Chilton County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Chilton County: 1.
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.

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

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.

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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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. Sep 16, 2004High Wind, Chilton$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thousands of trees were blown down across Chilton County. Five structures were heavily damaged and around another 150 suffered minor roof damage. At least 100 agricultural businesses sustained damage. Maximum wind gusts were estimated around 70 miles an hour. Doppler radar and ground observations indicate 6 to 9 inches of rain fell across the county during Ivan. Several roadways were temporarily impassable due to high water but even more roads were affected by fallen trees.

2. Nov 24, 2004Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   National Weather Service Meteorologist made a few trips to the damage areas across Autauga, Chilton and Coosa Counties. The damage was consistent with a very large tornado with a long damage path. The tornado damage was rated an F2, but the strength of the tornado may have been stronger but the tornado affected mostly rural areas. The F2 tornado first touched down between Jones and Bethel Grove generally producing only tree damage until it reached the county line. The tornado then traveled on a northeast heading into southern Chilton County between Pletcher and Billingsley. The tornado was fairly weak at this time, blowing down and snapping off several large trees in rural areas.…

3. Nov 30, 1996Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A short track tornado struck central Chilton County in the vicinity of Clanton. The tornado damage path began about 3 miles southwest of Clanton off County Road 18. The tornado moved northeast through western sections of Clanton downing trees and damaging several homes. The tornado damage path ended at US Highway 31 just north of downtown Clanton.

4. Feb 17, 2008Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Within a larger area of straight line wind damage, a short tornado damage path was found near and northeast of exit 205 on Interstate 65, southeast of the city of Clanton. The heaviest damage was sustained by a mobile home along County Road 41, where two large oak trees fell on the mobile home and demolished it. Several fast food restaurant signs and a couple of road signs were damaged or destroyed, and a couple hundred trees were also snapped off or uprooted.

5. Apr 25, 2003Hail$110,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The supercell continued on an almost eastward path through Chilton County. A swath of hail up to 3 inches in diameter was reported. The hail covered the ground in a few locations. The largest hail fell just northwest of Maplesville while most of the remainder of the county experienced hail up to 1.50 inches in diameter. Several trees were also blown down near Clanton and near Maplesville. Funnel clouds and a roaring sound were reported as the storm moved across the county.

6. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$102,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado briefly touched down near the intersection of US Hwy 31 and CR 24, just northwest of Verbena and uprooted a few oak trees. The tornado moved northeast, and crossed CR 597 where it damaged a metal carport of one single family home and the roof of a mobile home. In addition, many trees were knocked down in a 50 yd wide path. The tornado quickly dissipated along CR 59, south of CR 24. Damage along this path was consistent with an EF0 rating and winds of 80 mph.

7. Jul 10, 2005Tropical Storm, Chilton$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down across the county. Several downed trees landed on vehicles and homes.

8. Jan 7, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$90,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   What was believed to be a downburst damaged a number of structures and downed trees and power lines in central Chilton County between Clanton and Thorsby around New Salem Church and Collins Chapel. Two mobile homes were destroyed, five mobile homes were damaged, at least eight permanent homes were damaged, two vehicles were damaged, and a number of trees were down. Three poles along a major power line were also downed forcing US 31 traffic to be rerouted for several hours. The damage area was surveyed by NWS meteorologists and the damage pattern was consistent with straight-line wind.

9. Aug 29, 2005Tropical Storm, Chilton$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several trees and power lines were blown down across Chilton County. Several roadways were blown and temporarily closed due to the fallen trees. This damage was produced by Katrina.

10. Apr 25, 2003Hail$65,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The severe thunderstorm continued across southern Chilton County. Several trees were blown down along the path. Hail was observed up to 1.25 inches in diameter, but could have been larger. Many locations reported that the ground was totally covered by hail.

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

104°FJul 7, 1977

All-time low

−4°F2 times, most recently Jan 22, 1985

Warmest night

83°FJul 7, 2016

Coldest day

13°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

9.15 inJul 11, 2011

Snowiest day

9.0 inMar 14, 1993

Hottest year

2012mean 66.7°F

Coldest year

1997mean 61.3°F

Wettest year

197973.77 in

Driest year

200732.74 in

Station Thorsby Experiment Station (USC00018209), 680 ft elevation, 3.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1957 to October 19, 2026; 88.3% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00018209.
• 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.