PlainHazard

South Carolina drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 28 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 831 drought records in South Carolina from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 67 a year since 2000. South Carolina ranks 28th of 51 states and territories by count and 25th of 50 per square mile.

Drought in South Carolina, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
8311996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
67average
Deaths
00 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
–as filed
Busiest year
2001166 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in South Carolina?

South Carolina averages about 67 drought records a year since 2000, 28th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2001 (166). Per 10,000 square miles of land, South Carolina records 276 drought records since 1996, 25th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466
  11. 25. South Carolina 276

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in South Carolina have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Cherokee County leads South Carolina: 36 days with a drought record since 1996, 91.6 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Oconee County has the most drought records (81 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Cherokee County 91.6 (36)
  2. Greenwood County 85.6 (40)
  3. Abbeville County 85.5 (42)
  4. Pickens County 78.5 (77)
  5. Union County 70.1 (36)
  6. Oconee County 67.0 (81)
  7. Anderson County 58.8 (42)
  8. Chester County 58.5 (34)
  9. Allendale County 53.9 (22)
  10. Laurens County 53.3 (38)
  11. York County 50.0 (34)
  12. Greenville County 49.6 (79)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in South Carolina?

South Carolina's drought records by month. The busiest month is August (130 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 26 · Feb 21 · Mar 25 · Apr 51 · May 99 · Jun 80 · Jul 79 · Aug 130 · Sep 91 · Oct 79 · Nov 93 · Dec 57 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in South Carolina?

South Carolina's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: South Carolina and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeSouth CarolinaUnited StatesSouth Carolina's share
1996-991255,6002.2%
2000s63118,5713.4%
2010s4131,4410.1%
2020-263430,1470.1%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in South Carolina

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-05-01 DroughtYork County · forecast zone York 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtUnion County · forecast zone Union 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtSpartanburg County · forecast zone Southern Spartanburg 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtGreenville County · forecast zone Southern Greenville 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtPickens County · forecast zone Pickens Mountains 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtOconee County · forecast zone Oconee Mountains 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtSpartanburg County · forecast zone Northern Spartanburg 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtLaurens County · forecast zone Laurens 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtGreenwood County · forecast zone Greenwood 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtGreenville County · forecast zone Greenville Mountains 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtPickens County · forecast zone Greater Pickens 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtOconee County · forecast zone Greater Oconee 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in South Carolina

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in South Carolina for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on August 4, 1977.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1977-08-04EM-3047Drought31

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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