NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Gaffney, SC
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
23 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Gaffney, South Carolina since 1851, 2 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Zeta in 2020. Since 1950, 96 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 2
- Tropical storms
- 21
- Tornadoes
- 96
- EF3 or stronger
- 4
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
4 deaths in all
What the records show for Gaffney
The strongest storm to pass near Gaffney was an unnamed storm in 1893, a Category 1 hurricane with 79 mph winds when its centre passed 55 miles away. The closest pass by a hurricane was Hugo in 1989, whose centre came within 23 miles. The record near Gaffney begins with an unnamed storm in 1859; the most recent system was Zeta in 2020, a tropical storm 68 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1900s, with 4 systems. Of the 23 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Of the 246 South Carolina cities on this site, 69% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Gaffney. The strongest of the 96 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on May 5, 1989; its path came within 14 miles, and it killed 2 people. Of the 96, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 44 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 21. The most recent tornado was on December 29, 2024. Gaffney has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 77% of the 246 South Carolina cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 105 times since 1976, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Gaffney has more hail reports within 10 miles than 74% of the 246 South Carolina cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Gaffney
Of the 23 tracks on the map, 10 were moving northeast as they passed Gaffney, 8 north and 3 northwest. The unnamed 1893 storm, the strongest pass, was heading north; its centre passed 55 miles east of Gaffney. None made landfall within 75 miles of Gaffney; 18 of the 23 were hurricanes at their peak, 2 at their closest to the city. In the last 30 seasons (1996–2025), 2 came near Gaffney: 0.7 a decade, against 1.4 a decade from 1851 to 1995.
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2018 | MichaelOct 11 | 44 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1989 | HugoSep 22 | 23 mi | Category 1 (74 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1985 | BobJul 25 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 5 | 61 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1965 | Unnamed 1965 stormJun 16 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1959 | GracieSep 30 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleAug 31 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 28 | 9 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1927 | Unnamed 1927 stormOct 3 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 15 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 3 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 49 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 23 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormSep 18 | 42 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1901 | Unnamed 1901 stormSep 28 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 4 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 28 | 55 mi | Category 1 (79 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 24 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJun 22 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 11 | 16 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 17 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Gaffney: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Gaffney
By decade
- 2020s14
- 2010s15
- 2000s15
- 1990s28(1 EF3+)
- 1980s4(1 EF3+)
- 1970s11(1 EF3+)
- 1960s6
- 1950s3(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 1989 | F4 | 14 mi | 15 mi | 2 / 35 |
| May 10, 1952 | F3 | 22 mi | 22.7 mi | 2 / 4 |
| Aug 16, 1994 | F3 | 11 mi | 30 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 27, 1973 | F3 | 11 mi | 60.2 mi | 0 / 40 |
| Feb 6, 2020 | EF2 | 16 mi | 8.66 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 23, 2017 | EF2 | 5 mi | 4.86 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 23, 2017 | EF2 | 17 mi | 3.02 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Oct 8, 2017 | EF2 | 20 mi | 22.28 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 11, 2012 | EF2 | 21 mi | 3.8 mi | 0 / 10 |
| Feb 21, 1997 | F2 | 20 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 16, 1994 | F2 | 13 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Aug 16, 1994 | F2 | 10 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 96, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Gaffney
The Storm Prediction Center has 105 hail reports within 10 miles of Gaffney since 1976, made on 83 separate days. Of these, 53 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on April 9, 2011. The most recent report is from May 20, 2025. May has the most reports, 30.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Gaffney
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Ninety Nine Is, SC, 10 miles east of Gaffney at 500 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 51°F and 27°F. August is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and October the driest at 3.1 inches; the year adds up to 45.3 inches over 67 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 50% of the year's precipitation (22.6 of 45.3 inches). September has brought the most of the 23 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (9); a normal September there has highs of 81°F and 3.6 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 34 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 93 nights a year. That 45.3 inches is more than at 14 of the 78 South Carolina stations used on this site (18%). Cowpens, 9 miles west, has its own station (Chesnee 7 WSW, SC): 51.6 inches a year, 6.3 more than here, and a July average high of 89°F against 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 51 | 27 | 3.7 | 6 |
| Feb | 55 | 29 | 3.3 | 6 |
| Mar | 63 | 35 | 4.4 | 7 |
| Apr | 72 | 43 | 3.7 | 6 |
| May | 78 | 53 | 3.6 | 5 |
| Jun | 84 | 62 | 4.1 | 6 |
| Jul | 88 | 66 | 3.7 | 6 |
| Aug | 86 | 65 | 4.7 | 5 |
| Sep | 81 | 58 | 3.6 | 5 |
| Oct | 72 | 46 | 3.1 | 4 |
| Nov | 62 | 34 | 3.4 | 5 |
| Dec | 54 | 29 | 4.0 | 6 |
| Year | 70 | 45 | 45.3 | 67 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Ninety Nine Is, SC (500 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Gaffney
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 192 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Gaffney: 178 thunderstorm wind reports, 6 flash floods, 6 lightning strikes, 1 flood and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 2 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $1.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on May 2, 2003. Of the 241 South Carolina cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 71 have had fewer than Gaffney.
May 26, 2022: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Gaffney — 1 killed, $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Multiple sources reported multiple trees blown down from the north side of Gaffney northeast along Highway 18. One tree fell on a house and another fell on a mobile home on E Jefferies St in Gaffney.”
July 4, 2013: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Gaffney — 1 killed.
NWS: “Multiple trees were blown down from the Thicketty community, across Gaffney to the Blacksburg area. One large tree limb fell on and killed a 34-year old man standing in front of his house on 7th St in Gaffney.”
May 10, 2011: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Gaffney — 1 injured.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Cherokee County, which includes Gaffney, has been named in 24 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 hurricanes, 4 ice storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Hurricane Helene, on September 29, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Cherokee County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for hurricanes, hail, inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $23.4 million a year, the 28th highest of 46 South Carolina counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $11.9 million (51%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Gaffney
- Cowpens, SC9 mi
- Blacksburg, SC10 mi
- Pacolet, SC13 mi
- Grover, NC13 mi
- Mooresboro, NC13 mi
- Chesnee, SC14 mi
- Shelby, NC16 mi
- Jonesville, SC17 mi
- Spartanburg, SC18 mi
- Boiling Springs, SC18 mi
- Ellenboro, NC20 mi
- Sharon, SC20 mi
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