rd (Hwy 97); Great Falls Hwy (Hwy 200); Robert H Kirk Rd; Country Club Drive; Barbarosa Rd; Liberty St. in Heath Springs. Hwy 200 was blocked by downed trees and power lines near the county line with Chester county for over 4 hours. One substantial structure (6000 sq.…

2. Apr 14, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   EM reported many trees down on homes and 3/4 inch hail with a microburst that hit the Lancaster area.

3. Sep 27, 2024Tropical Storm, Southern Lancaster$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many trees and power lines down. Some roads closed. Sections of the area were without power. A few structures damaged by falling trees. Lancaster County Airport measured a maximum sustained wind speed of 26 knots (30 mph) with a maximum gust of 42 knots (48 mph). Minor flooding occurred in some spots with maximum observed rainfall of 2.85 inches measured in a CoCoRaHS gage northeast of the town of Lancaster.

4. Sep 27, 2024Tropical Storm, Northern Lancaster$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many trees and power lines down. Some roads closed. Sections of the area without power. A few structures damaged by falling trees. A maximum gust of 38 mph was measured at a CWOP station in Fort Mill, although observations were intermittent, likely due to power loss. Minor flooding occurred in areas with a maximum rainfall total of 4.38 inches measured in a CoCoRaHS gage along Fort Mill Highway.

5. Apr 8, 2005Lightning$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a home on Westmoreland Drive and caused significant damage.

6. Sep 25, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and powerlines were reported down on Laurel Ave, some falling onto homes with no injuries.

7. Jan 30, 2010Winter Storm, Lancaster$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   EM reported 3 to 4 inches of snow and sleet fell over the panhandle of Lancaster county with a quarter to a half an inch of ice over the remainder of the county. Many trees and powerlines were taken down and there were many accidents. One home suffered significant damage when a large tree fell into it.

8. May 11, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$86,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   EM reported numerous tress and powerlines down in Lancaster. Newspaper reported 4600 people were without power throughout the county.

9. Sep 19, 2014Flash Flood$85,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   SC Highway Patrol reported road washout on Tabernacle road between Buford High School and Shiloh Unity Road. Other roads in the area were impassible.

10. Jul 20, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$85,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    EM reported trees and powerlines down, several homes damaged, one with the roof torn off part of the backside of the home, several outbuildings and a turkey barn were badly damaged, and a chain link fence was blown down.

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

108°FJul 12, 1930

All-time low

−4°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

86°FJul 25, 1998

Coldest day

19°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

6.21 inMay 1, 2016

Snowiest day

12.0 inJan 7, 1988

Hottest year

1998mean 64.5°F

Coldest year

1917mean 58.3°F

Wettest year

195969.49 in

Driest year

200727.01 in

Snowiest season

26.0 in1935-36

Station Winthrop University (USC00389350), 650 ft elevation, 17.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1899 to August 14, 2026; 93.8% 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 USC00389350.
• 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.