Newberry County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Newberry County: 2.
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.

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, Newberry$19.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread trees and power lines downed. Many roads closed, some for an extended period of time. Large sections of the county were without power. Falling trees damaged numerous structures across the county. At least 128 homes sustained some level of damage including 10 destroyed and 41 with major damage. South Carolina Forestry estimated 1.4 million dollars in timber loss. A maximum wind gust of 32 knots (37 mph) was measured at Newberry County Airport before the site stopped reporting. NWS analysis estimated that maximum gusts were between 70-90 mph. Ten homes were destroyed with over one hundred structures damaged by falling trees and wind. Two individuals were killed when a…

2. Oct 4, 2015Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Highway 176 bridge across Cannons Creek damaged and partially collapsed due to flood waters.

3. Feb 28, 2011Tornado$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Storm Survey with Sheriff found numerous trees down from a microburst and an EF1 tornado from the northwest to northeast side of Silverstreet. One mobile home was destroyed, one was severely damaged, and there were no injuries.

4. Feb 28, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense microburst ripped the roof off an industrial building, took many trees down, some on homes, and destroyed several outbuildings.

5. Aug 17, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
6. Apr 26, 2006Tornado$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A supercell produced an F0 tornado that fell trees on a home severely damaging it. The twister also took down other trees along its path, some across railroad tracks and others across hwy 202 near I-20.

7. Oct 24, 2008High Wind, Newberry$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sheriff and Broadcast media outlets reported trees and powerlines down in the Newberry and Prosperity areas of the county.

8. Aug 9, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sheriff reported a tree down on a hous in Chappells. Considerable roof damage occurred with no injuries.

9. Jun 15, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$38,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   EM reported powerlines and numerous trees down...some on vehicles...across the eastern half of the county including Whitmire...Newberry...and Prosperity.

10. Apr 7, 2015Lightning$36,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Sheriff reported a barn struck by lightning in Whitmire burnt to the ground.

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°F3 times, most recently Jul 24, 1952

All-time low

−4°FFeb 14, 1899

Warmest night

82°FAug 10, 1894

Coldest day

17°FFeb 13, 1899

Wettest day

7.35 inOct 4, 2015

Snowiest day

11.0 inFeb 26, 1914

Hottest year

1896mean 65.7°F

Coldest year

2003mean 60.2°F

Wettest year

196477.14 in

Driest year

200729.42 in

Snowiest season

13.0 in1958-59

Station Little Mountain (USC00385200), 711 ft elevation, 10.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1894 to October 23, 2026; 97.4% 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 USC00385200.
• 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.