Macon County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Macon County: 0.
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.

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. Nov 16, 2011Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down in northeast Macon County south of Notasulga, east of County Road 81, along County Road 59. The tornado moved to the northeast, causing extensive tree damage. Approximately a dozen mobile homes sustained damage along County Road 54, before the tornado crossed into Lee County, south of Hunter Road.

2. Sep 16, 2004High Wind, Macon$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees and power lines were blown down across the county. At least 300 homes suffered varying degrees of wind damage. Power was restored to most locations within two days. Debris removal took up to two weeks. Doppler radar and ground observations indicate up to 5 inches of rain fell across Macon County during Ivan. A few roads and creeks were briefly flooded. Maximum wind gusts were estimated around 70 miles an hour.

3. Apr 10, 2009Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado that touched down near Liberty City in Tallapoosa County crossed into Macon County, and continued to travel southeast, staying just southwest of the Lee County line for most of its path. In Macon County, thousands of trees were either snapped off or uprooted along the damage path. A few mobile homes suffered varying degrees of damage, and one mobile home was knocked off its foundation. Several barns had their roofs partially removed, and several other structures suffered varying degrees of roof damage. Several homes and vehicles had windows broken out.

4. Mar 6, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm wind left it's mark on Tuskegee with trees down and several buildings damaged. Several mobile homes were damaged or destroyed along with damage to roofs of four separate schools.

5. May 7, 2009Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding caused numerous roads to become impassable. High water was reported on several city and county roads, in and around the city of Tuskegee.

6. Apr 25, 2003Hail$85,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The supercell continued producing very large hail in a swath that covered the northern part of Macon County. Hail up to baseball size fell near Notasulga. Numerous automobiles and homes were damaged. A few trees were also blown down along the path.

7. Aug 29, 2005Tropical Storm, Macon$65,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several trees and power lines were blown down during Katrina. At least a few homes were damaged.

8. Jul 20, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several trees and power lines were blown down throughout the county. Some of the trees fell on homes causing damage. One tree was uprooted and it damaged a water main. One home was completely destroyed by fire after a power line ignited a brush fire.

9. Apr 25, 2003Hail$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The hail storm moved across much of western and southern Macon County. Hail up to the size of golf balls was reported along the path. The hail may have been larger in surrounding rural areas.

10. Mar 6, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A man was injured and taken to the hospital when wind destroyed his modular home in Shorter near Interstate 80.

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

103°F5 times, most recently Jul 2, 2012

All-time low

−7°F2 times, most recently Jan 22, 1985

Warmest night

79°FJun 24, 2009

Coldest day

21°F2 times, most recently Dec 26, 1983

Wettest day

6.80 inOct 1, 1965

Snowiest day

8.6 inFeb 10, 1973

Hottest year

2019mean 64.2°F

Coldest year

1976mean 59.1°F

Wettest year

197580.77 in

Driest year

201240.00 in

Station Opelika (USC00016129), 627 ft elevation, 22.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1957 to October 21, 2026; 93.5% 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 USC00016129.
• 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.