Shelby County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 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$3.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado developed along a Quasi-Linear Convective System. It touched down in far northern Shelby County, less than one mile west of the intersection of Valleydale Road and Caldwell Mill Road, and tracked northeastward into southern Jefferson County. The tornado produced damage consistent with an EF1 rating and winds of 100 mph. Numerous trees were knocked down, causing damage to homes, apartment buildings, vehicles and power lines. The tornado crossed into Jefferson County just east of the intersection of Caldwell Mill Rd and Pahokee Trace.

2. Aug 29, 2005Tropical Storm, Shelby$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lies were blown down across Shelby County during Katrina. Power outages were widespread. Many homes sustained roof damage.

3. Sep 16, 2004High Wind, Shelby$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees and power lines were blown down across the county due to the tropical system Ivan. Twenty to thirty homes suffered varying degrees of damage, mainly roof damage. Power was not completely restored for at least 4 days. Maximum wind gusts were estimated around 70 miles an hour. Doppler radar and ground observations indicate up to 8 inches of rain fell across Shelby County Associated with Ivan. Several area roads and creeks flooded and several homes sustained flood damage. A male employee of Alabama Power was killed during the storm recovery efforts near Lay Dam.

4. Mar 10, 2010Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   What began as flash flooding transitioned into widespread long term flooding across a large portion of Shelby County during the late morning of the 10th. Dozens of roads were closed across the county due to high water, and as many as ten roads were still closed two days later. The hardest hit area was the western portion of the county, especially around the Helena, Pelham, and Alabaster areas, where more than 8 inches of rain fell during the 3 day period. In Alabaster, several vehicles were overcome by high water, and the occupants briefly became trapped. Other communities that experienced flooding included Montevallo, Columbiana, Shelby, and Wilsonville.

5. Mar 30, 2002Hail$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damaging, rotating thunderstorm developed just south of Interstate 459 near the Shelby and Jefferson County line. The thunderstorm moved eastward across the length of Jefferson, Shelby, Talladega, Clay, and Randolph Counties. Golf ball to baseball size hail fell across Bessemer, Helena and Pelham. This hail caused damage to automobiles, home roofs, and a few businesses. From Chelsea to Harpersville, golf ball size hail was reported. One to one and one half inch diameter size hail was observed west to east across central Talladega County. The hail size gradually became smaller as the storm moved eastward and weakened. The hail size in Clay County was around one inch in diameter…

6. Apr 30, 2005Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed the damage that affected the Helena, Alabaster, Pelham, and Chelsea areas early Saturday morning. The tornado has been rated an F1 with winds estimated around 75 miles an hour. The tornado first touched down just west of County Road 93 near the Cahaba Wildlife Management Area in Helena. The tornado moved generally eastward and crossed County Road 17, County Road 58, US 31, Interstate 65 and County Road 11 before ending near County Road 39. The tornado damage path was approximately 11.6 miles long and 100 yards wide at its widest point. The tornado was on the ground from approximately 504 AM CDT to 518 AM CDT. The initial damage was…

7. Jun 17, 2003Flash Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Radar estimated rain was falling at a rate up to 3 inches an hour in Riverchase and Pelham. Rain amounts over a two hour period were from 5 to 6 inches. Several roads were flooded and temporarily impassable. Several small streams rose out of their banks. A few homes were flooded in Riverchase. The Pelham Fire Department performed a few swift water rescues. Seventy-five homes and six businesses received varying degrees of flood damage in Pelham along Highway 261. No injuries were reported.

8. Mar 19, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$380,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dime size hail was reported in Inverness. A downburst destroyed the Racetrac gas station at US 280 and AL 119. There were also several windows blown out and some construction trucks were overturned.

9. Jun 25, 2018Lightning$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a home in the Ballantrae Community and started a fire. The home suffered severe damage from the fire. Homeowner was present when the lightning hit the home. The homeowner safely exited the home when the smoke detectors went off.

10. May 2, 2003Hail$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several severe thunderstorms moved through Shelby County and generally affected the western part of the county. All of the storms produced dime to golf ball size hail. The largest hail size reported was softball and occurred near Maylene. Some locations that reported hail were Alabaster, Hoover, Helena, Maylene, Indian Springs, Calera and Montevallo. Several locations observed hail covering the ground. A few trees were also blown down.

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

107°FJul 29, 1930

All-time low

−6°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

81°F4 times, most recently Jul 8, 2016

Coldest day

13°FDec 12, 1962

Wettest day

9.75 inSep 16, 2004

Snowiest day

10.3 inMar 13, 1993

Hottest year

2016mean 66.3°F

Coldest year

1976mean 60.3°F

Wettest year

196176.48 in

Driest year

200728.86 in

Snowiest season

13.0 in1992-93

Station Birmingham Airport (USW00013876), 616 ft elevation, 19.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1930 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 USW00013876.
• 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.