Ice Storm Risk in North Carolina

All North Carolina counties ranked by FEMA National Risk Index ice storm score

Ice Storm risk — freezing rain that coats surfaces in heavy, damaging ice — is rated for 100 of 100 North Carolina counties in FEMA's National Risk Index. Forsyth County carries the state's highest ice storm score at 97.8, with $3M in expected annual ice storm losses.

35 North Carolina counties are rated High or Very High for ice storm, and expected annual losses from ice storm total roughly $52M statewide. The full ranking below links to each county's complete 18-hazard risk profile.

County Rankings — Ice Storm

#CountyIce Storm ScoreRatingAnn. Freq.Ann. Loss
1 Forsyth County
97.8
Very High 2.12 / yr $3M
2 Gaston County
97.6
Very High 2.12 / yr $3M
3 Guilford County
96.7
Very High 1.87 / yr $2M
4 Cabarrus County
96.3
Very High 2.18 / yr $3M
5 Union County
96.2
Very High 1.92 / yr $3M
6 Catawba County
96.1
Very High 1.66 / yr $2M
7 Henderson County
95.6
Very High 1.67 / yr $1M
8 Davidson County
95.4
Very High 2.12 / yr $2M
9 Mecklenburg County
94.9
High 2.10 / yr $2M
10 Rowan County
94.9
High 2.11 / yr $2M
11 Buncombe County
94.2
High 0.85 / yr $2M
12 Iredell County
93.6
High 1.72 / yr $2M
13 Cleveland County
93.6
High 1.93 / yr $1M
14 Wilkes County
93.1
High 1.14 / yr $868K
15 Lincoln County
92.3
High 1.68 / yr $1M
16 Cumberland County
91.3
High 1.06 / yr $1M
17 Rutherford County
91.0
High 1.80 / yr $780K
18 Burke County
90.8
High 1.49 / yr $809K
19 New Hanover County
90.7
High 0.69 / yr $1M
20 Wake County
90.2
High 1.59 / yr $2M
21 Randolph County
89.5
High 1.82 / yr $800K
22 Robeson County
88.9
High 0.86 / yr $474K
23 Moore County
88.2
High 1.82 / yr $772K
24 Caldwell County
88.0
High 1.13 / yr $732K
25 Alexander County
87.6
High 1.38 / yr $541K
26 Polk County
87.2
High 1.86 / yr $497K
27 McDowell County
87.0
High 1.58 / yr $574K
28 Stanly County
86.1
High 2.10 / yr $702K
29 Davie County
85.7
High 1.98 / yr $637K
30 Transylvania County
85.0
High 1.56 / yr $452K
31 Alamance County
84.0
High 1.82 / yr $627K
32 Brunswick County
83.9
High 0.58 / yr $431K
33 Surry County
83.3
High 1.33 / yr $445K
34 Johnston County
82.5
High 1.04 / yr $541K
35 Durham County
82.4
High 1.72 / yr $552K
36 Rockingham County
82.1
Medium 1.90 / yr $401K
37 Watauga County
82.1
Medium 0.80 / yr $416K
38 Wayne County
81.4
Medium 0.87 / yr $349K
39 Lee County
81.3
Medium 1.84 / yr $346K
40 Columbus County
80.9
Medium 0.71 / yr $290K
41 Alleghany County
80.5
Medium 0.78 / yr $253K
42 Harnett County
79.8
Medium 1.36 / yr $432K
43 Sampson County
79.4
Medium 1.04 / yr $248K
44 Yadkin County
78.8
Medium 1.63 / yr $298K
45 Montgomery County
77.5
Medium 1.88 / yr $253K
46 Richmond County
77.2
Medium 1.30 / yr $244K
47 Stokes County
77.2
Medium 2.12 / yr $296K
48 Pitt County
77.0
Medium 0.72 / yr $325K
49 Haywood County
76.7
Medium 0.60 / yr $271K
50 Onslow County
76.4
Medium 0.65 / yr $394K
51 Anson County
75.5
Medium 1.54 / yr $188K
