Coffee County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Coffee County: 9.
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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 1, 2007Tornado$250 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down just southwest of the Enterprise Municipal Airport. It caused minor damage to some houses. Four chicken houses were destroyed. The tornado then traveled northeast and quickly intensified as it moved into the Enterprise city limits. It severely damaged the high school just north of the downtown. Eight students were killed as walls collapsed on them while they took shelter in the interior hallways. Fifty more were injured. The football stadium was destroyed. Many vehicles surrounding the schools were overturned or tossed about. Several state roads were impassible due to debris and fallen utility poles and lines. The ninth fatality occurred where an elderly…

2. Mar 8, 1998Flash Flood$105 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A vigorous Gulf storm dumped up to 14 inches of rain across the northern half of Coffee County. The earthen levee on the Beaver Dam Creek breached. A six foot wall of water rushed into the city of Elba. Two thousand residents were forced to evacuate. Nearly 400 homes and businesses sustained flood damage. Approximately 52 county roads were washed out or flooded. The Pea River at Elba crested near 39.3 feet on March 9. Four people were killed when their vehicles were swept away by floodwaters. Coffee County was declared a federal disaster area.

3. Oct 8, 2008Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down just south of the Enterprise Civic Center. It moved to the east-northeast and lifted just east of Boll Weevil Circle near the Walmart. It caused extensive damage to the civic center, with several windows blown out and much of its roof removed. The winds damaged several vehicles outside the Enterprise Senior Center. A building attached to the old Bama Cotton Mill collapsed. More than a hundred homes and businesses were also damaged. Fortunately, no injuries or deaths were reported. The tornado was rated an EF-1 with winds estimated from 100 to 105 mph.

4. Sep 28, 1998Flash Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rains of 8 to 24 inches produced the worst flash flooding in Geneva County since Hurricane Opal in 1995. Numerous roads were damaged or washed out. AL 54 was closed from Samson west to Florala. All county roads were closed for fear of more flooding and washouts. Significaant losses were incurred to peanut and cotton crops. Several creeks overflowed their banks closing AL 65, 54, and 52.

5. Dec 24, 2015Flood$1.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant flooding occurred across Coffee county during the last week in December due to 10-20 inches of rain falling in the Pea River basin. The Pea River at Elba reached its third highest crest on record on December 26th. An aerial survey indicated 117 structures submerged with numerous others impacted near Elba. A later survey by the Red Cross indicated that 14 structures were destroyed, 48 received major damage, and 31 received minor damage. A family tried to cross the Pea River on Highway 107 and their vehicle was swept away on December 25th. Two fatalities resulted. The monetary damage to Coffee county is estimated at $1,717,980. Of that amount, $1,039,500 was due to…

6. Sep 29, 1998Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F1 tornado touched down on CR 725 near Enterprise. One residence suffered roof damage. Camp Wiregrass sustained moderate to severe damage with several buildings crumpled, trees and power lines down, and scattered debris. Numerous customers in Enterprise were without electric service. A semi was blown over at Con Agra.

7. Sep 15, 2004Tropical Storm, Coffee$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Ivan weakened to a tropical storm as it moved north into southwest Alabama on September 16. The maximum sustained and peak wind gust recorded was 44 and 54 knots, respectively, at Dothan, AL. The lowest sea-level pressure was 1000 mb at Dothan. Rainfall amounts were quite heavy, ranging from five to eight inches. Minor flooding was reported in Coffee, Geneva, and Houston counties. Schools and many businesses were closed on September 16 and 17. An estimated 50,000 customers were without power, including 20 percent of Dothan. There were numerous reports of roads closed by fallen trees and power lines. In Coffee County, many county roads were closed and several trees fell…

8. May 13, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Coffee County EMA provided a summary of damages: seven residential houses sustained slight to major wind damage, four barns and other neighboring sheds suffered minor to major damage including roof losses, three chicken houses received moderate wind damage, and numerous trees and power lines down with some on roadways.

9. Sep 29, 1998Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F1 tornado descended near CR 732 in New Brockton damaging several chicken houses, roads, ditches, and drainage systems.

10. Sep 16, 2020Flash Flood$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    During Sally, significant flash flooding occurred across the northern portions of Coffee County with all county roads in the northern part of the county declared impassable due to water over the roads. Damage cost was estimated.

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°F4 times, most recently Jul 2, 2009

All-time low

4°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

82°F6 times, most recently Jun 18, 2009

Coldest day

23°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Wettest day

9.59 inNov 8, 1989

Snowiest day

5.5 inJan 21, 2025

Hottest year

1990mean 70.9°F

Coldest year

1976mean 64.9°F

Wettest year

199078.13 in

Driest year

201137.08 in

Snowiest season

5.5 in2024-25

Station Dothan Regional Airport (USW00013839), 368 ft elevation, 27.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1970 to October 26, 2026; 99.2% 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 USW00013839.
• 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.