McCormick County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Sep 27, 2024Tropical Storm, Mccormick$12.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread tree and power line damage throughout the county. Many roads were closed and most of the county was without power for an extended period. Falling trees and wind damaged numerous homes and structures across the county. At least 42 homes sustained some level of damage including 9 destroyed and 20 with major damage. South Carolina Forestry estimated 10 million dollars in timber loss. An NWS storm survey estimated that max wind gusts were around 90-100+ mph based on the extent of damage, especially near Lake Thurmond. Areas of flooding with 2 day rainfall total of 8.30 inches measured by the COOP observer in McCormick.

2. Feb 28, 2009Lightning$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a home in the Mt. Vintage subdivision in Merriwether causing major damage to a 2 story brick home.

3. May 6, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A macroburst took down numerous trees causing damage to several homes and destroying a mobile home.

4. May 7, 1998Hail$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   COOP observer reported baseball size hail.

5. May 23, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$38,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   McCormick Messenger reported many trees and powerlines were taken down in the lower half of the county. A couple of trees fell on a carport damaging a vehicle.

6. Apr 6, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$18,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Aiken Standard reported trees down in Clarks Hill Park from the storms. One tree fell on a camper destroying it and just missing the occupants.

7. Apr 30, 2014Strong Wind, Mccormick$18,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   EM reported several trees down in the southern part of the county around the Parksville area. One tree fell on a shed and another on a vehicle injuring the occupant.

8. Jun 18, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$16,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   EM reported trees and powerlines down countywide including east of McCormick on US 378 heading toward Edgefield, Holiday road, Fishing Village road, Landam Creek road, and a host of others.

9. May 7, 1998Hail$15,000
10. Jul 1, 2012Hail$15,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Many severe thunderstorms developed over the Midlands and CSRA producing large hail and wind damage. Hail sizes were mostly golf ball to tennis ball size. The SC Insurance News Service reported home and auto claims of around 7 million dollars.

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

111°FSep 8, 1925

All-time low

−2°F4 times, most recently Jan 22, 1985

Warmest night

86°FJun 27, 1949

Coldest day

20°FJan 28, 1986

Wettest day

7.80 inJul 17, 1991

Snowiest day

7.0 in2 times, most recently Mar 25, 1983

Hottest year

1945mean 64.9°F

Coldest year

1997mean 58.9°F

Wettest year

196471.77 in

Driest year

202425.00 in

Snowiest season

11.5 in1935-36

Station Calhoun Falls (USC00381277), 530 ft elevation, 22.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1917 to September 16, 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 USC00381277.
• 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.