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Nash County, North Carolina severe weather history spans 429 recorded events between 1953 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 59.2% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,136 nationally and #42 in North Carolina.
429
Recorded events
8
Direct deaths
58
Direct injuries
$524.9M
Property damage
The record
What the Nash County, North Carolina severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Nash County, North Carolina severe weather history averages 6.0 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 123 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 46 events fall before 1990 and 383 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Nash County, North Carolina record is flash flood, responsible for 6 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $309.7M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Nash County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 254 | 0 | $911K | 65 | 1974–2025 |
| Hail | 101 | 0 | $5K | 2.75 | 1976–2025 |
| Flash Flood | 35 | 6 | $127K | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Tornado | 19 | 2 | $309.7M | F4 | 1953–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 12 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2020 |
| Lightning | 6 | 0 | $770K | 0 | 1998–2022 |
| Flood | 2 | 0 | $213.4M | 0 | 2016–2020 |
Decade by decade
Nash 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
17 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 14 touched down inside it and 3 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988-11-27 | EF4 | 4 | 154 | 83.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2024-09-27 | EF3 | 0 | 15 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2023-07-19 | EF3 | 0 | 16 | 13.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1953-03-15 | EF3 | 0 | 1 | 30.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2019-05-13 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 17.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 1984-03-28 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1981-02-11 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2019-04-19 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 11.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2009-05-05 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 1996-04-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Nash County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16, 1999 | Flash Flood | COUNTYWIDE | 4 | 0 | $0 |
| Nov 28, 1988 | Tornado | 2 | 22 | $2.5M | |
| Aug 6, 2025 | Flash Flood | SPRING HOPE | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 19, 2023 | Tornado | DORTCHES | 0 | 16 | $300.0M |
| Sep 27, 2024 | Tornado | LITTLE EASONBURG | 0 | 15 | $1.2M |
| Jul 12, 2003 | Lightning | ROCKY MT WILSON ARPT | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Jun 17, 2022 | Lightning | (RWI)ROCKY MT WILSON | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Apr 29, 1989 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Torrential rainfall of 8 to 12 inches caused widespread flash flooding across the county. Additional heavy rainfall upstream caused major flooding along the Tar River Basin. Flooding damaged approximately 1,761 structures throughout the county, resulting in $213.4 million in property damage, and $20 million in crop damage. Numerous streets and roads were reported flooded, with several washouts reported on secondary roads.
A powerful but brief tornado touched down in Rocky Mount North Carolina around 12:30 PM. While the path was short, the damage was intense, as all but one of the masonry exterior walls was blown over at an auto repair shop, and another nearby brick building was completely leveled with none of the walls left standing. Many of the surrounding building were damaged from brick and masonry blocks that were picked up and thrown into the walls and windows of the nearby buildings. Dozens of vehicles, including several large trucks, were picked up and tossed around.
A tornado touched down just northwest of the City of Rocky Mount along the Thomas A Betts Parkway. The tornado continued north, producing intermittent tree damage in the form of snapped and uprooted hardwood trees, sliding just west of the Belmont Lake Golf course. The tornado strengthened and widened to a peak width of roughly 350 yards as it intersected NC-4 just West of Battleboro, producing a rather widespread swath of snapped and uprooted trees along with EF-1 damage to several farm outbuildings and one residence which lost considerable roof sheeting. A Tornado Debris Signature (TDS) from KRAX became rather apparent at this point. The storm continued north before taking a quick jog to the northeast as it began to weaken just west of Whitakers. The tornado remained on the ground producing intermittent tree damage as it passed over Fishing Creek, entering into Halifax County before lifting roughly a mile into the county just north of Low Ground Road. While tornado damage was not observed north of this point, debris continued to be deposited several miles north of the damage path.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
96,216
Population (ACS)
$191K
Median home value
28
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 |
| Aug 6, 2024 | Tropical Storm | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | EM |
| Oct 1, 2022 | Hurricane | HURRICANE IAN | EM |
| Aug 2, 2020 | Hurricane | HURRICANE ISAIAS | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Nash County, North Carolina?
429 events are on record between 1953 and 2025, causing 8 direct deaths and $524.9M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Nash County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 254 recorded events — 59.2% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Nash County?
17 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 14 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Nash County?
28 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Nash County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Nash County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Nash County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 81 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Nash 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
- Moore County 532
- New Hanover County 605
- Montgomery County 261
- Northampton County 239
- Mitchell County 100
- Onslow County 542
Cite this page
“Nash County, North Carolina.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-carolina/nash-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.