Campbell County
Population 40,290 (2025) 480 sq mi
Large wildfires have burned 56,016 acres of Campbell County since 1984, more than any other of Tennessee's 95 counties; the largest was the Stinking Creek Fire in 2016.
Hazard fingerprint Each spoke is this county’s percentile among U.S. counties where that hazard occurs. How it is computed
- Tornado damage paths since 19501
- Tropical cyclone tracks within 100 miles since 1851, wider where stronger4
- Wildfire burn scars since 198427
At a glance
The record for Campbell County in eight numbers. Each links to its section below.
Acres burned since 1984
56,016
Most of any of Tennessee’s 95 counties
27 large fires; the largest was Stinking Creek, 2016
DetailsTropical cyclones within 50 mi
2
64th of 95 in Tennessee
None at hurricane strength since 1851
DetailsTornadoes since 1950
1
95th of 95 in Tennessee
Fewer than the typical Tennessee county, which has had 16
DetailsStrongest tornado
EF3
July 27, 2014, 4.7 mile path
Strongest tropical cyclone
TS
Tropical storm Helene, 2024, 13.3 miles away
Tornadoes
About one every 76 years since 1950, one of them rated F3/EF3 or stronger.
Strongest
July 27, 2014
EF3, 4.7 mile path
800 yards wide.
Most recent
Sunday, July 27, 2014
EF3, 4.7 mile path
12 years ago.
Every recorded tornado
| Jul 27, 2014 | EF3 | 4.7 | 0 | 0 |
- Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Campbell County: 0.
- 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.
Hurricanes and tropical storms
2 passed within 50 miles since 1851; none at hurricane strength.
Strongest within 50 miles
September 27, 2024
Helene, Tropical storm
13.3 miles at closest approach, winds near 48 mph.
Most recent
September 27, 2024
Helene, Tropical storm
13.3 miles at closest approach.
Every storm within 100 miles
- 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.
Wildfire and smoke
56,016 acres burned in 27 large fires since 1984, equal to 18% of the land.
Largest
November 9, 2016
Stinking Creek Fire, 10,783 acres
10,768 acres inside Campbell County.
Most recent
November 11, 2023
Scott County- Huntsville- 6561 Smokey Creek Road- Fire
5,061 acres in total.
Every large fire
| Scott County- Huntsville- 6561 Smokey Creek Road- | 2023 | 304 | 5,061 |
| Stinking Creek | 2016 | 10,768 | 10,783 |
| Charles Branch Lane | 2016 | 49 | 1,072 |
| Hwy 25 - High Cliff | 2013 | 506 | 508 |
| Westbourne Rd | 2009 | 500 | 503 |
| High Cliff | 2008 | 556 | 559 |
| Unnamed | 2008 | 1,396 | 1,398 |
| West Bourne Mtn 2 | 2007 | 1,161 | 1,164 |
| Hwy 63 | 2006 | 629 | 635 |
| Unnamed | 2006 | 214 | 1,449 |
| Cap Knob | 2005 | 1,193 | 1,837 |
| Unnamed | 2001 | 659 | 738 |
| Unnamed | 2001 | 1,070 | 1,071 |
| Unnamed | 2001 | 664 | 665 |
| Unnamed | 2000 | 528 | 528 |
| Unnamed | 2000 | 31 | 5,377 |
| Unnamed | 2000 | 1,399 | 1,400 |
| Unnamed | 2000 | 701 | 702 |
| Unnamed | 2000 | 2 | 2,056 |
| Unnamed | 2000 | 7,426 | 8,076 |
| Unnamed | 1987 | 3,283 | 11,678 |
| Unnamed | 1987 | 1,447 | 1,450 |
| Unnamed | 1987 | 2,060 | 3,911 |
| Unnamed | 1987 | 1,913 | 1,913 |
| Unnamed | 1987 | 7,375 | 10,333 |
| Unnamed | 1987 | 5,972 | 5,982 |
| Unnamed | 1987 | 4,194 | 4,196 |
- 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
Smokiest year
2023: 47 days
Heavy smoke on 6 days in 2023, the most of any year.
Last 10 years
11.4 days a year
Medium or heavy smoke, 2016 to 2025.
2025
12 days
Medium or heavy smoke. 28 so far in 2026.
- 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.
Floods and flood insurance
60 federal flood insurance claims since 1979, with $710,000 paid.
Most claims in one year
2021: 11 claims
$215,000 paid.
2nd most
1984: 10 claims
$22,000 paid.
3rd most
2020: 9 claims
$201,000 paid.
