Gainesville

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Hall County, the county that contains Gainesville.

Claims by ZIP code

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).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

The drought index is for Hall County, the county that contains Gainesville.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 20, 1998Tornado$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado began in northwest Hall county and moved into southern White county. Total distance covered was about 13 miles. Aerial and ground surveys by NWS employees showed extensive damage along the path. There was significant damage to Lanier Elementary School and North Hall High School. Houses, trailers, businesses, and agricultural interests (namely the poultry industry) were demolished or damaged. Large areas of forest were flattened. A tractor-trailer truck was thrown 100 feet from the road into a school, killing the driver. All of the other 11 persons killed were in mobile homes. The damage path varied from 50 to 200 yards, but averaged around 100 yards wide.

2. Apr 6, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service survey team found a 4.6 mile long, 0.5 mile wide, path of thunderstorm wind damage stretching from around the Old Federal Road Park on the shores of Lake Lanier northeast to the area around Mundy Mill Road and Millside Parkway northeast of Oakwood. Hundreds of trees were blown down causing damage to over 53 homes. Five homes were destroyed and nine had major damage. No injuries were reported.

3. Apr 24, 2021Hail$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A retired National Weather Service employee reported hail as big as golf balls on Chestatee Point on Lake Lanier.

4. Mar 21, 2017Hail$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An amateur radio operator reported golf ball size hail.

5. Mar 26, 2011Hail$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public observed golf ball-sized hail in Flowery Branch. Otherwise, mostly quarter-sized hail was observed elsewhere across the southern part of Hall county near Oakwood and Flowery Branch. WSR-88D radar data suggests that quarter-sized hail likely continued eastward toward Chestnut Mountain.

6. Mar 15, 2008Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous reports of large hail, the size of quarters and larger, were received from the public and the broadcast media across the northern half of Hall county. Nickel-sized hail was reported by the public in Murrayville in northwest Hall county, ping-pong ball-sized hail west of Gainesville on the east side of Lake Lanier, with at least a half-a-dozen reports of ping-pong to golf ball-sized hail around the Gainesville area. The Times of Gainesville reported that Hardy Chevrolet had up to 500 vehicles suffering some form of damage from hail. At Moss Robertson Cadillac/Mazda/Isuzu, more than 100 vehicles were damaged from hail. Milton Martin Honda had 63 vehicles damaged from hail.

7. Apr 4, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A survey conducted by the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Georgia and damage reports received from the Hall Emergency Management Director, a cooperative observer, and the public confirmed that a microburst with straight-line winds of 70 to 80 mph with isolated damage of 100-110 mph caused considerable damage to a subdivision just east of Interstate-985 and just south of Flowery Branch. The path of damage was approximately one-half mile long and a mile wide. At least 35 homes sustained roof and siding damage and dozens of large trees were blown down or completely uprooted in the area. One home was blown 15 feet off its foundation and destroyed as it collapsed. Windows…

8. Jun 22, 2008Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several reports of large hail were received from the public from the area between Murrayville and Gainesville. Golf ball-sized hail was observed two miles north of Gainesville, while quarter-sized hail was observed four to five miles northwest of Gainesville, or just southeast of Murrayville. Hail covered the ground in these later areas. A few trees were also blown down in the area.

9. May 19, 2013Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trudy Drive was completely washed out by a drainage branch flowing into Lake Lanier. There was a 50 to 75 foot large gap in the road with at least a 10 foot drop off. Several other roads were closed and damaged by flood waters as drainage branches become rapidly flowing creeks and overwhelmed culverts. These roads included portions of Atlanta Highway, McEver Road, Stephens Road, Flowery Way, Spring Street and Cove Creek Road in the Flowery Branch area.

10. Apr 10, 2009Hail$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    The public observed nickel to quarter-sized hail near the Gwinnett county line south of Flowery Branch and golf ball-sized hail in the Gainesville area. Radar data suggests that large hail, likely near golf ball-sized hail continued northeast from Gainesville toward Lula.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

107°F3 times, most recently Jul 29, 1952

All-time low

−8°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Warmest night

82°FAug 4, 1928

Coldest day

9°FFeb 14, 1899

Wettest day

6.60 inOct 2, 2012

Snowiest day

11.0 inMar 3, 1942

Hottest year

1998mean 63.7°F

Coldest year

1968mean 56.7°F

Wettest year

200980.25 in

Driest year

190420.96 in

Snowiest season

18.7 in1959-60

Station Gainesville (USC00093621), 1,170 ft elevation, 1.9 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1891 to September 10, 2026; 94.1% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Hall County.

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).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00093621.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.