Pickens County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NASA (1).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Dec 4, 2002Ice Storm, Greater Pickens$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain began across upstate South Carolina during the early afternoon of the 4th, and had spread into the eastern piedmont by mid afternoon. Resultant damage due to ice accumulation began during the mid-to-late afternoon. The intensity of the freezing rain increased after midnight, and by dawn on the 5th, devastating ice accumulations of 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches were observed, with the hardest hit areas being along the I-85 corridor, from Anderson, to Greenville-Spartanburg, to Gaffney. Hundreds of thousands lost power, and the outages lasted for as long as 2 weeks in some areas.

2. Dec 4, 2002Ice Storm, Pickens Mountains$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain began across upstate South Carolina during the early afternoon of the 4th, and had spread into the eastern piedmont by mid afternoon. Resultant damage due to ice accumulation began during the mid-to-late afternoon. The intensity of the freezing rain increased after midnight, and by dawn on the 5th, devastating ice accumulations of 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches were observed, with the hardest hit areas being along the I-85 corridor, from Anderson, to Greenville-Spartanburg, to Gaffney. Hundreds of thousands lost power, and the outages lasted for as long as 2 weeks in some areas.

3. Jan 7, 1998Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado developed from a fast moving severe thunderstorm that raced north out of eastern Georgia. The F2 tornado destroyed several houses and mobile homes and severely damaged many other homes and businesses. Damage was sustained to the south of the track of the tornado due to strong inflow into the storm. Damage from severe thunderstorm winds in the rear flank downdraft occurred north into Easley.

4. Jan 2, 1999Ice Storm, Northern Pickens$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A shallow cold arctic airmass in place ahead of a developing storm system in the southern Plains set the stage for a significant ice storm for most of the Upstate during the evening of the 2nd. Patchy sleet began during the late morning and became more widespread and heavier during the afternoon - mixing at times with freezing rain. Sleet accumulated to nearly one inch across the foothills before changing to freezing rain in the early evening. Freezing rain continued through the evening, heavy at times and accumulated to damaging levels. Downed trees and power lines caused widespread power outages, totalling 160,000 across the Upstate. Much of the damage to homes was due to ice…

5. Jan 2, 1999Ice Storm, Southern Pickens$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A shallow cold arctic airmass in place ahead of a developing storm system in the southern Plains set the stage for a significant ice storm for most of the Upstate during the evening of the 2nd. Patchy sleet began during the late morning and became more widespread and heavier during the afternoon - mixing at times with freezing rain. Sleet accumulated to nearly one inch across the foothills before changing to freezing rain in the early evening. Freezing rain continued through the evening, heavy at times and accumulated to damaging levels. Downed trees and power lines caused widespread power outages, totalling 160,000 across the Upstate. Much of the damage to homes was due to ice…

6. Nov 30, 2010Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado damage path was surveyed starting in the Old Market Square area near downtown Easley. Numerous buildings in the downtown area received minor to significant roof damage. Some trees fell on homes as well. The tornado appeared to lift briefly as it traveled north northeast from the downtown area. However, the damage path appeared again in the Lenhardt Rd area just north of downtown. An anchored mobile home was rolled 60 to 80 feet and completely destroyed at this location. Numerous trees were also uprooted or snapped in this area.

7. Feb 6, 2020Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency manager and automated stream gauges reported significant flash flooding developed across Pickens County after 4 to 7 inches of rain, with locally higher amounts fell in about an 18-hour period. More than half of that rain fell in less than 6 hours from daybreak through late morning of the 6th. The main impact was within the Twelvemile Creek basin. A stream gauge on the creek near Liberty exceeded major flood stage by the evening of the 6th. At this level, significant flooding occurs to the Pickens County Flea Market on Highway 183, and most of the bridges over Twelvemile Creek become inundated. One home on Williams Dr was rendered uninhabitable due to water damage. Flash…

8. Sep 7, 2004Flood, Greater Pickens$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   After earlier flash flooding, general flooding continued into the overnight hours, as moderate to heavy rainfall continued over the county. Many streams overflowed their banks, flooding roads and highways. Water entered some homes and many businesses around Easley, Central, and Pickens. The Saluda Lake flooded homes along its western bank, while Twelve Mile Creek flooded the flea market area. The Oolenoy River flooded miles of farmland. Vegetable crops in the northern part of the county were destroyed. Five bridges in the county were heavily damaged, requiring closure. Many other bridges and roads incurred some damage.

9. Apr 16, 2007High Wind, Pickens Mountains$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   After an intense, but relatively brief high wind event affected the mountains and foothills on the evening of the 15th, another widespread damaging high wind event developed during the day of the 16th. However, this particular event included much of the piedmont. Thousands of trees fell across the area, resulting in widespread power outages. Numerous trees fell on roads, homes, and vehicles. A 90-year-old man in Walhalla, SC was killed when a tree fell on and crushed the outbuilding he was in.

10. Feb 6, 2020Flood$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Although heavy rain gradually wound down across Pickens County through the evening, high water conditions persisted, including throughout the Saluda River and Twelvemile Creek basin into the daylight hours of the 7th. Major flooding developed along the Saluda during this time, and the flooding in the west Greenville area was the worst since October 1964. Multiple structures were inundated in extreme southeast Pickens County, including homes on Shady Acres Circle and Old Easley Bridge Rd. Meanwhile. the stream gauge on Twelvemile Creek near Liberty remained in moderate to major flooding until around sunrise on the 7th. However, flooding persisted on the Saluda River, and multiple…

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°F3 times, most recently Aug 21, 1983

All-time low

−6°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

78°FAug 22, 1968

Coldest day

22°F2 times, most recently Dec 25, 1983

Wettest day

8.02 inSep 7, 2004

Snowiest day

8.5 inJan 22, 1987

Hottest year

1990mean 63.0°F

Coldest year

1996mean 58.3°F

Wettest year

196478.46 in

Driest year

198133.34 in

Snowiest season

11.0 in1971-72

Station Pickens (USC00386831), 1,075 ft elevation, 5.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1951 to September 30, 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 USC00386831.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.