Madison County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Madison County: 48.
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.

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 USGS Conterminous (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. Mar 30, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$7.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A power pole was reported down at this location.

2. Feb 17, 2022Strong Wind, Madison$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sustained gradient winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts between 40 and 50 mph produce power outages in portions of the county, including the Huntsville community.

3. Dec 23, 1998Ice Storm, Madison$1.5 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. Jun 28, 1999Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall of four to seven inches, most of which occurred in just less than two hours, flooded the Huntsville area. According to newspaper reports, one woman was killed when her car stalled on a flooded bridge on Vermont Road. As she exited the car, she was swept away in the water. A television cameraman was injured when he was swept away by high water while filming. He was rescued by the Huntsville Fire Department. Several other motorists were stranded in high water and were rescued by the fire department. Numerous roads in the area were flooded and subsequently closed. Many local streams and creeks were out of their banks, sending several feet of water into approximately…

5. May 6, 2003Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   extensive flooding across county with around 200 homes and businesses sustaining extensive flood damage.

6. Aug 25, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds produced some siding damage to a home in the Hazel Green community.

7. Nov 14, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds ripped a quality metal roof off a building on Old Cove Road near Green Mountain and blew it 800 feet.

8. Jun 29, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A non-severe thunderstorm produced a microburst as it was dissipating at the Huntsville International Airport during an air show. Several tents were damaged and destroyed by the thunderstorm winds. A large and expensive army tent and equipment was extensively damaged.

9. Dec 20, 2007Strong Wind, Madison$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds sustained around 40 mph with gusts to around 50 mph, knocked down several trees and powerlines across the county. Locations particularly hard hit included: Moutain Gap Road 7 miles SSE of Huntsville, the intersection of Rock Cut Road and U.S. Highway 72 in Gurley, and other locations in eastern Madison county.

10. Mar 14, 2016Strong Wind, Madison$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Trained spotter reported minor damage and a downed tree near the intersection of S. Memorial Hwy and Mountain Gap Rd. in Huntsville.

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°FJun 29, 2012

All-time low

−11°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Aug 9, 2010

Coldest day

9°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

9.07 inDec 22, 1990

Snowiest day

15.7 inDec 31, 1963

Hottest year

2016mean 65.0°F

Coldest year

1976mean 58.2°F

Wettest year

198973.58 in

Driest year

200728.65 in

Snowiest season

24.1 in1963-64

Station Huntsville Intnl Airport (USW00003856), 623 ft elevation, 11.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1958 to October 26, 2026; 99.8% 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 USW00003856.
• 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.