315
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
20
Direct injuries
$4.8M
Property damage
Thunderstorm Wind in Sampson County, North Carolina: 315 recorded events between 1966 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 87. That places the county #402 nationally and #15 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Thunderstorm Wind in Sampson County, North Carolina: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for thunderstorm wind in Sampson County is the 2010s, when 98 of the county's 315 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Sampson County archive, thunderstorm wind makes up 57.9% of all recorded severe weather across 7 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #402 for this hazard and #15 within North Carolina, putting it in the 87.2 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for thunderstorm wind in Sampson County with 77 recorded events, while Oct is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 30, 2017 | PINEY GREEN | 78 | 0 | 12 | $3.5M |
| Jan 13, 2020 | TAYLORS BRIDGE | 74 | 0 | 3 | $250K |
| Mar 9, 1998 | SALEMBURG | 50 | 0 | 3 | $90K |
| Mar 8, 2005 | AUTRYVILLE | 60 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| May 24, 1988 | 0 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 31, 2025 | MINGO | 50 | $5K |
| Jun 27, 2025 | MIDWAY | 50 | $1K |
| Jun 27, 2025 | HERRING | 50 | $1K |
| Jun 27, 2025 | ROSIN HILL | 50 | $1K |
| Jun 25, 2025 | HALLS STORE | 50 | $3K |
| Jun 25, 2025 | KEENER | 50 | $3K |
| Jun 25, 2025 | BONNETSVILLE | 50 | $2K |
| Jun 25, 2025 | HOBBTON | 50 | $5K |
| Jun 20, 2025 | CLINTON | 50 | $5K |
| Jun 20, 2025 | HERRING | 50 | $5K |
Other hazards here
More from Sampson County
- Hail 137
- Flash Flood 54
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Damage in the form of snapped and uprooted trees to the west of |Union Intermediate School structure, along with the more significant roof uplift |and partial outer wall collapse of the schools gymnasium occurred |in a clear fan-like fashion. Three students were treated for minor injuries and transported to the hospital.
On Wednesday evening at 7:05 PM on June 1st, 2022 a microburst with estimated peak wind gusts of 100 mph occurredjust to the south of Salemburg, NC. A majority of the damage occurred near the intersection of Old Salemburg Road and Lyman Road. Several small outbuildings were completely destroyed, with significant damage to two other barns. Numerous hardwood trees in this area were uprooted or snapped off. Two residential homes also sustained minor damage, mainly from loss of singles and a window blown out along with a storm door destroyed. The pattern of the damage was |fanned out, with the most significant damage aligned with the storm motion to the south.
A thunderstorm produced a pair of microbursts 5 miles east of Salemburg in Sampson county. On Bearskin Road, a double-wide trailer was rolled over and off the foundation. The trailer was completely destroyed. Other trailers in the same area, one just a few hundred feet from the destroyed one, were left undamaged. Another microburst was noted about a half- mile east of the first one. The microburst rolled another unsecured manufactured home on Five Bridges Road. Several pine tress were snapped off but most trees in the area sustained little damage.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many thunderstorm wind events are on record in Sampson County, North Carolina?
315 thunderstorm wind events are recorded in Sampson County between 1966 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest thunderstorm wind recorded in Sampson County?
The strongest thunderstorm wind on record in Sampson County measured 87.
Where does the thunderstorm wind data for Sampson County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Thunderstorm Wind in Sampson County, North Carolina.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-carolina/sampson-county/thunderstorm-wind/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.