Cleveland County, North Carolina

What hazards hit Cleveland County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 276 since 1960. 51% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1960 fell in June and July. The rank column places the county among North Carolina's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Cleveland County had?

NOAA records 28 tornadoes in Cleveland County from 1973 to 2024, the strongest rated F4, with 0 deaths and 36 injuries recorded in the county. That is 13th of 100 North Carolina counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 29 tornadoes whose track touched Cleveland County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 28: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 4 people, 0 of them in Cleveland County.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in North Carolina.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Cleveland County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 25, 2025 thunderstorm wind ($20,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Cleveland County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

51% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1960 fell in June and July. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Cleveland County

FEMA's register lists 20 declarations that include Cleveland County: 9 major disasters, 11 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (7) and snowstorm (4).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Cleveland County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 21 flood or flash flood records for Cleveland County from 2001 to 2025, on 19 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Cleveland County ranks 1629th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $740,000 on 54 claims filed in Cleveland County; the most in one year was 10 in 2010. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Cleveland County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Cleveland County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $27.3 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Cleveland County

1. Burke County 979
2. Rutherford County 801
3. York County, SC 756
4. Cleveland County 681
5. Gaston County 651
6. Cherokee County, SC 568
7. Lincoln County 537

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in North CarolinaEvery North Carolina tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in North CarolinaThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The North Carolina recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Cleveland CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Cleveland County's FEMA declarations (CSV)20 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis