Lee County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 8, 2016High Wind, Lee$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were reported down, some on county government buildings and many on private homes during the event. Power outages estimated by Duke Energy indicated at least 10,000 people were without power especially in the Bishopville area. Power was not restored to portions of the county for 3 days or more after the event. SC Forestry Commission and Department of Agriculture indicated losses to cotton and timber crops within the county.

2. Jul 5, 2000Lightning$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a tree and a home causing the home to burn to the ground.

3. Sep 27, 2024Tropical Storm, Lee$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many trees and power lines downed. Some roads closed. Sections of the county were without power. A few structures damaged by falling trees. An individual was killed in a motor vehicle accident with a downed tree. Some areas of minor flooding with the maximum measured rainfall from a COOP observer in Bishopville of 3.00 inches.

4. Jun 22, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Public reported shingles blown off a roof and two porches with roofs blown off along Jamestown Road.

5. Apr 9, 2011Hail$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   EM reported golfball size hail covering the ground at Hwy 15 and and the Lynches River Bridge.

6. Jun 30, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$18,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dispatch reported trees and powerlines down countywide.

7. Jun 1, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$18,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   EM reported a large oak tree fell on a vacant house causing minor structural damage. Several other trees were down on the property.

8. Jan 30, 2010Ice Storm, Lee$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   EM reported 1/4 to 1/2 and inch of ice over northern Lee county and 1/4 inch of ice over the central and southern portions of the county. Many trees and powerlines were taken down and there were many accidents.

9. Jun 11, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency Manager reported numerous trees and powerlines down around the county including the areas of Lucknow, Woodroe, Bishopville, and Lynchburg.

10. Aug 17, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$14,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A farmer reported a microburst bent and twisted rebar, blew a cotton wagon over, and moved a portable barn a few inches off the foundation in Woodrow, SC. Path of the damage was about 100 yds long.

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

105°F5 times, most recently Jul 9, 1986

All-time low

2°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

86°FJun 30, 1902

Coldest day

21°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

10.67 inOct 4, 2015

Snowiest day

6.0 inMar 12, 1960

Hottest year

1945mean 66.7°F

Coldest year

2014mean 58.6°F

Wettest year

195970.69 in

Driest year

195428.81 in

Snowiest season

11.0 in1959-60

Station Sumter (USC00388440), 174 ft elevation, 17.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1901 to October 23, 2026; 96.8% 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 USC00388440.
• 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.