52 Carteret County
74.3
Medium 0.54 / yr $257K
53 Chatham County
74.1
Medium 1.80 / yr $261K
54 Pender County
73.9
Medium 0.87 / yr $284K
55 Orange County
73.5
Medium 1.80 / yr $331K
56 Yancey County
73.5
Medium 0.77 / yr $177K
57 Macon County
73.3
Medium 0.83 / yr $199K
58 Jackson County
73.2
Medium 0.54 / yr $175K
59 Avery County
72.3
Medium 0.73 / yr $188K
60 Craven County
71.9
Medium 0.73 / yr $203K
61 Swain County
71.8
Medium 0.32 / yr $150K
62 Bladen County
71.5
Medium 0.85 / yr $173K
63 Scotland County
71.5
Medium 0.93 / yr $142K
64 Duplin County
71.0
Medium 0.89 / yr $155K
65 Ashe County
69.0
Medium 0.54 / yr $144K
66 Mitchell County
68.3
Medium 0.72 / yr $170K
67 Hoke County
66.5
Medium 1.16 / yr $146K
68 Lenoir County
65.9
Medium 0.77 / yr $119K
69 Cherokee County
65.6
Medium 0.73 / yr $136K
70 Wilson County
65.3
Medium 0.81 / yr $145K
71 Madison County
62.9
Medium 0.49 / yr $153K
72 Nash County
60.7
Medium 1.14 / yr $118K
73 Halifax County
59.5
Low 1.05 / yr $82K
74 Beaufort County
55.4
Low 0.61 / yr $81K
75 Clay County
52.5
Low 1.04 / yr $54K
76 Vance County
52.4
Low 1.55 / yr $66K
77 Granville County
51.6
Low 1.59 / yr $87K
78 Warren County
46.0
Low 1.39 / yr $44K
79 Franklin County
43.3
Low 1.37 / yr $62K
80 Edgecombe County
42.4
Low 0.67 / yr $40K
81 Person County
41.9
Low 1.73 / yr $44K
82 Caswell County
41.1
Low 1.79 / yr $45K
83 Greene County
41.0
Low 0.77 / yr $35K
84 Pasquotank County
41.0
Low 0.63 / yr $48K
85 Northampton County
40.3
Low 0.98 / yr $32K
86 Hertford County
39.7
Low 0.68 / yr $33K
87 Pamlico County
39.0
Low 0.60 / yr $36K
88 Martin County
37.7
Low 0.61 / yr $40K
89 Bertie County
34.5
Low 0.64 / yr $27K
90 Jones County
28.5
Low 0.78 / yr $17K
91 Washington County
26.4
Very Low 0.53 / yr $16K
92 Currituck County
25.5
Very Low 0.59 / yr $38K
93 Dare County
24.5
Very Low 0.14 / yr $23K
94 Chowan County
23.3
Very Low 0.63 / yr $18K
95 Perquimans County
20.5
Very Low 0.61 / yr $13K
96 Graham County
19.2
Very Low 0.26 / yr $12K
97 Gates County
19.0
Very Low 0.73 / yr $14K
98 Tyrrell County
15.7
Very Low 0.41 / yr $6K
99 Camden County
13.3
Very Low 0.66 / yr $11K
100 Hyde County
12.6
Very Low 0.34 / yr $4K

100 North Carolina counties with measurable ice storm risk. See the national ice storm ranking or all North Carolina counties by overall risk.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which North Carolina county has the highest ice storm risk?

Forsyth County has the highest FEMA ice storm risk score in North Carolina at 97.8 (Very High), with $3M in expected annual losses and about 2.12 events per year.

How many North Carolina counties face significant ice storm risk?

100 North Carolina counties record measurable ice storm risk in FEMA's National Risk Index; 35 of them are rated High or Very High.

Other Hazards in North Carolina

Coastal Flood Cold Wave Drought Earthquake Hail Heat Wave Hurricane Riverine Flood Landslide Lightning Strong Wind Tornado Wildfire Winter Weather