Vance County, North Carolina severe weather history spans 209 recorded events between 1961 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 58.9% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,388 nationally and #80 in North Carolina.
209
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$12.5M
Property damage
The record
What the Vance County, North Carolina severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Vance County, North Carolina severe weather history averages 3.3 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 57 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 26 events fall before 1990 and 183 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Vance County, North Carolina record is flash flood, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $11.6M 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 Vance County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 123 | 0 | $346K | 60 | 1961–2025 |
| Hail | 53 | 0 | $3K | 3 | 1981–2023 |
| Flash Flood | 16 | 1 | $71K | 0 | 1996–2025 |
| Tornado | 8 | 0 | $11.6M | F2 | 1993–2024 |
| Heavy Rain | 5 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2020 |
| Lightning | 3 | 0 | $510K | 0 | 1998–2004 |
| Flood | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2020–2020 |
Decade by decade
Vance 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
8 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 7 touched down inside it and 1 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-02-24 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 1995-10-27 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-09-27 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2010-10-27 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 2.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2003-05-09 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2001-05-19 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-04-16 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-06-04 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Vance County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 26, 2002 | Flash Flood | HENDERSON | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 3, 1998 | Lightning | MIDDLEBURG | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A tornado first touched down 4 W of Henderson near Interstate 85. The storm moved north and crossed Interstate 85. Sporadic damage occurred to mostly pine trees around the Ruin Creek Road area until the storm hit the Camperland business sales lot. Here, 25 RV's and five Uhauls were destroyed. The roof of the business was blown off. A few blocks away a medical clinic was destroyed. For several blocks down the road, there was damage to roofs of a department store, grocery, hospital, and shopping center.
A tornado touched down over a large private building near Technology Ln and Poplar Creek Rd east of Oxford. The tornado ripped off the roof of the building and moved two HVAC units. The tornado crossed over Interstate 85 and into the Vance and Granville community college campus, breaking and snapping some soft and hardwood trees. The tornado then lifted just north of the community college, however roof debris from the private building was found lofted into a residential tree north of US Highway 158.
The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado touched|down in eastern Granville County and continued into western Vance|County. Once the tornado crossed into Vance County, it continued for another 2.5 miles. The total path length was approximately 5 miles.||The damage along this path consisted of several stands of|softwood trees snapped and blown down, several outbuildings blown|down and/or destroyed, several cars and storage trailers uplifted|and carried up to 50 yards away, and seven homes that were|damaged, including one that was destroyed (roof and two exterior|walls blown away). The degree of damage along most of the path|suggested 95 to 110 mph wind speeds (EF-1), with a small segment|of the path having more intense damage which suggested top wind|speeds of 125 mph (EF-2).
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
42,322
Population (ACS)
$162K
Median home value
23
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 24, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| 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 |
| Mar 25, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Vance County, North Carolina?
209 events are on record between 1961 and 2025, causing 1 direct deaths and $12.5M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Vance County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 123 recorded events — 58.9% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Vance County?
8 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 Vance County?
23 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Vance County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Vance County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Vance County as relatively low risk, placing it in the 48 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Vance 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
- Union County 502
- Wake County 1,516
- Tyrrell County 86
- Warren County 216
- Transylvania County 276
- Washington County 133
Cite this page
“Vance County, North Carolina.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/north-carolina/vance-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.