Cullman County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Cullman County: 11.
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.

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NASA (1).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large violent tornado continued it's track from Walker County into the Huntsville County Warning Area (CWA) across the very southern tip of Cullman County, from about 3 miles southwest of Arkadelphia to just over 2 miles ESE of Arkadelphia. This tornado then tracked out of the Huntsville CWA into Blount County. In Cullman County, a wide swath of pine and hardwood trees was found snapped at the bases or splintered several feet off the ground, with some debarking of trees. South of Hwy 91 along Washington Loop, several homes were damaged or destroyed. A mobile home was obliterated and the frame was found at least 200 yards to the east up a hill. A cinder block home was wiped out,…

2. Apr 11, 2008Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-0 Tornado with maximum winds of 60 mph, maximum path width of 10 yards, and path length of less than 1/4 of a mile developed briefly near the Vinemont area. This tornado produced tree and power line damage.

3. Dec 23, 1998Ice Storm, Cullman$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A winter storm brought a mixture of freezing rain...sleet...and rain to the northern half of Alabama. The northwestern quarter of Alabama was especially hard hit. The precipitation began in a narrow band across Fayette, Walker, Cullman, and Marshall counties around 2 am and then around 5am in the rest of the counties and lasted until early afternoon on the 24th. The northwestern quarter of the state saw temperatures at or below freezing for the majority of the event. Liquid equivalent precipitation ranged from one to three inches. Significant ice accumulations of one half to one inch were common across the area. Numerous trees were down across every county. Significant power…

4. Nov 10, 2002Tornado$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Saragossa Tornado was the fourth tornado to occur in Alabama and the longest track of the severe weather episode. It began in Fayette County, just east of the Sipsey River about 6 miles north-northeast of the city of Fayette at 8:15 pm. The tornado moved northeast, crossing portions of State Routes 102 and 13, and then SR 102 again around Stoddards Crossroads.The tornado crossed into Walker County at 8:34 pm and traveled through sparsely populated areas of western Walker County. It crossed the interchange of US Highway 78 about 5.5 miles east-southeast of Carbon Hill, and became very strong as it traveled through the Saragossa area. It crossed State Roads 5, 195, and 257,…

5. Aug 17, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A portion of a barn's roof sustained heavy damage and was pealed back in the Holly Pond community.

6. Dec 20, 2007Strong Wind, Cullman$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds down trees across roads in many locations across Cullman county. Cities reporting downed trees included: Crane Hill, Loretta, Bremen, Garden City, Battleground, Fairview, and Gold Ridge.

7. Feb 17, 2022Strong Wind, Cullman$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sustained gradient winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts just over 35 mph were measured. Some tree limbs were blown down and shingles were blown off of a roof 12 miles west of Good Hope.

8. Aug 24, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two trees were blown down in the Garden city community. One of these trees damaged a house.

9. Apr 12, 2009High Wind, Cullman$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds between 45 and 55 mph, with gusts approaching 65 mph, occurred in Cullman county. These high winds downed numerous trees and powerlines across the county. Homes were damaged in many locations across the county by fallen trees. Some areas hardest hit included: Logan, Cullman, Good Hope, Hanceville, and the Catalina Point area.

10. Jan 6, 2009Flood$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rainfall caused area creeks and streams to flood numerous roads. Some bridges and road were damaged or destroyed by flood waters including: A wooden bridge on County Road 1651, a bridge on County Road 1427, and County Road 310. Particularly hard hit areas were Baileyton, Holly Pond, and Fairview.

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

110°FJul 30, 1952

All-time low

−17°FJan 13, 1918

Warmest night

88°FAug 7, 2007

Coldest day

11°F2 times, most recently Dec 23, 1989

Wettest day

9.03 inSep 25, 1980

Snowiest day

8.0 inDec 19, 1929

Hottest year

2023mean 63.2°F

Coldest year

1983mean 56.6°F

Wettest year

192979.30 in

Driest year

200727.43 in

Snowiest season

19.0 in1935-36

Station Saint Bernard (USC00017157), 783 ft elevation, 1.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1907 to August 31, 2026; 89.0% 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.

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 USC00017157.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.