Orangeburg County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Orangeburg 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. Oct 3, 2015Flash Flood$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   In the Holly Hill and Eutawville vicinity several roads closed due to flooding. Several homes and businesses flooded and water rescues in progress. Shelters being opened for residents. Reported by Orangeburg Co. EM.

2. Sep 27, 2024Tropical Storm, Central Orangeburg$4.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many trees and power lines downed. Some roads closed. Sections of the area without power. Across all of Orangeburg county, at least 28 homes sustained some level of damage including 5 destroyed and 15 with major damage. NWS analysis estimated maximum wind gusts were around 70 mph. Maximum wind measured at the Orangeburg Municipal Airport was 29 kts sustained (33 mph) with a maximum gust of 50 kts (58 mph). Flooding occurred in areas with generally 2 to 4 inches of rainfall measured, although a CoCoRaHS gage northwest of Orangeburg measured 5.22 inches of rain.

3. Sep 27, 2024Tropical Storm, Southeastern Orangeburg$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many trees and power lines downed. Some roads were closed. Sections of the area were without power. Across all of Orangeburg county, at least 28 homes sustained some level of damage including 5 destroyed and 15 with major damage. NWS analysis estimated maximum wind gusts were around 60 mph. Minor flooding occurred in flood prone areas with maximum rainfall measured 1.95 inches from a CoCoRaHS gage near Santee.

4. Sep 27, 2024Tropical Storm, Northwestern Orangeburg$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many trees and power lines downed. Some roads closed. Sections of the area were without power. Falling trees damaged numerous structures. Across all of Orangeburg county, at least 28 homes sustained some level of damage including 5 destroyed and 15 with major damage. NWS analysis estimated maximum gusts were between 70-80 mph. Maximum wind measured at North Air Force Auxiliary Field (KXNO) was 28 kts sustained (32 mph) with a maximum gust of 45 kts (52 mph). Flooding occurred in areas with the maximum rainfall measured in a CoCoRaHS gage east of North of 8.74 inches.

5. Oct 8, 2016High Wind, Orangeburg$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Law Enforcement and SC Dept of Transportation reported numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. Heaviest damage reports centered in the North, Orangeburg, Brookdale and Cordova communities. At least 2 buildings received structural and/or fire damage from falling trees and power lines. Media and Public Utility reports indicated at the mid-point of the event over 16,000 homes were without power.

6. Oct 4, 2015Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roadway washed out at Warrior Drive and Browing Road.

7. Oct 3, 2015Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Orangeburg County EM reports street flooding in multiple locations in Holly Hill and Santee. One road is washed out.

8. Sep 12, 2016Flash Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash Flooding was reported in parts of Orangeburg. The water entered three county buildings, including the library, the courthouse and the law enforcement complex. The emergency manager estimates 40 structures were flooded, with 20 to 25 of them sustaining substantial damage. An apartment complex had 5 buildings with 2 to 3 feet of water in them. A daycare center also had 2 feet of water in the building. Numerous cars were also submerged.

9. Jun 4, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$380,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS storm survey found numerous trees down along and south of I-20 from mile marker 161 to I-95. I-20 was closed due to trees across the interstate. A chicken barn was destroyed near the intersection of Winter Creek and Funderburg roads and field irrigation systems were rolled over.

10. Jun 4, 2013Tornado$340,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    NWS storm survey found an EF1 tornado that began near Ayshire Road and Ebenezer Road. The tornado continued to move southeast across Ebenezer Road between 4 Holes Farm Road and Duncan Chape Road. The tornado continued into Dorchester County. Numerous trees and powerlines were down and three homes were damaged. Five homes had moderate damage and 28 agricultural buildings were badly damaged or destroyed.

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°FAug 10, 2007

All-time low

2°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

80°FAug 15, 2007

Coldest day

21°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

9.99 inOct 10, 1990

Snowiest day

5.0 inFeb 6, 1980

Hottest year

2017mean 67.5°F

Coldest year

1968mean 61.2°F

Wettest year

196471.47 in

Driest year

195425.42 in

Snowiest season

7.0 in1979-80

Station Orangeburg 2 (USC00386527), 185 ft elevation, 4.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1953 to October 22, 2026; 97.0% 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 USC00386527.
• 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.