Sumter County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 7, 2004Tornado$1.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency manager reported 55 homes damaged, 9 destroyed, and 3 injuries.

2. Oct 8, 2016High Wind, Sumter$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Law Enforcement, Department of Transportation, Media and Public reports numerous downed trees and power lines throughout the county. Areas of Highway 378 between Columbia and Sumter had blocked lanes due to downed trees, and over 25 streets were closed in the city of Sumter due to downed trees and power lines. Power outages were extensive throughout the county and especially in and around the city of Sumter. Duke Energy and City Officials reported virtually all of the city of Sumter and areas south leading to Clarendon County were without power due to downed main transmission lines. Reports indicated between 25,000 to 30,000 homes lost electrical power. Curfews were initiated…

3. Aug 1, 2012Lightning$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Item reported that the Shiloh United Methodist Church, built in 1831, was destroyed by fire. Damage estimates were at 1.3 million dollars.

4. Sep 15, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$738,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   EPD reported scattered trees and powerlines down. Eighty four homes had minor damage, 12 had major damage, and 10 mobile homes had minor damage.

5. Jul 15, 1997Lightning$225,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning destroyed half of a Longleaf Drive home.

6. Sep 27, 2024Tropical Storm, Sumter$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many trees and power lines downed. Some were roads closed. Sections of the county were without power. A few structures damaged by falling trees. Shaw Air Force Base (KSSC) measured a maximum sustained wind of 26 kts (30 mph) and a maximum gust of 45 kts (52 mph). Some minor flooding observed with 1 to 3 inches of rain through the entire county. Maximum measured rainfall was 2.57 inches at a CoCoRaHS gage north of Shaw AFB.

7. Apr 9, 2011Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Public reported hail up to tennis ball size near Shaw AFB.

8. Jun 27, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$88,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency Manager reported trees and powerlines down. Three roofs on buildings heavily damaged at the public works facility and a couple of trees were on homes on Jerry Street and Hwy 15.

9. Sep 25, 2011Lightning$87,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sumter County Newspaper reported a barn struck by lightning burnt down and 9 horses were killed.

10. Apr 5, 2012Hail$80,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Public reported quarter size hail damaged their windshield near mile marker 135 on I-95. Other vehicles sustained damaged windshields and dents.

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, 2.4 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.