Walker County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Walker County: 26.
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$115 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The sixth segment of this long track tornado entered southwest Walker County south of Blue Water Rd and moved northeast, where it eventually exited the northeast portion of the county east of Phillipstown Rd. This tornado began in Pickens County, 5 miles northeast of Pickensville, and tracked through Tuscaloosa, Fayette, Walker, Cullman (See Storm Data for Huntsville), and Blount Counties, before it dissipated in Marshall (See Storm Data for Huntsville) County. While the average path width of this tornado in Walker County was around 0.3 miles (528 yds), the tornado widened as it approached the city of Cordova to a path width maximum of 0.6 mile (1056 yds). Shortly after it entered…

2. Apr 27, 2011Tornado$13.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado developed along a Quasi-Linear Convective System and touched down in rural southwestern Walker County, near the Fairview community. The tornado moved north northeast through Cordova before lifting near Lynns Park. The tornado touched down southwest of CR 6 and rapidly intensified to an EF3 rating with winds of 140 mph. Along Horseshoe Bend, a home was completely leveled, where it swept the foundation clean of the structure and debris. The tornado continued north northeast through the Richardson subdivision and across Pleasantville Road. It destroyed at least two single-wide manufactured homes. The tornado crossed US Hwy 269 where it weakened to an EF2 with winds of 120…

3. Nov 10, 2002Tornado$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Saragossa Tornado was the fourth tornado to occur in Alabama and the longest track of the severe weather episode. It began in Fayette County, just east of the Sipsey River about 6 miles north-northeast of the city of Fayette at 8:15 pm. The tornado moved northeast, crossing portions of State Routes 102 and 13, and then SR 102 again around Stoddards Crossroads.The tornado crossed into Walker County at 8:34 pm and traveled through sparsely populated areas of western Walker County. It crossed the interchange of US Highway 78 about 5.5 miles east-southeast of Carbon Hill, and became very strong as it traveled through the Saragossa area. It crossed State Roads 5, 195, and 257,…

4. Nov 10, 2002Tornado$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Carbon Hill Tornado was the first tornado of the evening. It began in Fayette County at 6:52 pm, about 5.6 miles north-northwest of the city of Fayette, and 2.8 miles west of US Highway 43. The tornado moved on a northeast track crossing US 43, State Route 129, and SR 13, and then moved into Walker County just southwest of Carbon Hill at 7:10 pm.It then crossed the western and northern sections of Carbon Hill, downing trees and power lines and damaging many residential structures. Carbon Hill Elementary School was also heavily damaged. The tornado continued northeast, crossing SR5, and exited the county at SR 195. The two deaths associated with this tornado occurred just south…

5. May 6, 2009Tornado$850,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down near the eastern city limits of Jasper, tracked eastward across Highway 78, and lifted near Golf Course Road. Five structures were damaged. A bank drive through structure was detached from the main building and rotated 90 degrees. Two car dealerships sustained damage. Forty cars were totaled, mostly due to broken windows resulting in water damage. Three air handlers atop the dealerships were rolled. Numerous trees were uprooted. A billboard was also impaled by a fiberglass missile.

6. Aug 29, 2005Tropical Storm, Walker$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down during Katrina. At least half of the power customers in the county lost power for several hours.

7. Aug 9, 2013Lightning$775,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck the First Church of the Nazarene, causing a fire that destroyed the building. Fire personnel on the scene estimated damages to be greater than $775K.

8. Mar 26, 2011Hail$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The second of two hail storms moved across Jasper at 9:20pm CST, producing hail stones up to 2.00 inches wide and causing extensive damage to vehicles and homes. Hundreds of cars in the city were damaged. Many car dealerships had damage to every car on the lot. Hundreds of homes sustained roof damage. Property damage amounts are estimated.

9. Mar 26, 2011Hail$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first of two significant hail storms, with hailstones up to 1.50 inches wide, crossed the city of Jasper around 8:00pm CST, causing extensive damage to vehicles and homes. Hundreds of cars in the city were damaged. Many car dealerships had damage to every car on the lot. Hundreds of homes sustained roof damage. Property damage amounts are estimated.

10. Apr 24, 2010Tornado$598,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    This long tracked, strong, tornado first touched down in the Walker County city of Parrish. It then remained on the ground for 54 minutes, traversing nearly 30 miles in three counties. The vast majority of the damage was done in Walker County. In addition to Parrish, heavy damaged occurred in the cities of Cordova, Sumiton, and Empire. Between 70 and 80 homes and other buildings along the path received varying degrees of damage, and at least one home in Parrish was completely destroyed. Somewhere between 800 and 1000 trees were snapped, with a similar number uprooted. While there were no known deaths or injuries directly caused by the tornado, one 50 year old woman died (indirect)…

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, 34.5 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.
• 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.