NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Simpsonville, 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
20 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Simpsonville, South Carolina since 1851, 1 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Helene in 2024. Since 1950, 89 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 1
- Tropical storms
- 19
- Tornadoes
- 89
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Simpsonville
The strongest storm to pass near Simpsonville was Hugo in 1989, a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph winds when its centre passed 63 miles away. The record near Simpsonville begins with an unnamed storm in 1859; the most recent system was Helene in 2024, a tropical storm 58 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1900s, with 4 systems. Of the 20 systems, 3 have come since 2000. Of the 246 South Carolina cities on this site, 81% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Simpsonville. The highest rating among the 89 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 27, 1973, came within 7 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on May 10, 1952, killed 2 people. Of the 89, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 36 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 16. The most recent tornado was on May 3, 2025. Simpsonville has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 69% of the 246 South Carolina cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 178 times since 1959, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Simpsonville has more hail reports within 10 miles than 92% of the 246 South Carolina cities.
Compare Simpsonville's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Simpsonville
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | HeleneSep 27 | 58 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 71 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2018 | MichaelOct 11 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1989 | HugoSep 22 | 63 mi | Category 1 (75 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1965 | Unnamed 1965 stormJun 16 | 68 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1959 | GracieSep 30 | 54 mi | Tropical storm (51 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 28 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1946 | Unnamed 1946 stormOct 9 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1916 | Unnamed 1916 stormJul 15 | 4 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 3 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1912 | Unnamed 1912 stormJun 14 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 23 | 22 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormSep 18 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1901 | Unnamed 1901 stormSep 28 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormOct 3 | 57 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 24 | 47 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJun 22 | 40 mi | Tropical storm (44 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 11 | 19 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 Simpsonville: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Simpsonville
By decade
- 2020s13
- 2010s12
- 2000s11
- 1990s23
- 1980s7
- 1970s11(1 EF3+)
- 1960s9
- 1950s3(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10, 1952 | F3 | 4 mi | 22.7 mi | 2 / 4 |
| May 27, 1973 | F3 | 7 mi | 60.2 mi | 0 / 40 |
| Apr 25, 2020 | EF2 | 10 mi | 5.47 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 23, 2017 | EF2 | 22 mi | 3.02 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Oct 8, 2017 | EF2 | 21 mi | 22.28 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 13, 2005 | F2 | 19 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jan 7, 1998 | F2 | 20 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Feb 21, 1997 | F2 | 20 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 27, 1994 | F2 | 24 mi | 45.4 mi | 0 / 13 |
| Apr 4, 1989 | F2 | 16 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 4, 1989 | F2 | 12 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 17, 1985 | F2 | 21 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 39 |
The strongest 12 of 89, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Simpsonville
The Storm Prediction Center has 178 hail reports within 10 miles of Simpsonville since 1959, made on 118 separate days. Of these, 88 were 1 inch across or larger, and 6 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on March 21, 2017. The most recent report is from June 25, 2025. May has the most reports, 47.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Simpsonville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Greenville, SC, 8 miles northwest of Simpsonville at 960 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 52°F and 30°F. December is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.5 inches; the year adds up to 50.6 inches over 74 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 50% of the year's precipitation (25.3 of 50.6 inches). September has brought the most of the 20 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (9); a normal September there has highs of 80°F and 4.0 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 24 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 73 nights a year. That 50.6 inches is more than at 53 of the 78 South Carolina stations used on this site (68%). Piedmont, 11 miles west, has its own station (W Pelzer, SC): 48.0 inches a year, 2.6 less than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 52 | 30 | 4.4 | 6 |
| Feb | 56 | 33 | 3.5 | 6 |
| Mar | 64 | 39 | 4.3 | 6 |
| Apr | 72 | 47 | 4.2 | 7 |
| May | 78 | 56 | 3.8 | 6 |
| Jun | 84 | 65 | 4.4 | 7 |
| Jul | 87 | 68 | 4.6 | 7 |
| Aug | 86 | 68 | 4.4 | 6 |
| Sep | 80 | 62 | 4.0 | 6 |
| Oct | 70 | 50 | 3.9 | 5 |
| Nov | 61 | 39 | 4.0 | 6 |
| Dec | 54 | 33 | 5.1 | 6 |
| Year | 70 | 49 | 50.6 | 74 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Greenville, SC (960 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 Simpsonville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 207 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Simpsonville: 189 thunderstorm wind reports, 11 flash floods, 3 heavy rain events, 2 floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $2.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on July 16, 2010. Of the 241 South Carolina cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 131 have had fewer than Simpsonville.
August 20, 2006: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Simpsonville — 1 killed.
June 21, 2011: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Simpsonville — 1 injured.
NWS: “Several trees were blown down on Scuffletown Rd. One tree crushed a recreational vehicle, injuring an occupant.”
July 8, 2013: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Simpsonville — $500,000 damage.
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
Flood insurance policyholders in Simpsonville's 2 ZIP codes have filed 78 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1987, and were paid $934,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Helene in 2024: 21 claims (27% of all) and $487,000. 28% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 110 South Carolina cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 69 have fewer than Simpsonville.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Helene2024 | 21 | $487,000 |
Greenville County, which includes Simpsonville, has been named in 26 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 10 of them major disasters (by incident: 11 hurricanes, 3 ice storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 fires). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on April 7, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Greenville County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for lightning; Relatively High for tornadoes, inland flooding and strong wind; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, hail and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $169.0 million a year, the 6th highest of 46 South Carolina counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $104.5 million (62%), 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.