Claims by ZIP code
| 37762 | 32 | $437,000 |
| 37819 | 17 | $188,000 |
| 37766 | 7 | $46,000 |
Flood events since 1996
- Flash Flood19
- Flood13
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.
Drought
In severe drought or worse for 72 of 1,581 months since 1895 (5%); the longest spell lasted 13 months.
72
Months in severe drought or worse since 1895
18
Months in extreme drought
5%
Share of all months, severe or worse
1
Drought reports to the Weather Service since 1996
Lowest reading
May 1941
−4.96, extreme drought
Longest severe spell
13 months
July 1930 to July 1931.
Latest month
September 2026
+0.76, incipient wet spell
Last severe month: November 2008.
- 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.
Earthquakes and landslides
11 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles since 1900; the largest was magnitude 4.7 in 1973.
7
Magnitude 2.5+ inside the county since 1973
44
Magnitude 3+ within 50 miles since 1973
11
Magnitude 4+ within 50 miles since 1900
0
Magnitude 5+ within 50 miles since 1900
Largest within 50 miles
November 30, 1973
Magnitude 4.7
1 km NE of Alcoa, Tennessee; 30.2 miles away, 1.9 miles deep.
Most recent, magnitude 3 or more
May 10, 2025
Magnitude 4.1
21 km SE of Greenback, Tennessee; 46.0 miles away.
Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles
| May 10, 2025 | 4.1 | 46.0 |
| Dec 12, 2018 | 4.4 | 46.3 |
| Aug 17, 1990 | 4.0 | 41.0 |
| Mar 27, 1987 | 4.2 | 42.3 |
| Mar 27, 1987 | 4.2 | 42.0 |
| Jan 19, 1976 | 4.0 | 22.3 |
| Nov 30, 1973 | 4.7 | 30.2 |
| Sep 7, 1956 | 4.1 | 6.4 |
| Jan 1, 1954 | 4.3 | 15.7 |
| Mar 28, 1913 | 4.1 | 16.7 |
| Mar 4, 1904 | 4.0 | 48.5 |
- 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).
- 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
4
Landslides mapped, probable or better
4
With a recorded date
1
Source inventory
Mapped by NASA (4).
- 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.
Severe weather and other events
357 events in the National Weather Service record, 333 of them since 1996.
25
Hail reports, 1 inch or larger
1
Hail, 2 inches or larger
155
Damaging gusts, 58 mph+
63
Winter weather events since 1996
0
Heat events since 1996
0
Cold events since 1996
Largest hail
June 15, 2007
4.25 inches
Strongest measured or estimated gust
July 13, 2004
75 mph
Costliest events since 1996
- Jun 7, 2019Flash Flood$6.4 million
National Weather Service narrative
Several small drainages off of the nearby hills north of town converge and then go under Hwy 63 near the middle school. Both Hwy 63 and some parking lots of businesses near the middle school were being covered by flowing water at this time. Water continued to rise such that by 8:00 p.m. major flash flooding was developing. At its worst, knee deep water was in structures on the north side of Hwy 63, while apartments and two churches on lower ground on the south side of the highway took four to eight feet of water. Elsewhere, a manufactured home on Cedar Creek near Fincastle was washed off of its foundation. Numerous roads were closed and vehicles flooded in the event. Radar…
- Feb 14, 2003Flood, Campbell$479,000
National Weather Service narrative
Four day rainfall totals of two to eight inches fell across east Tennessee, with the highest amounts occurring across the Cumberland Plateau and adjacent valleys areas. This rainfall combined with a melting snowpack (reports of up to a foot in the higher elevations) to produce widespread flooding of rivers and streams with numerous mudslides also reported (one notable mudslide pushed an apartment complex off its foundation in Knox County). The Powell, Clinch and Holston rivers measured the most significant rises with Claiborne, Rhea and Knox counties reporting the most significant damage.
- Mar 28, 2021Flash Flood$353,000
National Weather Service narrative
Flooding resulted in the evacuation of ten homes from Caryville to La Follette. A large span of ground beneath train tracks washed away. Multiple homes were flooded near Duff. Some mudslides were also reported across the area. Damages across the county from this flood event totaled $353,000.
- Jun 18, 2003Flash Flood$100,000
National Weather Service narrative
Roads, culverts, and private bridges washed out countywide.
- Jul 14, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
National Weather Service narrative
Powell Valley Marina was damaged as the roof was removed on part of the structure housing boats on Norris Lake.
- May 25, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
National Weather Service narrative
Trees and power lines were reported down across the county.
- Apr 3, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
National Weather Service narrative
Numerous trees were reported down across the county.
- Apr 26, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
National Weather Service narrative
A trained spotter reported multiple tress downed and large limbs on roofs by thunderstorm wind 2 miles northeast of Caryville near Jacksboro.
