Cherokee County, North Carolina severe weather history spans 256 recorded events between 1965 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 64.8% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,068 nationally and #64 in North Carolina.
256
Recorded events
4
Direct deaths
26
Direct injuries
$30.6M
Property damage
The record
What the Cherokee County, North Carolina severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Cherokee County, North Carolina severe weather history averages 4.2 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 88 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 25 events fall before 1990 and 231 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Cherokee County, North Carolina record is tornado, responsible for 4 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $27.2M in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Cherokee County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 166 | 0 | $724K | 70 | 1965–2026 |
| Hail | 57 | 0 | $10K | 1.75 | 1981–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 12 | 0 | $2.7M | 0 | 1996–2022 |
| Tornado | 10 | 4 | $27.2M | F4 | 1974–2024 |
| Flood | 8 | 0 | $13K | 0 | 1998–2015 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $10K | 0 | 2025–2025 |
| Debris Flow | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2023–2023 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2022–2022 |
Decade by decade
Cherokee County, North Carolina severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
9 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 7 touched down inside it and 2 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974-04-03 | EF4 | 4 | 26 | 24.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2012-03-02 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 21.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-05-08 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1998-05-07 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 14.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1974-04-02 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 16.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2018-03-17 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 1991-04-16 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1979-09-21 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1974-04-04 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 9.7 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Cherokee County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 4, 1974 | Tornado | 4 | 26 | $25.0M |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
An EF-2 tornado with maximum wind speeds around 120 mph produced a damage path|21.5 miles long and 400 yards wide. The tornado track extended across almost the entire county and damaged the northern part of Murphy. The storm destroyed five homes and five businesses. The number of structures affected totaled one hundred eighteen. In Murphy, a Feed Store and two rows of commercial storage units were destoyed. Also, a shopping strip with a Sherwin-Williams store suffered heavy damage. ||Surprisingly there were no injuries reported despite the heavy damage and long track.
Multiple roads inundated. Multiple structures flooded. Some roadside washouts. For the Marble flash flood event, damages were estimated to be at least $1,000,000, with $750,000 of that going to road repair, and the remainder toward properties.
A vehicle was struck by a falling tree near the intersection of Airport Road and Love Road. No injuries were reported after EMS visited the scene. There was an additional report of a tree and power line down in the county.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
29,562
Population (ACS)
$232K
Median home value
16
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 24, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| Sep 28, 2024 | Tropical Storm | TROPICAL STORM HELENE | DR |
| Sep 26, 2024 | Tropical Storm | HURRICANE HELENE | EM |
| Oct 1, 2022 | Hurricane | HURRICANE IAN | EM |
| Aug 2, 2020 | Hurricane | HURRICANE ISAIAS | EM |
| May 8, 2020 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Cherokee County, North Carolina?
256 events are on record between 1965 and 2026, causing 4 direct deaths and $30.6M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Cherokee County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 166 recorded events — 64.8% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Cherokee County?
9 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 7 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Cherokee County?
16 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Cherokee County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Cherokee County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Cherokee County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 57 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Cherokee County, North Carolina severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Chatham County 450
- Chowan County 146
- Catawba County 549
- Clay County 123
- Caswell County 376
- Cleveland County 521
Cite this page
“Cherokee County, North Carolina.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-carolina/cherokee-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.