Marion County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$160 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado initially touched down west of Hamilton in southwest Marion County and moved northeast where it caused devastating damage to the city of Hackleburg. The tornado continued into Franklin County and tracked through Lawrence, Morgan, Limestone, and Madison Counties in Alabama. The tornado continued into Lincoln County Tennessee and finally dissipated in Franklin County Tennessee (See Storm Data Huntsville). The average path width of the tornado while in Marion County was 0.5 mile (880 yds). The tornado touched down west of AL Hwy 19 near Sipsey Creek and moved northeast and crossed Corridor X/Future Interstate 22. Here it caused significant tree damage. The tornado…

2. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$11.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A long track violent tornado touched down in Monroe County (See Storm Data Memphis) Mississippi, southwest of Smithville where it caused damage associated with an EF5 rating. The tornado moved northeast through Itawamba County before it crossed into Marion County, Alabama at a point near CR 93, southwest of Bexar. The tornado weakened to an EF1 rating as it entered Alabama, with winds of 110 mph . As the tornado tracked south of Bexar, a few mobile homes and outbuildings were damaged and numerous trees were snapped off and uprooted. The tornado moved across Corridor X/Future Interstate 22, near CR 33. As the tornado approached AL Hwy 19, 4 miles east southeast of Shottsville, it…

3. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$5.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado initially touched down in southwest Marion County, near the community of Pikeville and tracked northeast. The tornado moved across southern portions of Haleyville and into Winston County, south of AL Route 129. The tornado lifted in the William B. Bankhead National Forest, north of Rabbittown. The tornado touched down along US Hwy 43, south of CR 2 where it downed hundreds of trees. The tornado moved northeast and crossed Corridor X/Future Interstate 22 east of CR 37. Here it caused tree damage consistent with an EF1 tornado and winds of 105 mph. The tornado strengthened north of Pea Ridge to an EF3 rating with winds of 150 mph. Along CR 45, west of AL Route 253, at…

4. Aug 29, 2005Tropical Storm, Marion$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and powerlines were knocked down during Katrina. Numerous structures, homes and vehicles were damaged. Power outages were extensive.

5. Sep 16, 2004High Wind, Marion$920,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees and power lines were blown down areawide. At least 10 homes were totally destroyed and another 50 homes were damaged. Power was not restored in all areas for at least a week and a half. Maximum wind gusts were estimated around 65 miles an hour. Doppler radar and ground observations indicate 4 to 5 inches of rain fell in association with Ivan. Numerous roads were flooded and were temporarily impassable.

6. Dec 23, 1998Ice Storm, Marion$800,000
   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…

7. Feb 21, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dime to quarter size hail was reported across Marion County with a line of thunderstorms that moved through. The hail completely covered the ground in many locations. These severe thunderstorms produced significant wind damage mainly across the southern part of the county near Guin, Winfield, and Hamilton. Wind speeds were estimated between 60 and 80 miles an hour. Numerous trees and power lines were snapped off or blown over in this area and many roads became impassible. Numerous homes and businesses received moderate to major damage which ranged from broken windows to partial roof removal. Several automobiles were damaged by falling trees. No injuries were reported.

8. Apr 2, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large swath of damaging winds, with peak gusts estimated around 80 mph, swept across a large portion of Marion County, from near the Mississippi state line and Lamar County line, eastward to near the Winston County line. The heaviest damage was in a swath from near the Detroit community, to east of Hamilton. Hundreds of trees were either snapped off or uprooted. Several of the trees landed on both mobile homes and permanent site homes, as well as several vehicles. Two people in the Byrd community were injured when a tree fell on their mobile home. A restaurant near Guin had its windows blown out and its roof partially removed. A metal billboard structure was bent to the ground,…

9. Apr 24, 2010Tornado$105,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down on US-43 just south of the Gu-Win community. From there it produced a sporadic damage path to the northeast for a little over 7 miles, crossing AL-253, CR-61, US-78, and AL-129, before lifting on the southwest side of Brilliant. Three homes took the brunt of the damage, all located southwest of Brilliant along County Road 47. One home had minor damage due to fallen trees. One of these trees uprooted and flipped a minivan upside down. The second home had minor roof damage and two outbuildings on the property that were destroyed. The third home incurred major structural damage when the windward side of the garage was blown in. There was also an outbuilding…

10. May 10, 2008Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The tornado spun up very quickly about 2.5 miles southwest of the Shottsville Community along County Road 13, between Reedy Branch Road and CR-154. The tornado then tracked just south of due east for almost the entire length of Marion County, with a slight left turn noted near the middle of the path. The tornado crossed CR-11, SR-19, SR-187, US-43, and SR-253, before lifting along CR-34. The tornado remained mostly in a heavily forested area, and thousands of trees were either snapped off or uprooted. Several mobile homes and one carport sustained varying degrees of damage along the path.

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

109°FAug 16, 2007

All-time low

−19°FJan 30, 1966

Warmest night

76°FJul 26, 2022

Coldest day

7°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

9.06 inMar 16, 1973

Snowiest day

14.0 inJan 1, 1964

Hottest year

2024mean 63.2°F

Coldest year

1976mean 56.5°F

Wettest year

199184.17 in

Driest year

197841.91 in

Station Hamilton (USC00013645), 490 ft elevation, 7.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1962 to October 27, 2026; 92.3% 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 USC00013645.
• 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.