Waycross

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.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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 Ware County, the county that contains Waycross.

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.

River crests

River gauges in Ware County, the county that contains Waycross.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Ware County, the county that contains Waycross.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 1, 2007Wildfire, Ware$21.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Georgia Bay Wildfire Complex (The Sweat Farm Road Fire and Big Turnaround Fire) continued from April through the entire month of May. These fires are located 10 miles south of Waycross, GA and 16 miles west of Folkston, Georgia in Ware and Charlton Counties, Georgia, and Baker County, Florida. By the end of the month the Sweat Farm Road Fire had burned 87,784 acres with 709 fire personnel working the fire and was 90 percent contained. The Big Turnaround Fire had consumed 402,490 acres with 414 personnel working the fire and was 65 percent contained.

2. Jan 2, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$2.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   In the Jamestown Community two residents with minor damage. In an Industrial Park a boat manufacturing company had one building destroyed and moderate damage to one end of their main building. A mobile home manufacturing plant had a 100,000 sq/ft building and shop destroyed, 5 new mobile homes were destroyed and 14 others were damaged, 5 semi-trailers were damaged and a pickup truck.

3. Jul 27, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tractor trailer was blown over and a silo blown down near Highway 158 near Telmore. Other vehicles and buildings in the area were damaged. Emergency Management said the damage looked like it was caused by a microburst.

4. Mar 1, 1998Flood, Ware$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Total flooding related to El Nino. More than 200 homes damaged. Flooding mainly along the St Mary's, Altamaha, and Satilla Rivers. Some areas also effect with Closed Basin flooding.

5. Aug 10, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One large business with roof damage. Large trees and power lines were blown down.

6. Sep 16, 2020Tornado$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous gravestones were lofted and displaced along the damage path. A church at 2353 Carswell Avenue had roof damage where at leas 20% of the roof was lifted off of the structure. The cost of damage was unknown but estimated for Storm Data.

7. Sep 29, 1998Flash Flood$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall amounts of 5 to 7 inches from the remnants of Hurricane Georges caused the closing of numerous street and roads.

8. Jun 5, 2001Lightning$20,000
9. Jan 5, 2007Tornado$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 17:10 A pump house was destroyed.|At 17:15 One block off of highway 1 in Dixie Union along Otter Road multiple mobile homes had their siding stripped. Trees down.

10. Aug 22, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$15,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Large trees and power lines were blown down. Utility building destroyed. Boat and truck damaged by falling trees.

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

105°F2 times, most recently Jun 23, 2022

All-time low

−1°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

80°F2 times, most recently Jun 18, 1996

Coldest day

25°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Wettest day

7.66 inApr 24, 2021

Snowiest day

4.4 inFeb 10, 1973

Hottest year

1990mean 70.1°F

Coldest year

1940mean 64.1°F

Wettest year

194764.56 in

Driest year

195426.08 in

Snowiest season

5.0 in2024-25

Station Alma Bacon County Airport (USW00013870), 191 ft elevation, 24.4 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1938 to October 27, 2026; 100.0% 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 Ware 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 USW00013870.
• 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.