Suwannee County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Suwannee County: 0.
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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 1, 1998Flood, Suwannee$5.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Total flooding related to El Nino, More than 2800 homes and more than 175 businesses destroyed.

2. Feb 17, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   More than 15 semi-trailers were overturned. Chicken processing plant damaged. One mobile home was distroyed. Large trees and power lines were blown down.

3. Mar 31, 2009Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down as an EF-0 in an open field just east of the Suwannee River and south of the Progress Energy power plant. It increased to intensity becoming a low end EF-1 tornado several hundred feet down track where it impacted several farm buildings and mobile homes. Several small farm structures were destroyed and winds here we estimated to be between 86 and 90 mph. The tornado continued moving northeastward as an EF-0 snapping trees along its path near the entrance to the Suwannee River State Park and along Stagecoach Road. It then went through a wooded area emerging along West Tower Road where it began the occlusion process. The rear flank downdraft heavily damaged…

4. Sep 29, 1998Tornado$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado demolished seven homes and damaged at least 5 others. Two residents received serious injuries.

5. May 28, 1996Lightning$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck the St. Luke's Episcopal Church steeple at around8:20 PM EDT, traveled into the electrical system, set fire to the organ and spread to the surrounding area in the foyer.

6. Jun 26, 2012Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public reported U.S. Highway 90 was flooded and closed in downtown Live Oak. Several vehicles were stranded in flood waters in the downtown area. The cost of damage was estimated and is likely underestimated.

7. Jun 22, 2015Lightning$104,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning caused a structure fire at Wayne Frier Mobile Home Sales at 12788 US Highway 90 West in Live Oak.

8. Jan 9, 1997Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado moved across the northern portion of Suwannee County. One singlewide unoccupied mobile home on 48th Street (off Nobles Ferry road) was destroyed. Five barns were damaged and numerous trees were downed.

9. Jun 25, 2012Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding impacted much of Suwannee County. On 6/25 at 7:30 pm, law enforcement reported flooding at U.S. Highway 90 at County Road 137 in Wellborn. The intersection was closed due to deep water. At 7:30 pm, the public reported 8.5 inches of water accumulation in Live Oak. At the same time, a trained spotter reported reported streets were beginning to flood due to ditches over-flowing toward the roadway in Live Oak. At 8:02 pm, law enforcement reported a tree was blown down in the right lane of Interstate 10 near mile marker 292 due to saturated grounds and gusty winds. On 6/28 at 10:23 am, an NWS Storm Survey reported a sinkhole 1 block from the Intersection of Highway 90 and…

10. Apr 30, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$68,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An approximate seven square mile area of straight line wind damage occurred as a result of a bowing line of thunderstorms. The area of most substantial damage had dozens of large trees uprooted and snapped. A total of 18 structures sustained damage with one mobile home destroyed by a large oak tree that fell through it. Damage indicators suggested maximum winds of around 70 mph. The cost of damage was estimated.

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

104°F2 times, most recently Jun 19, 1998

All-time low

7°FJan 21, 1985

Warmest night

80°F3 times, most recently Aug 9, 2024

Coldest day

25°FDec 24, 1989

Wettest day

14.62 inSep 12, 1964

Snowiest day

2.0 inFeb 13, 1958

Hottest year

1990mean 70.3°F

Coldest year

2010mean 65.9°F

Wettest year

196493.91 in

Driest year

195534.26 in

Snowiest season

2.0 in1957-58

Station Mayo (USC00085539), 83 ft elevation, 15.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1949 to October 26, 2026; 95.1% 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 USC00085539.
• 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.