Tallapoosa County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Tallapoosa County: 2.
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.

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$115 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down in central Elmore County, north of Wetumpka, and moved northeast through central Tallapoosa and western Chambers Counties, before it lifted west northwest of Lafayette. The tornado crossed into Tallapoosa County near Stoney Ridge Rd, south of CR 34, and intensified to EF4 strength with winds of 170 mph. Damage was widespread and severe with several well built multi-story homes destroyed with no walls remaining on floors above basement level. The tornado continued at this strength but became narrower to nearly 400 yards wide as it crossed AL Hwy 49 south of Dadeville where it destroyed 2 homes and rolled a pick-up truck 120 yards. The tornado continued…

2. Sep 16, 2004High Wind, Tallapoosa$450,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees and power lines were snapped off or blown down across the county. The most significant damage occurred across the southern and eastern sides of the county. Power was not fully restored for at least 3 days. At least 75 homes and structures were damaged to some degree by Ivan. Maximum wind gusts were estimated around 70 miles an hour. In the southern part of the county, a man was seriously cut by a chain saw while clearing debris.

3. Jun 28, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$315,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The doors to the city hall and fire department buildings were damaged, a gymnasium suffered roof damage, and numerous trees were blown down.

4. Sep 10, 2018Lightning$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large home on Greenwood Road destroyed by fire started by lightning.

5. Jul 10, 2005Tropical Storm, Tallapoosa$175,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down countywide. At least one business had its roof torn off and several homes sustained roof damage. Several customers were without power for hours. A few roadways were temporarily impassable due to fallen trees.

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

   A small tornado rated an F1 occurred in central Tallapoosa County beginning just north of Jackson's Gap and travelling about 6 miles along the ground running primarily through farm/woodland areas. Several structures were damaged with numerous trees downed.

7. Apr 25, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The second supercell merged with the original supercell at this time across southern Tallapoosa County. This re-energized the storm considerably. Damaging winds associated with this transformed supercell moved across extreme southern Tallapoosa County. Numerous trees were blown down from near Lake Martin to near Reeltown. Hail up to 2.00 inches in diameter accompanied the storm.

8. Jun 30, 1999Flash Flood$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   More than two inches of rain fell in a short period of time around Alexander City. Numerous roads were flooded and had to be temporarily closed. Several homes and businesses sustained water damage. A dam was also severely damaged due to the volume of water.

9. May 3, 2010Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large area of Tallapoosa County experienced flash flooding due to a period of intense rainfall. The hardest hit area was Alexander City, where street flooding was described as serious, and several water rescues had to be performed. A culvert was washed out on County Road, near US-280 on the west side of Alexander City. Water rescues were also needed in the Hackneyville area, and Dutch Bend Road near the New Site community also became flooded.

10. Jan 7, 2007Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The tornado touched down south of the Walnut Hill Community, near the intersection of Prospect Road and State Highway 49. The tornado damaged a few homes and destroyed a mobile home on Butterfly Lane. The tornado tracked northeastward and damaged another home on Sandy Drive before lifting. Overall, at least three homes sustained damage, one trailer was totally destroyed and about 40 trees were snapped off. Maximum winds were estimated at 85 to 90 mph.

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

105°FAug 11, 2007

All-time low

−6°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

79°FJul 1, 2012

Coldest day

21°F3 times, most recently Feb 4, 1996

Wettest day

7.12 inApr 20, 2020

Snowiest day

5.0 inJan 19, 1992

Hottest year

2016mean 64.8°F

Coldest year

1983mean 59.4°F

Wettest year

202084.86 in

Driest year

200735.13 in

Station Alexander City (USC00010160), 660 ft elevation, 7.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1969 to October 27, 2026; 96.7% 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 USC00010160.
• 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.