- Sep 23, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
National Weather Service narrative
Numerous trees and power lines were reported down across the county.
- Jul 4, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
National Weather Service narrative
Numerous trees and powerlines were reported down across the county.
- 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.
Weather records
From Norris, 12.2 miles from the county’s population centre, with records from 1935.
- All-time high
- 105°FJul 25, 1964
- All-time low
- −19°FJan 20, 1985
- Warmest night
- 79°FJun 8, 1984
- Coldest day
- −2°FJan 20, 1985
- Wettest day
- 6.70 inApr 4, 1977
- Snowiest day
- 11.0 inDec 23, 1963
- Hottest year
- 1946mean 59.6°F
- Coldest year
- 1996mean 54.3°F
- Wettest year
- 201971.80 in
- Driest year
- 195834.21 in
- Snowiest season
- 21.7 in1969-70
Median first snow
January 12
Earliest: November 12, 1968
Median last snow
January 31
Latest: April 7, 1971
13 of 47 winters had no measurable snow.
Station Norris (USC00406619), 1,110 ft elevation, 12.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1935 to October 22, 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.
Federal disaster declarations
25 since 1953. The most recent: Severe Winter Storm, February 6, 2026.
| Feb 6, 2026 | Winter Storm | DR-4898-TN |
| Jan 24, 2026 | Winter Storm | EM-3635-TN |
| Apr 2, 2025 | Severe Storm | EM-3625-TN |
| May 17, 2023 | Severe Storm | DR-4712-TN |
| May 8, 2021 | Tornado | DR-4601-TN |
| Apr 24, 2020 | Severe Storm | DR-4541-TN |
| Apr 2, 2020 | Biological | DR-4514-TN |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | EM-3473-TN |
| Apr 17, 2019 | Flood | DR-4427-TN |
| Apr 2, 2015 | Severe Ice Storm | DR-4211-TN |
| May 1, 2011 | Severe Storm | DR-1974-TN |
| May 4, 2010 | Severe Storm | DR-1909-TN |
| Sep 5, 2005 | Hurricane | EM-3217-TN |
| Oct 7, 2004 | Severe Storm | DR-1568-TN |
| May 8, 2003 | Severe Storm | DR-1464-TN |
| Mar 20, 2003 | Severe Storm | DR-1456-TN |
| Jan 15, 1999 | Severe Storm | DR-1260-TN |
| Apr 20, 1998 | Severe Storm | DR-1215-TN |
| Jan 13, 1998 | Severe Storm | DR-1197-TN |
| Feb 28, 1994 | Severe Storm | DR-1010-TN |
| Mar 14, 1993 | Snowstorm | EM-3095-TN |
| May 25, 1984 | Flood | DR-708-TN |
| Apr 29, 1977 | Flood | DR-533-TN |
| Jun 28, 1973 | Flood | DR-395-TN |
| May 15, 1972 | Flood | DR-331-TN |
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.
How this compares
Where Campbell County stands among 95 counties in Tennessee and 3,143 in the United States.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 1 | 95 / 95 |
| Tornadoes rated F3/EF3 or stronger | 1 | 55 / 95 |
| Tropical cyclones within 50 mi | 2 | 64 / 95 |
| Hurricane-strength passes within 50 mi | 0 | — |
| Wildfire acres since 1984 | 56,016 | 1 / 95 |
| Flood insurance claims | 60 | 37 / 95 |
| Flood insurance paid | $710,000 | 47 / 95 |
| Disaster declarations | 25 | 14 / 95 |
| Flood events since 1996 | 32 | 63 / 95 |
| Hail and wind events since 1996 | 236 | 46 / 95 |
| Winter storm events since 1996 | 63 | 30 / 95 |
| Reported damage since 1996 | $8.4 million | 65 / 95 |
| River crests at major flood stage | 0 | — |
| High tide flooding days a year, last 10 years | 0.0 | — |
| Months in severe drought since 1895 | 72 | 91 / 95 |
| Medium or heavy smoke days a year, last 10 years | 11.4 | 49 / 95 |
| Earthquakes M4+ within 50 mi since 1900 | 11 | 12 / 95 |
| Earthquakes M2.5+ in the county since 1973 | 7 | 16 / 95 |
Neighbouring counties
| Anderson County | 5 | 2 |
| Claiborne County | 10 | 2 |
| McCreary County KY | 10 | 2 |
| Scott County | 11 | 3 |
| Union County | 3 | 1 |
| Whitley County KY | 5 | 3 |
Sources and vintage
Every number on this page comes from these public records.
- 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 USC00406619.
- 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.