Elmore County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Elmore County: 6.
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.

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. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down in central Elmore County and moved northeast through central Tallapoosa and western Chambers Counties, before it lifted north northwest of Lafayette. The tornado touched down north of Wetumpka, along CR 209 where a few trees were downed and minor home damage were noted. The tornado quickly intensified as it moved northeast through Dexter, where it caused major damage to several homes, outbuildings and farm equipment that was consistent with winds of 130 mph, an EF2. It continued across AL Hwy 9 and damaged several homes. The tornado intensified south of Central to EF3 strength, where it destroyed a mobile home and damaged several single family homes near CR…

2. May 7, 2009Flash Flood$4.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous county roads and city streets became impassable and suffered extensive damage due to flooding caused by torrential rainfall. The cities of Wetumpka, Millbrook, and Deatsville were especially hard hit. At least 43 homes, 10 business, and 2 churches also suffered damage due to the flooding. The Millbrook city parks and recreation areas suffered substantial damage.

3. Sep 16, 2004High Wind, Elmore$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees and power lines were knocked down across Elmore County. Numerous homes sustained varying degrees of roof damage. At least 8000 customers were without power during the height of the storm. The power was not fully restored for 7 days in some locations. Maximum wind gusts were estimated around 70 miles an hour. Doppler radar estimated up to 5 inches of rain during the tropical system. A few creeks and roads were temporarily impassable, but the trees blocking roadways were much more significant.

4. Apr 15, 2011Tornado$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down 6.4 miles west of Central, along County Road 334 in Elmore County. The tornado moved to the northeast and crossed the Coosa County line. The tornado then crossed State Highway 9 and continued moving east, eventually crossing into Tallapoosa County. The tornado lifted on the east side of northern Lake Martin. In Elmore County, numerous trees were snapped or uprooted along the path.

5. Mar 18, 1996Tornado$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado began on the northeast side of Eclectic and extended for 10 miles in Elmore County crossing the Elmore-Tallapoosa county line just east of Highway 63. The tornado continued for another 14 miles in Tallapoosa County crossing Lake Martin and ending on the north side of Jacksons Gap not far from where a tornado had occurred earlier in the evening. This was classified as an F3 tornado with a total damage path of 24 miles with a width of a quarter of a mile at the widest.Numerous buildings of all types were damaged along the track. Some of the most intense damage occurred as the tornado emerged from crossing Lake Martin in the Peckerwood area just southwest of Jacksons Gap.…

6. Apr 25, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The supercell remained very strong over Elmore County. A large swath of wind and hail damage occurred across the county. Numerous trees were blown down from near Titus to near Tallassee. Hail was observed up to 2.50 inches in diameter. Funnel clouds and a roaring sound accompanied the storm.

7. Apr 25, 2003Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Supercell 2 was nearing the end of its lifecycle as it began merging with supercell 1 near Tallassee. Before this merger process, the storm produced a hail swath across central Elmore County from near Deatsville to near Tallassee. The hail size ranged from penny size to slightly larger than golf balls. Many locations reported that the hail was completely covering the ground.

8. Mar 18, 1996Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado began about 7 miles northwest of Eclectic and just west of Lake Martin. The path crossed the extreme southeast corner of Coosa County and crossed just barely into Tallapoosa County before ending. The track was about 6 miles long and about 100 yards wide with an F1 intensity. A number of homes near Lake Martin in Coosa County suffered serious damage.

9. Jul 10, 2005Tropical Storm, Elmore$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were blown down during Dennis. At least one structure had its roof significantly damaged and many homes sustained damage due to fallen trees. A few roads were temporarily impassable. The Robinson Springs United Methodist Church had part of its roof torn off.

10. Mar 18, 1996Tornado$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A very short, less than one mile, tornado damage path occurred about 4 miles south of Wetumpka and just west of the US 231 rest stop. Tornado intensity was rated F1 with a path width of 70 yards. A commercial structure was severely damaged and several homes in the immediate area sustained minor damage. A tall, steel I-beam constructed billboard was twisted and bent over.

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

106°F4 times, most recently Aug 14, 2007

All-time low

0°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

80°F2 times, most recently Jul 15, 1980

Coldest day

21°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

8.72 inSep 26, 1953

Snowiest day

3.8 inMar 13, 1993

Hottest year

2016mean 68.6°F

Coldest year

1976mean 62.4°F

Wettest year

198975.49 in

Driest year

195426.82 in

Snowiest season

6.0 in1976-77

Station Montgomery Airport (USW00013895), 217 ft elevation, 20.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00013895.
• 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.