Winston County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Winston County: 7.
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.

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$11.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado initially touched down in southwest Marion County, near the community of Pikeville and tracked northeast where it 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 moved into western Winston County and caused extensive damage to businesses near the intersection of CR 75 and Dolphin Rd. As the tornado crossed southern portions of Haleyville, many homes were significantly damaged and several were destroyed. This damage was consistent with an EF3 rating and winds of 150 mph. The tornado continued to produce tree damage as it entered the…

2. Aug 29, 2005Tropical Storm, Winston$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across Winston County as Katrina affected the area. Most of the major thoroughfares in the county were temporarily impassable due to fallen trees. Numerous structures were damaged. Power outages were widespread and lengthy.

3. Nov 24, 2001Tornado$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Haleyville tornado first struck about 3 tenths of a mile inside Marion County just south of CR196 at 11:21 am. The tornado traveled on a northeast path moving directly through the center of downtown Haleyville severely damaging buildings including a shopping mall. The tornado continued traveling northeast through a residential and partially wooded area before ending about 7 tenths of a mile northeast of downtown Haleyville at 11:24 am.The tornado was rated an F2 on the fujita scale for tornado classification making it a strong tornado. Wind speeds associated with an F2 fall in the range of 113 to 157 mph, however, winds speeds probably remained on the low side of the range…

4. Dec 23, 1998Ice Storm, Winston$700,000
   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…

5. Nov 10, 2002Tornado$300,000
   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,…

6. Jun 11, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were knocked down countywide. One large storage building was destroyed. Southern Homes in Double Springs sustained significant damage to its plant. Many buildings were damaged or destroyed at the plant. One chicken house was damaged and one mobile home was destroyed.

7. Sep 16, 2004High Wind, Winston$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of trees and power lines were blown down during Ivan. Power was not fully restored for three or four days. Numerous homes suffered varying degrees of wind damage. Maximum wind gusts were estimated around 60 miles an hour.

8. Nov 10, 2002Tornado$200,000
   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…

9. Jul 25, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm developed right over the City of Haleyville. One building was destroyed at the intersection of Alabama Avenue and 21st Street in downtown Haleyville. Numerous trees and powerlines were also reported down in the area. One barn had its roof torn off. Hail up to the size of ping-pong balls also fell during the storm.

10. Nov 18, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$117,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    What was believed to be thunderstorm wind totally destroyed one two-story house and caused minor damage to several others. Two floating boat houses were totally destroyed along with numerous downed trees. The damage area was about 4 tenths of a mile wide but only about 400 yards deep immediately on the northern edge of Smith Lake in Winston County. The strong wind was able to destroy the one house due to relatively poor construction including lack of vertical tie-ins between floor, walls, and roof.

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°FAug 15, 2007

All-time low

−19°FJan 30, 1966

Warmest night

82°F12 times, most recently Aug 23, 2007

Coldest day

3°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

8.27 inMar 16, 1973

Snowiest day

11.0 inFeb 13, 1960

Hottest year

2012mean 63.8°F

Coldest year

1976mean 57.0°F

Wettest year

200987.30 in

Driest year

200738.31 in

Station Haleyville (USC00013620), 920 ft elevation, 13.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1902 to October 26, 2026; 91.9% 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 USC00013620.
• 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.